WILLMAR -- A Willmar City Council committee has received results of tests done on water taken from the ditch that drains some of Willmar's storm water.
City Public Works Director Mel Odens received the results from the Citizen Lake Monitoring Program at a Sept. 16 meeting when a proposal was discussed to restore Grass Lake and treat Willmar's storm water.
Odens gave the results to the council's Public Works/Safety Committee on Tuesday. Odens suggested the results be taken as information, but that the city work with others downstream from Willmar to improve water quality.
"I think we want to be a partner in the process and we have to start to look at this,'' Odens said.
The tested water samples were taken from Ditch 23A, which flows along the east side of the Kandi Mall and then southeast out of Willmar to Lake Wakanda, Little Kandiyohi Lake, Big Kandiyohi Lake and eventually to the Mississippi River.
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The group has been testing the water since spring and has taken samples at three sites in Willmar along the ditch: the culvert at Little Duke's, 19th Avenue Southeast and the Highway 71/23 bypass. Samples have also been taken downstream from Willmar.
Some people believe that pollutants causing the degradation of the downstream lakes are coming from Willmar. Odens said the city wastewater treatment plant has not discharged into Ditch 23A since 1980; he said the treated effluent is discharged to the southwest.
The ditch carries storm water from an area generally located south of the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks in the easterly half of Willmar.
Fecal coliform readings for the ditch at 19th Avenue Southeast have varied, according to the group's results, ranging from 240 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters on April 19 to a high of 79,000 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters on July 26. On Aug. 25, the reading fell to fewer than 10 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters. The city uses 200 as the water quality standard for swimming, according to Odens. Acting committee chairman Ron Christianson said city staff is working on proposals to address Grass Lake, and to address flooding problems in low-lying areas of the city. He said the proposals will be presented to the committee at a future meeting.
In an interview, Odens said the results show there are issues with water quality and said the city wants to cooperate and move forward.
Odens said he did not know how the fecal coliform got into the ditch. He said the bacteria can occur in more than one way, such as in stagnant water if the ditch is not flowing.
"We don't know what type of fecal coliform this is, whether it's from decaying plants or human or animal waste,'' he said. "We want to keep the water clean. That's the premise.''
The information will be presented to the City Council on Monday.
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In other business, the committee:
n Recommended the council amend the contract with HNTB Companies by $7,500 to design the revised fueling system at the new airport.
n Approved the low bid of $75,008 from Design Electrical Contractors of St. Cloud to install traffic signals on Willmar Avenue Southeast. Four other companies submitted higher bids. The engineer's estimate was $93,400.
n Recommended the city close a portion of downtown Fourth Street on Oct. 27 for an outdoor event to coincide with a return visit by the Minnesota Design Team.
