2022 Clean Water Soil Health Grant

The goal of our project is to protect & restore the Moorhead & Breckenridge, MN Public water supply. This will be achieved by protecting the Buffalo & Wahpeton Buried Aquifer's and to protect & restore the surface water's that enter the Red River of the North. According to the 2019 MPCA Report of the Red River of the North, the tributaries in the Red River Basin are delivering too much sediment and nutrients to the Red River. High nitrogen levels are a concern to ground water and drinking water supplies while high phosphorus levels are detrimental to surface water quality and contribute to severe algae blooms. The resource concerns that will be addressed with this project include sediment, phosphorus & nitrogen. The project will reduce sediment by an estimated 1275 ton/yr, Total Phosphorus 250 lbs/yr and Total Nitrogen by 885 lbs/yr by planting 1600 acres of cover crops and adopting 800 acres conservation/strip and no tillage practices. The priority areas of this project will allow farmers to develop a sustainable soil health program in the Buffalo Aquifer and Wahpeton Buried Aquifer areas of Wilkin County along with protecting the surface waters entering the Red River in the planning regions of Western, Southern, and the Upper Red for the Buffalo Aquifer and the Otter Tail Planning Region for the Wahpeton Aquifer that are associated with the aquifers. The Buffalo Aquifer provides water for tens of thousands of people, including the residents of Moorhead, MN. The Wahpeton Buried Aquifer provides water to Breckenridge, MN. Wilkin SWCD has a local soil health project with private entities that has been very successful. The area of the county that needs to be addressed yet with adopting soil health programs are these two aquifer recharge areas. Wilkin County Farmers want to learn how to use cover crops with conservation tillage/no till systems to improve soil health.