The Bois de Sioux Watershed District intends to begin a program to repair the legal ditches it owns and maintains for the purpose of improving water quality within the watershed and downstream receiving waters. The intent of this effort is to complete a pilot project to a legal ditch system that is in disrepair and use it as an example to educate landowners along other legal ditches on the importance of water quality. This pilot project consists of the construction of berms and side inlet culverts for sediment control along Traverse County Ditch #17 (TCD 17) and its single branch (B1) .
Water flows without concern for political jurisdiction boundaries. This often means project work requires a little more coordination. Jackson, Cottonwood and Murray County did the extra coordination to land a grant to reduce sediment to the West Fork of the Des Moines River. The approved grant has four separate projects inthree counties.Jackson County has two projects: the Federated Rural Electric Association sediment control structure and the City of Jackson bioswale.
This project will help restore and protect two unique resources in southern Washington County - Trout Brook and Lake St. Croix. Previous assessments identified the 100 sites in southern Washington County that contribute the most to the existing excess nutrient problem and declining water quality of Lake St. Croix. Twenty-two of those sites are in the Trout Brook watershed and also contribute to sediment and turbidity that are degrading habitat in this cold-water stream.
At almost 4,000 acres, Trout Brook is the largest subwatershed in the Capitol Region Watershed District and the City of Saint Paul. The restored stream is part of the 42 acre Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary project, whose goal is to return the area back to some resemblance of its pre-industrialized valley of stream floodplain and wetlands. Monitoring results within the corridor show that phosphorus, sediments, bacteria, lead and copper are the pollutants of most concern.
This project will improve surface water quality within the sediment degraded Trout Brook, a designated trout stream and tributary to the Cannon River. The project will focus on the installation of best management practices that will reduce the amount of sediment transport within the watershed. Approximately 20 practices will be installed through this project which will reduce an estimated 2,000 tons of sediment per year.
The Southwest Prairie Technical Service Area 5 (SWPTSA), located in the southwest corner of Minnesota, encompasses 11 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs): Cottonwood, Jackson, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock, and Yellow Medicine. This project will protect natural resources within the three major river basins of Minnesota, Missouri and Des Moines Rivers. The SWPTSA will assist member SWCDs in locating and identifying priority subwatersheds that have soil erosion and water quality issues using terrain analysis.
This project will build off the success of the additional geographic information system (GIS) and water planning expertise the TSA8 added in 2016 to provide consistent mapping, water planning assistance and training to partners. This project will help soil and water conservation districts prepare for the 1W1P process before the planning starts. A unified protection methodology is essential for the 1W1P process to be successful. This project will include: unified GIS mapping and protection model for all nine counties respectively.
This project will assure that buffer strip compliance is being followed throughout the system. It will identify areas that will work to keep excess sediment and nutrients out of the water and provide a good strategy for cleaning the water and reducing costs to the system long term. More importantly, it provides an opportunity to have dialogue with landowners along the entire ditch and communicate the importance of buffers and conservation practices such as detainment areas and catchment Best Management Practices that keep the soil out of the system.
The Two Rivers Watershed is listed as a high priority in the Stearns County Comprehensive Water Management Plan. This project will inventory the existing public drainage systems and develop a targeting program to measure, prioritize and target the factors causing the water quality problems of Two Rivers Lake (impaired for nutrients) in Stearns County. With public access and a county park on the lake, it is a destination for fisherman in the area.
This project will target three identified drainage systems contributing to one tributary outfall to Long Lake, an impaired water body of the Sauk River Chain of Lakes. These systems produce large volumes of stormwater runoff that degrades the tributary and compromise water quality.
Phase II of the Upper South Branch Project will continue a FY2011 CWF project with the strategic implementation of conservation practices within the Upper South Branch of the Buffalo River watershed. This second phase will result in approximately 305 acres of new filter strips, 50 side inlet sediment control structures, and 8 sediment control basins which will reduce sediment loading to the stream by 4,700 tons/year and phosphorus by 9,700 pounds/year.
