Crow Wing County Well Sealing and Groundwater Protection
A large portion of Crow Wing County, the Pine River Watershed, and the Mississippi-Brainerd Watershed include areas of surficial sand aquifers and high water tables. Because of rapid infiltration of water through sandy soils in the aquifer, it is more sensitive to contamination than deeper, buried aquifers. Unused and abandoned wells can provide a direct path for surface water runoff, contaminated water, or other improperly disposed of waste to reach an uncontaminated groundwater source. Properly sealing these wells is one of the most important things landowners can do to protect our groundwater.
Crow Wing County, in cooperation with the municipalities within the County, the Pine River watershed, and the Mississippi-Brainerd Watershed, plan to continue its successful well sealing program that will use a ranking criteria to seal unused / abandon wells up to a maximum of $1,000 in cost-share funds per well. The total amount of funding requested is $30,000 which is estimated to allow for the sealing of 80-100 wells. Cost-share well sealing will be ranked by the following criteria: 90% for wells in the Pine River Watershed and Mississippi-Brainerd Watershed in surficial sand aquafer; 75% for those not in the Pine River watershed or Mississippi-Brainerd Watershed, but within a surficial sand aquafer in Crow Wing County; 50% for any other wells sealed in Crow Wing County. This grant has a minimum of 10% match required, and that match will be covered through property owners covering the cost of the well sealing beyond what's identified in the ranking criteria.
Annie Felix-Gerth
(b) $8,500,000 the first year and $8,500,000 the second year are for grants to local government units to protect and restore surface water and drinking water; to keep water on the land; to protect, enhance, and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams; and to protect groundwater and drinking water, including feedlot water quality and subsurface sewage treatment system projects and stream bank, stream channel, shoreline restoration, and ravine stabilization projects. The projects must use practices demonstrated to be effective, be of long-lasting public benefit, include a match, and be consistent with total maximum daily load (TMDL) implementation plans, watershed restoration and protection strategies (WRAPS), or local water management plans or their equivalents. Up to 20 percent of this appropriation is available for land-treatment projects and practices that benefit drinking water.
The project outcomes will be the count of wells sealed within the metrics above, measuring if grant funds were spent in each priority areas, and the number of property owners targeted with promotional advertising of the grant through direct mailings.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS