This month’s intense cold snap has made removing ice from sidewalks and driveways trickier than usual. That’s because rock salt and other deicing products often fail to work in extreme low temperatures.

There are no environmentally friendly ice-melt products, in spite of some manufacturers’ claims. And with the frigid temperatures lingering for weeks, many chemical deicers won’t work anyway.

Here are some tools and techniques you can use to keep your high-traffic paved areas ice-free without spreading around harmful and ineffective chemical deicers:

• Always follow the basic formula of Shovel, Select, Scatter, and Sweep.
• If your shovel isn’t doing the trick, use an ice chisel to remove compacted snow and ice. (Watch our video demonstration.)
• If you can’t remove it manually, use sand or traction grit (see a photo comparison) on icy spots. It won’t melt the ice, but it will help prevent slips and falls. When the ice is gone, you can sweep it up and reuse it.

You can find even more tips, along with some startling facts about chloride pollution, on our blog.

Do you have a project idea to improve water quality and habitat in your community? The MWMO has recently opened both our Community and Planning Grants for new applications.

Join us for one of our online information sessions, where you can find out more about the grant programs, network with others, and ask questions:

• Friday, February 19, from Noon to 12:45 p.m.
• Tuesday, February 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

Grant Application Deadlines

Planning Grant applications are due March 12, 2021, and Community Grant applications are due April 2, 2021. Visit our Stewardship Fund page for more information.

The MWMO is sponsoring the following training opportunities for land-care professionals. Participants have the option to take a test to become certified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Smart Salting Level 2

Tuesday, March 2, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Online)

This online, interactive workshop is designed to help winter maintenance leadership - public works managers, supervisors, business owners and other lead staff - assess their salt use and take steps to minimize it.

Turfgrass Maintenance with Reduced Environmental Impacts

Tuesday, March 23, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (Online)

The summer turfgrass maintenance training focuses on best management practices (BMPs) for lawn/turf care maintenance. These practices will help you save time and money while protecting local lakes, rivers and habitat.

Since 2012, the MWMO has worked with the City of Minneapolis to remove decades’ worth of accumulated sediment and debris from the Old Bassett Creek Tunnel, which runs beneath Downtown and North Minneapolis.

The goal of this multi-phase project is to prevent the accumulated sediment and its pollutants from being mobilized and flushed into the Mississippi River.

Last year, workers removed 800 tons of sediment from an 853-linear-foot section of the tunnel. In 2018, 935 tons of sediment was removed from a different section.

You can find details about the cleanout efforts as well as the history of the project on our website.