Cover photo of Hiawatha Golf Course from www.minneapolisparks.org
By Allison Kronberg/Murphy News Service
Spring showers are supposed to bring flowers. But sometimes they bring a lot more than that and it’s not always pretty either — especially if you’re running a golf course.
More rain fell in the Twin Cities last year than in any other year in recent history, causing some waterways to overflow and flood.
The result: exposed imperfections in several drainage systems throughout the cities, including the one at the Minneapolis-owned Hiawatha Golf Course, which closed in June of last year after heavy rain caused more than $1.5 million of damage from flooding.
But the after-rain flowers could come in the form of a newly renovated golf course, complete with an improved clubhouse and a new drainage system, thanks to a collaborative effort.
At a Minneapolis Transportation and Public Works Committee meeting recently, the city announced discussed its plans to use the damage done to Hiawatha and other golf courses as an opportunity to improve water drainage and prevent future flooding.
The effort, suggested by Minneapolis Public Works, is a collaboration between The City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
“We like to collaborate and partner on projects to try to align goals and meet the interests of all parties,” Minnehaha Creek Watershed District planner and project manager Michael Hayman said. “We view it as an opportunity to work together.”
Hayman said the project is only in its beginning phases and hasn’t yet been proposed before all boards, but he said he thinks it has potential to keep moving in the city.
The proposed changes to the course include looking into alternative uses for portions of the course, such as water-recycling fountains, which could improve flood resilience.
The Hiawatha Golf Course’s drainage system hasn’t been renovated since it was built in the 1930s, a Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board report showed.
Hiawatha Golf Course Assistant Manager Billy Lewis said people have been very understanding about course closures, but he hopes to be able to reopen more of the course soon.
“We didn’t really have any complaints,” he said.
But Minneapolis Public Works, which manages the city’s stormwater system, did receive complaints about flood damage, its director of surface water and sewers, Lisa Cerny, said.
Several of the stormwater pipes around Minnehaha Creek and at the Hiawatha Golf Course are too small to carry a large capacity of water to Lake Hiawatha, she said, so the water backs up and floods.
Even before the extreme flooding of 2014, Cerny said the city has been looking into ways to address flooding and water quality concerns around Minnehaha Creek.
Now the troubles that golf courses have been having have brought that discussion to the forefront, she said.
“The impacts it had and on the golf course opened up even bigger ideas and opportunities,” Cerny said.
Hiawatha Golf Course recently reopened two driving ranges, but the majority of the course will remain closed for most of the summer.
Though golfers may have fewer practice areas for a while, Cerny said she’s excited for the possibilities this summer may bring.
“I think it’s definitely a project that will keep moving,” she said.
Reporter Allison Kronberg is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.