This project will restore a sub-watershed by implementing a treatment train of practices. There are 275 acres in this sub-watershed, located directly upstream of the Upper Iowa River. The topography lends itself to flashy stormwater events which leave their mark on the upland gully erosion and severely degraded streambank. The watershed operates as a funnel, bringing the high velocity water to a concentrated area and shooting it through the banks, rather than over. This has lead to a site which is void of vegetation and six streambank blowouts within a 300 foot area of streambank.
This project will implement specific projects that address strategies identified in the comprehensive local water management plan and will consist of stabilizing over 3,000 feet of eroding stream channel, eliminating a fish migration barrier, and improving aquatic and riparian habitat by increasing sinuosity, rebuilding the incised channel, and recreating the floodplain in Porter and Picha Creeks; Previous landowner discussions, alternative selection and design alternatives have been accomplished or are in process.
This project will improve water quality in the heart of Douglas County?s livestock country. The goal of the project is to improve drinking water quality by upgrading, replacing or closing existing damaged or unpermitted manure storage areas, in addition to addressing open lot runoff. Five project locations have been identified and up to 4 more are anticipated to be identified in the next two years, for a total of up to 10 projects. Estimated pollution reduction is 421 pounds of nitrogen and 122 pounds of phosphorus.
The Cannon River is a designated Wild and Scenic River that originates in Rice County and joins the Mississippi River 120 miles downstream near Red Wing. The Upper Cannon, which encompasses 29% of the entire watershed, has been identified as a priority subwatershed.
Prior Lake has long been a regional recreation destination including swimming, boating and fishing. The lake gets year-round use from anglers pursuing bass, panfish and walleye. The undulating landscape and the lake itself are important groundwater recharge features for regional water resources including the Savage Fen, Eagle Creek water supply aquifers and the Minnesota River. The management of water quality in Prior Lake is top priority for the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District (PLSLWD) and other local partners.
The management of water quality and water levels in the Spring and Prior chain of lakes has been top priority for the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District (PLSLWD) and local partners. Fluctuating water levels affect recreational use and shoreline stability. Both lakes have poor water quality conditions and are impaired due to excessive nutrients. In 2004, the PLSLWD conducted a study that identified areas draining to Spring Lake that have potential for stormwater storage and infiltration.
The Upper Buffalo River Sediment Reduction Project area lies in the first major land use transition within the buffalo's flowage, where intact forests and modestly developed lakes give way to altered hydrology and tilled fields of highly productive soils near the top of the Red River Basin. This abrupt change in land use within the watershed is directly linked to stream impairments within the project area.
Portions of the South Branch of the Buffalo River are currently overloaded with sediment. Two primary waterways in the watershed, Deerhorn Creek and the South Branch, are listed as impaired for turbidity. Due to sediment deposition in the channel, the waterways have lost much of their capacity. Historical attempts by landowners and others to restore the capacity of the channel by removing sediment have had limited success due to additional excess sediment being washed into the channel.
This project is designed to complete an inventory and assessment of existing stormwater infrastructure in the cities of Two Harbors and Silver including mapping urban surface and sub-surface storm water flow to determine flow paths, pour points, and areas of limited storm water infrastructural capacity. The results of this assessment will be an assessment with prioritized and targeted opportunities for municipal infrastructure retrofits or best management practice installation on both public and private land.
Deteriorating water quality of Sand Creek and some of its tributaries are.linked to inorganic sediment from field erosion and channel instability. This project continues a successful 2010 Clean Water Fund effort that addresses turbidity and sediment by targeting select subwatersheds for the conversion of row crops to native grasses.
This project aims to significantly reduce the amount of sediment transfer from eroding bluff areas to Seven Mile Creek during spring snowmelt and rain events throughout the year. This will be accomplished by installing and maintaining drop structures and reinforcing the existing spalsh pool at the outlet pipe without destabilizing the surrounding bluffs. When applied in tandem, this project will reduce the peak flow rate to ravine areas while shielding and protecting the bluff itself from eroding.
Nitrate levels in the water supply for the city of Benson have slowly but steadily been increasing since 2012. This project aims to work with the landowners surrounding the Drinking Water Supply Management Areas (DWSMA's) for Benson and Appleton in Swift County to reduce or eliminate the amount of nitrate entering these water supplies. Proven and effective strategies will be implemented to achieve the goals set forth in this grant.
