Q-Lot construction starts with putting in pipes and digging the holding pond.
St. Cloud State University is transforming a parking lot into a pollution reduction project to help protect the Mississippi River from water quality impairments.
The $196,000 grant was awarded by the state of Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency to work with Stearns County.
Volunteers needed
You can help this sustainability effort by helping plant 6,000-7,000 plants June 8-10. Shifts are from 8-10 a.m. and 10 a.m.-12 noon. Volunteers may register for more than one shift and more than one day.
This is physical work and participants should be 18 and over or at least 13 and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who can also sign waivers for them in order to participate.
Water, sunscreen, work gloves and bug spray will be provided.
Volunteer contact:
Joe Teff
[email protected]
320-308-2145
“This 20 year agreement will help shape the future and conservation in the area by minimizing sedimentation to the Mississippi River,” said Joe Teff, facilities management safety administrator.
The Q-Lot Pollution Reduction project will prevent and potentially eliminate untreated storm water runoff before it enters the river and reduce the amount of total phosphorus, nitrogen and suspended solids entering the river.
The grant will help build a retention pond, reconstruct the outlet to the river, infiltration basin, grading and a native buffer of wild plants and grass native to Minnesota and within 150 miles of St. Cloud.
The goal is to plant 6,000-7,000 native plants.
Students and volunteers will help plant in late spring.
Water pipes being put in underground.
Q-Lot is a parking lot made up of eight acres (1,000 parking spaces) of gravel and asphalt south of the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The waterproof surfaces do not allow for rainfall or snow to melt to soak into the ground. The water runs off directly into the storm sewers which flow straight into the Mississippi River. The water carries with it sediment, bacteria, automotive fluids and other pollutants.
The project allows sediments carrying pollutants to be captured and filtered prior to reaching the river for at least 15 years.
This will also provide ecosystem services that make the water safer for recreational opportunities, carbon sequestration, heavy metal removal and an improved habitat for aquatic species.
“This project shows that St. Cloud State and its facility management is fully engaged with the local environment to manage pollutants entering the Mississippi River,” Teff said.
Construction begins April 27 through June 1 with planting June 8-10.
The blueprint plans for the Q-Lot Pollution Reduction Project.
