Castle Rock Township: South Branch Vermillion River Denitrifying Woodchip System

The South Branch Vermillion River subwatershed has the highest nitrate load in the watershed and contributes to contaminated drinking water in the eastern portion of the watershed due to the local geology that allows river water to enter the underlying drinking water aquifers.

VRWJPO, with Dakota County Government, Castle Rock Township, and the Minnesota Clean Water Fund, funded the design and construction of a denitrifying woodchip bioreactor outside of Castle Rock Town Hall, concurrent with the county’s recent reconstruction project of County Road 78 and the South Branch Vermillion River Nitrate Treatment Constructed Wetland nearby.