Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District celebrates 25 years of conservation
Over the last 25 years, the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District has been a leader in managing water resources in the north metro. District staff, volunteers, and community partners have restored wetlands, stemmed the spread of aquatic invasive species, and improved the water quality in lakes and wetlands across 49 square miles in Washington and Chisago County, to name just a few accomplishments.
This September, CLFLWD celebrates its 25th anniversary and honors the hard work of its volunteers, staff, and partners, and the successes it has achieved since its beginning in 1999.
The District was formed by citizen petition when flooding issues related to downtown development began to noticeably impact waters downstream. Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Board Manager Jackie Anderson shared that the sudden decline in Comfort Lake was one of the things that spurred her to get involved.
“The actual foundation was the farmer who had the flooded fields, and it was Comfort Lake that experienced this degradation that occurred really quickly,” Anderson said. “It was seeing this beautiful lake in one season just go completely the other way, and it was alarming to me that that’s how fast things can go from really nice to really bad,” she said.
Once the District was founded, Anderson credited the initial diagnostic study of the waterways, along with regular monitoring, with shaping an effective approach to water conservation.
“Having a nice long record of those types of readings, you can start putting together a history and logical explanation for why things are happening and can tell you which types of projects are going to be needed,” she said. “Doing the diagnostic work in a logical pattern, from the headwaters down to the end point is not something most people do. Our district has taken this from a very logical, scientific basis for impactful projects that have made a difference in just a few years.”
In 2024, the District’s restoration efforts led to Bone Lake being removed from the Minnesota Impaired Waters List. CLFLWD and its partners are currently on track to delist another five lakes (Comfort Lake, Little Comfort Lake, Moody Lake, Shields Lake, and School Lake) within the watershed boundaries in 2026.
The district, staff, and community volunteers continue to monitor water quality, collecting data that will help shape the next 25 years of the district’s existence and beyond.
Written by Jackie Bussjaeger
Here is an example of one of the many projects completed by the District:
