The Village of Belleville contracted with MSA to initiate the development of a Water Quality Trading Plan when faced with costly upgrades to its wastewater treatment facility to meet new stringent phosphorus limits. MSA identified two streams where phosphorus-laden soils on failing or failed streambanks could be prevented from entering surface waters through bank stabilization treatments.
The project involved contracting with four MSA-identified landowners and designing and implementing various bank stabilization treatments and other agricultural best management practices along 1.5 miles of Milum Creek and Primrose Branch in Dane County, Wisconsin.
Field inspections and the Wisconsin DNR’s bank erosion potential index method were used to assess bank conditions and help inform the selection of appropriate stabilization treatments. The project will stabilize and repair banks at 81 locations along the two streams. MSA designed a mix of bank stabilization treatments including the grading of bank slopes to re-establish floodplain connectivity, soil bioengineering practices and riprap. A vital component to the design was determining construction access and equipment routing that minimized wetland impacts. MSA also designed channel bed stabilization features along the streams and delineated wetlands along the riparian corridors as well as in the surrounding adjacent agricultural areas.
The design was finalized and the project bid in 2022 with construction anticipated to start in summer 2023.