Top - Down: Buffalo Watershed Accelerated Improvement Project
This project strives to continue progress towards the sediment and nutrient reduction goals for the Buffalo River. Specific targeted practices and quantities include Water and Sediment Control Basins (110), Grade Stabilizations (7), Grassed Waterways (10), Critical Area Plantings (12), Filter Strips (45 ac.), Cover Crops (2,500 ac/year), Rotational Grazing/Use Exclusion (320 ac), Wetland Restoration (86 ac). In total the project is anticipated to reduce sediment loading to the Buffalo River by an estimated 32,712 tons per year, phosphorus loading by 21,083 pounds per year, and nitrogen loading by 24,322 pounds per /year.
In the most direct sense this project strives to make further, substantial steps towards the sediment and nutrient reduction goals for Buffalo River Watershed District's (BRRWD) Mainstem Planning Region and the objectives of Becker County's 2017 Local Water Management Plan within the Buffalo River watershed.
With the majority of funds afforded by the CWL funded Upper Buffalo-Red Sediment Reduction Project and Phase II of the Buffalo Red Shallow Lakes and Mainstem Improvement Strategy encumbered or spent, this project will provide the needed funding to continue the booming momentum of small and large scale erosion control implementation and provide the cost share and technical expertise necessary to keep local producers moving forward as Becker SWCD and BRRWD both strive to meet the sediment reduction goals for the entire Becker County portion of the Buffalo Red River Watershed.
Coupled with recently secured US EPA 319 Program dollars, the USDA-NRCS EQIP program and Landowner Contributions this funding will increase the number of agricultural best management practices implemented to stem both sediment and phosphorus contributions to the Buffalo River. Specific targeted or planned practices and quantities include Water and Sediment Control Basins (110), Grade Stabilizations (7), Grassed Waterways (10), Critical Area Plantings (12), Filter Strips (45 ac.), Cover Crops (2,500 ac/year), Rotational Grazing/Use Exclusion (320 ac), Wetland Restoration (86 ac). In total the project is anticipated to reduce sediment loading to the Buffalo River by an estimated 32,712 tons/year, phosphorus loading by 21,083 lbs/year, and nitrogen loading by 24,322 lbs/year, as well as offer unmeasured reductions in fecal coliform bacteria. Upland management, conservation tillage, conservation crop rotations and incorporation of cover crops enacted under this effort will also yield significant gains in soil infiltration, microbial activity, fertility and resiliency.
Annie Felix-Gerth
(b) $6,882,000 the first year and $12,618,000 the second year are for grants 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 these funds may be used to seek administrative efficiencies through shared resources by multiple local governmental units.
This project is expected to reduce annual sediment loading to the Buffalo River by 32,712 tons, phosphorus loading by 21,083 lb/year, and offer a 24,322 lb/year reduction in nitrogen as well as decreased bacterial levels and increased soil health.
The original project proposal had listed both numerical outcomes for pollution reductions and the number of practices estimated to be completed. The SWCD actually implemented more structural practices than anticipated in the application. Even so, the achieved pollution reductions were significantly lower than the application stated. After discussion with SWCD staff and comparisons to previous closed grants it was concluded that the application figures were exaggerated by a factor of 10, indicating that a decimal point was potentially overlooked. The SWCD also did not implement any cattle practices aside from access control and therefore no nitrogen estimates were given. Since the number of practices implemented is roughly equal to the proposal, but the pollution reduction figures were miscalculated, we conclude the SWCD achieved "most" of the proposed outcomes.
LOCAL LEVERAGED FUNDS