Snake River Watershed Plan Partnership WBIF FY24

The Snake River Watershed Plan Partnership is seeking Watershed Based Implementation Funds (WBIF) predominantly for the promotion and installation of Best Management Practices (BMP) on private lands. The goal is to target specific BMPs within defined priority area to address water quality concerns that have been identified within our comprehensive plan. The key milestones for the three years of the grant are listed below. Some of the initial activities include outreach efforts to targeted priority areas with the completion of up to three sub-watershed assessments to aid in this measure. Targeted sub-watersheds have been identified in the plan. Due to limited staff capacity within the watershed, this proposal includes the new hiring of the equivalent of 1.5 new full time watershed employees.

The key 2-year measurable milestones include:
107 # Reduction in Total Phosphorus through the installation of BMP
170 Ton reduction in Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
70 outreach contact hours completed
3 sub-watershed assessments
5 outreach documents or demonstrations / workshops completed, focus on Do It Yourself (DIY) projects
1 acre feet of wetlands restored (equivalent of 1-9 acres restored)
3 private septic systems brought into compliance or built
800 ft. of buffers installed (about 8-14 projects)
3 unused wells sealed
800 acres of Forest Stewardship Planning written
100 acres of Forestry Best Management Practices installed
1 livestock BMP installed
1 Nutrient Management Plan completed

The first two years of implementing the Snake River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan (Plan) will focus in-part on building the momentum for implementation. Some of this focus is to include outreach/education, sub-watershed assessments and building the pipeline of projects for implementation. This will involve the Kanabec SWCD partner hiring a new watershed staff (1 Full-Time Equivalent FTE), getting them up-to-speed working with our watershed partners. This watershed position is planned to entail 1/3-time watershed outreach / education, 1/3 project coordination and 1/3 technical work. Watershed coordination efforts are planned to be completed by existing Kanabec SWCD staff at 1/3 of an FTE. Fiscal administration work is planned for execution under Pine County. Three sub-watershed assessments are planned for completion within the first 2-years to aid in targeting areas where the funds can be most effective. All staff will work in building the pipeline of projects for implementation. A seasonal, shared services, Forester is currently employed in the watershed. The goal for this position is to have the Snake Partnership contributing ? of FTE salary and the member entities continuing to pay the other 1/2.