The South Branch of Cascade Creek Turbidity Reduction Project will construct three wetland retention structures within the upper half of the watershed for water quality improvement including sediment reduction, flood attenuation and wildlife habitat improvement. The project will construct wetland basins on the Meadow Lake Golf Course to provide water quality improvement on a previously untreated branch that flows into the upper end of the stream channel restoration project.
Crow Wing County is pursuing this grant to continue this proven community and landowner outreach campaign by developing new water planning tools and using print and social media strategies to effect a positive change in our watersheds. The County believes that landowners want to do the right thing and has the data to show that when doing the right thing can be presented in customer-focused, fact-driven, easy-to-understand format, they get engaged and conservation gets done!
A joint effort of Becker and Clay Soil and Water Conservation District, the Buffalo Red Shallow Lakes and Mainstem Improvement Strategy will reduce nutrient and sediment delivery to 12 impaired lakes and impaired reaches of the Buffalo River through a targeted and prioritized approach to the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs). Numerous models have been combined with local knowledge to identify chief sources of constituents in the watershed and to isolate and prioritize implementation sites demonstrating the most significant gains in water quality.
The Credit River runs the entire length of the City of Savage before discharging to the Minnesota River. Both the Credit and Minnesota Rivers have been identified as not meeting state water quality standards for turbidity. A ravine running from Utica Avenue, east a distance of 2,600 feet to the Credit River, receives stormwater from more than 1,700 acres of the City. The long term and often very high flows of stormwater have resulted in significant erosion of the stream banks.
This project will continue to protect and improve Valley Creek, a world-class trout stream located in the Valley Branch Watershed District. Stabilizing Ravine 2E, which conveys runoff from a 150-acre watershed directly into the main stem of Valley Creek, will prevent 7 tons of sediment from depositing in the creek and silting over trout spawning sites on an annual basis. It will also reduce the annual total phosphorus load to Valley Creek and the nutrient-impaired Lake St. Croix by 51 pounds per year.
Valley Creek is one of only a few high-quality, naturally reproducing trout streams in the Twin Cities. Stormwater runoff, which causes bank erosion and carries excessive sediment and contaminants into the creek poses the largest threat to this stream and to the phosphorus-impaired Lake St. Croix. Overall, two projects are expected to reduce sediment delivery to Valley Creek by 36 tons per year. The reduction in sediment load will also prevent 31 pounds of phosphorus, per year, from entering Valley Creek and Lake St. Croix.
Project partners play a vital role in the implementation of the Verdi Wellhead Protection Plan and have made this water source a priority in lowering nitrate levels. The aquifer used by the wells in the Verdi Well Field consists of a sand and gravel horizon about 30' thick which overlies clay-rich till. The geological sensitivity in all five of the Verdi wells is classified as "high".The Verdi Well Field supplies water to ten community water suppliers, 34 large rural users, and 1,126 rural hookups. Total population served by this water supply is about 7,500.
The purpose of this project is to complete subwatershed analysis for Cannon River and Vermillion River sub-watersheds to prioritize and target Best Management Practices based on cost-effectiveness with regard to pollutant reduction. This process is intended to proactively assist local water management and partner agencies in maximizing the value of each dollar spent to improve water quality in the respective rivers.
The Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO), in partnership with the City of Farmington and Dakota County, are working to systematically address Total Suspended Solids (TSS) sources contributing to the Vermillion River through use of a prioritized, targeted, and measurable sub watershed assessment approach to identify and implement the most cost-effective and feasible projects to address the Vermillion River's TSS, fish, and macroinvertebrate TMDLs.
The Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO), in partnership with the City of Hastings and Dakota County, are working to systematically address Total Suspended Solids (TSS) sources contributing to the Vermillion River through use of a prioritized, targeted, and measurable subwatershed assessment approach to identify and implement the most cost- effective and feasible projects to address the Vermillion River's turbidity impairments and TMDL's.
This proposal seeks to prevent nitrate contamination in and around vulnerable Non-Community (Transient and Non-Transient) Public Water Supplies within the sandy outwash plains of the Mississippi River in Central Minnesota. Within the work area we have identified 221 public (non-municipal) water supplies in this area which include places of worship, restaurants, office spaces, bars, daycares and campgrounds within the Morrison and Benton County work area.
