Phase III Sand Hill River Watershed Multi-County Erosion BMP's

Increases in crop prices have reduced the acreage of land in conservation set-aside programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and other marginal land use. Significant conversion of grasslands to cultivated agricultural crops has increased the levels of runoff and sedimentation. Phase III of this project addresses the need to protect vulnerable sites by installing water and sediment basins. These basins are earthen embankments built to temporarily detain sediment-laden runoff, allowing sediment to settle out before runoff is discharged.

This is a continuation of work to install 80 water and sediment basins located within the upper reaches of the Sand Hill River Watershed, including portions of Mahnomen, Norman and Polk Counties. These basins are installed on agricultural cropland where erosion exceeds the allowable soil rate. Minimum detention time to store water is 24 hours for a 10-year, 24-hour runoff event.