Boom system helps keep trash out of Lake Hiawatha
Freshwater teamed up with the City of Minneapolis and several partner organizations to help clean up Lake Hiawatha through seasonal placement of a floating boom system, first installed in 2023, that captures trash entering the lake through a storm drain outfall. A second boom was installed the following summer at nearby Lake of the Isles, and both have been embraced by the local communities.
The booms have dual benefits – they help keep litter and debris out the lakes, and they raise awareness of how pollutants travel from city streets into our lakes and rivers.
When Freshwater was approached in October 2021 by River Network, a national network of water, justice and river advocates, with the possibility of funding under a grant from the Coca Cola Foundation to install a litter capture device in the Mississippi watershed, Lake Hiawatha immediately came to mind. Learn more about River Network's community-focused approach to addressing litter in this video.
In collaboration with the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, and the Friends of Lake Hiawatha, Freshwater has partnered with Osprey Initiative to create the customized capture system. Funding for the installation event and celebration was provided by the CenterPoint Energy Foundation.
Debris collected in the booms each season is sorted, recorded and disposed of properly by a trained maintenance team. The collected debris data will provide critical information the City can use to better understand the extent of the pollution problem, and to enact further measures to diminish pollution further upstream.