The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, and Wisconsin’s Village of Colfax signed a project partnership agreement July 3, to stabilize around 1,300 feet of shoreline along the Red Cedar River.
The purpose of the project is to keep wastewater from the Colfax Waste Water Treatment Plant from entering the Red Cedar River.
Erosion has cut the bank to within 50 feet of the wastewater treatment lagoon berm, which is the barrier between the lagoon and the river.
According to USACE, severe safety and environmental impacts would occur if erosion continued and wastewater from the lagoon entered the river.
The project, covered under the Corps’ emergency stream bank protection program, will include placing around 6,000 tons of rock riprap to create a stable slope.
The project has a total cost of approximately $1.7 million, of which $1 million will be federally funded through the Corps of Engineers.
It is anticipated construction will be complete by the end of 2021.