Nutrient Capture Through Water Management and Biomass Harvesting
Excess nutrients are among the most common impairments of water resources in the Red River Basin, as well as the rest of Minnesota. About 80% of the land use in the Red River Basin is for agricultural cropland and over 90% of phosphorus and nitrogen found in rivers and streams in the area originate from nonpoint sources, such as cropland. Excess nutrients are also one of the most difficult impairments to correct. The Red River Basin Commission is attempting to help correct this problem by using this appropriation to develop and evaluate an innovative, multipurpose method to use cattails and other vegetation within existing flood storage reservoirs to capture and reduce nutrient loads from runoff originating from mostly non-point sources and then use the harvested vegetation for purposes including bioenergy production and fertilizer. If effective this technique could be implemented in multiple locations in the Red River Basin and in other agricultural regions of the state to assist in reducing nutrient loads in waterways.
$300,000 the second year is from the trust fund to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with the Red River Basin Commission to evaluate the potential capture of excess nutrients using cattails grown and harvested within shallow flood reservoirs for bioenergy use. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2017, by which time the project must be completed and final products delivered.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.