Pomme de Terre River Watershed Best Management Practices
The Pomme de Terre River watershed is located in west central Minnesota and occupies a portion of six counties. For many years surface water quality within the watershed has been a concern to local government, and in 1982 the Counties and SWCDs within the watershed area formed the Pomme de Terre River Association Joint Powers Board to begin addressing this issue. In 2002 the Pomme de Terre River was placed on the Impaired Waters list for turbidity.The project partners are collaborating to improve surface water quality within the watershed with a grant from the Clean Water Fund. The goal of the project is to promote and assist individual landowners with the installation of practices such as: buffer strips, wetland restoration, rain gardens, shoreland restoration, and water and sediment control basins. Work will begin on the project in the spring of 2011.Installing these practices will have a cumulative effect towards reducing the amount of sediment and phosphorus in the water. This project's goal is to reduce sediment into the river by 13,000 tons per year and phosphorus by 13,000 pounds per year.
Nicole Clapp
(i) $1,250,000 the first year and $1,500,000 the second year are for targeted nonpoint restoration technical assistance and engineering. At least 93 percent of this amount must be made available for grants. (2011 - Restoration Technical Assistance), 2011 - Runoff Reduction, (g) $2,330,000 the first year and $1,830,000 the second year are for grants to implement stream bank, stream channel, and shoreline protection, and restoration projects to protect water quality. Of this amount, $330,000 the first year and $330,000 the second year may be used for technical assistance and grants to establish a conservation drainage program in consultation with the Board of Water and Soil Resources and the Drainage Work Group that consists of pilot projects to retrofit existing drainage systems with water quality improvement practices, evaluate outcomes, and provide outreach to landowners, public drainage authorities, drainage engineers and contractors, and others. Of this amount, $500,000 the first year is for a grant to Hennepin County for riparian restoration and stream bank stabilization in the ten primary stream systems in Hennepin County in order to protect, enhance, and help restore the water quality of the streams and downstream receiving waters. The county shall work with watershed districts and water management organizations to identify and prioritize projects. To the extent possible, the county shall employ youth through the Minnesota Conservation Corps and Tree Trust to plant trees and shrubs to reduce erosion and stabilize stream banks. This appropriation must be matched by nonstate sources, including in-kind contributions (2011 - Shoreland Improvement)
This project's goal is to reduce sediment into the river by 13,000 tons per year and phosphorus by 13,000 pounds per year.
Project partners provided program information and technical assistance to 150 landowners resulting in the installation of 578.1 acres of vegetated buffer, 405.1 acres of wetland restoration and associated buffer, six shore land restorations, 24 rain gardens, 29 water and sediment control basins, 15 alternative tile intakes, 18.2 acres of livestock exclusion, and 1455 acres of no-till. These practices will reduce sediment by an estimated 39,247 tons and phosphorus by 39,283 pounds annually within the Pomme de Terre River watershed.