Prior Lake Spring Lake TMDL/Targeted BMP Installations
This application will continue a CWF-supported initiative by Scott SWCD in partnership with Prior Lake Spring Lake Watershed District to restore water quality in Spring, Upper Prior, and Fish Lakes, and to protect water quality in Lower Prior Lake. With a combined area of over 2,100 acres, these represent the sixth largest lake system in the metro area and are renowned for their fishery and recreational values.
Spring, Upper Prior and Fish Lakes are impaired due to excessive nutrients. Lower Prior, while not impaired for nutrients, has high P sensitivity and suffers biological impairments making protection a high priority. With help from a FY15 CWF grant, we've reduced Phosphorus by over 400 lbs/yr; this application will reduce it by an additional 290 lbs, resulting in meeting nearly 25% of the watershed load reduction goal!
Funds awarded will be used to provide partial financial assistance to install at least 31 projects with landowners, including but not limited to cover crops and nutrient management (1,000 ac total), native prairie and wetland restoration (28 ac), grassed waterway, water and sediment control basin, alternative tile intake, shoreline, and streambank projects (18 total) and 1 livestock waste management system.
As outlined in this application and detailed in Scott SWCD's Comp. Plan and PLSLWD's Water Resource Mgmt Plan, implementing BMPs on private lands is a critical part of a long-term, comprehensive suite of strategies necessary to achieve water quality standards. The BMPs for this project have been prioritized and targeted based on the approved 2012 TMDL Implementation Plan for Spring and Upper Prior Lake (2012), MPCA's draft Lower MN River WRAPS report (2019), and a Subwatershed Assess. completed in Spring and Prior Lake watershed (2014). In addition, the PLSLWD operates a comprehensive monitoring program that has informed the development of these plans and has enabled us to prioritize and targeted with precision and confidence.
Marcey Westrick
[Projects and Practices 2020] (b) $16,000,000 the first year and $16,000,000 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. A portion of this money may be used to seek administrative efficiencies through shared resources by multiple local governmental units. Up to 20 percent of this appropriation is available for land-treatment projects and practices that benefit drinking water.
This project will enable at least 30 projects reducing TP by 2899 lbs, TSS by 2486 Tons, and runoff by 167 ac-ft. over 10 years. Phosphorus is the root cause of impairment in Spring, Upper Prior and Fish Lakes, and is a threat to Lower Prior.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS