Fourteen permanent RIM Easements on 766 acres of high quality, riparian and forested habitat have been recorded and will provide lasting wildlife habitat. Attempts were made to acquire three tracts in fee title that would have relied on this funding. The owner of one tract rejected an offer of the certified appraised value. Acquisition attempts on the other two tracts were discontinued when it became apparent that the planned use of the land as DNR Wildlife Management Area would be incompatible with local government plans for future municipal growth.
The Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA), a nine County/SWCD JPO has identified buffers as a basin priority. This initiative will work towards the goal of identifying all DNR protected shoreland in the GBERBA counties without a 50 foot vegetative buffer. Buffer strips protect surface and groundwater from a multitude of pollutants. During stormwater run off events buffers can remove between 50 and 100 percent of nutrients, pesticides, pathogens, and sediment. The estimated sediment reduction for this project is 756 tons per year prevented from entering our waters.
Eight RIM Wetlands applications were selected for funding on 1146.2 acres from this appropriation. In addition 19 RIM-WRP easements, totaling 2,239 acres were funded. Thus a total of 3,385 acres were protected and restored to wetland and grassland habitat. All easements have been recorded. Leverage from other sources of funds was a little over $4.5M.
Three streambank stabilization projects have been identified as high priority projects in the Thief River Falls Water Quality Study completed in 2017. The proposal will use a combination of bendway weirs, toe protection by building a floodplain bench and live stake plantings. It has been estimated that a total of 385 tons per year of sediment from these three locations is entering the river contributing to the impairment downstream.
The goal of the project is to identify priority locations for project implementation using the Prioritize, Targeting, and Measuring Application (PTMApp) in the Thief River Watershed. The PTMApp will be used to identify and evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of best management practices including treatment scenarios, and provide estimates of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus delivered to the Thief River Watershed, which is impaired for sediment.
Thiel Creek is a designated trout stream in southern Stearns County and outlets into Lake Marie and Lake Louisa. Both lakes are impaired for nutrients. Thiel Creek is experiencing severe bank erosion and local residents have expressed concern about the excessive sedimentation entering the lakes. Most of this erosion is occurring on an approximate mile reach of the creek just upstream of the outlet into the lake.
Thompson Lake is a shallow lake located in the City of West St. Paul, within the Lower Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization (LMRWMO). The 7-acre lake receives runoff from a 175-acre urban watershed that was developed in the 1950's and currently provides very little stormwater treatment. The eastern shoreline is within Thompson County Park, which features a fishing pier, event center, and miles of regionally connected trails. The west shoreline of the lake abuts the St. Croix Lutheran School.
This project will inventory and conduct compliance inspections on Subsurface Treatment Systems (SSTS) around eight lakes in Todd County. Lakes to be inventoried include Big Sauk Lake, Big Swan Lake, Little Osakis Lake, Fairy Lake, Lily Lake, Long Lake, Little Birch Lake and Moose Lake. Approximately 1,200 parcels will receive compliance inspections. Systems that fail to meet standards will be brought into compliance using procedures available in rule and ordinance.
This project represents the third septic inventory effort by Todd County. The four lakes included - Guernsey, Juergans, Little Sauk, and Long Lakes - are all designated by the Sauk River Water District's Sauk Lake Management Unit as high priority for water quality improvement. Three of these lakes are listed as water quality-impaired for nutrients and the fourth - Long Lake - has had periodic e.Coli problems documented in several tributaries. This project will allow Todd County to expand on previous evaluations of 13 other lakes.
Todd County Septic Inspectors will research septic systems on 313 parcels that are located in the "highly vulnerable" portion of the City of Long Prairie's Drinking Water Supply Management Area. Each parcel's tanks and soil drain fields will be inspected for septic system compliance. Todd County will follow up with landowners found to have noncompliant systems in an effort to protect Long Prairie''s drinking water supply.
The proposed work will be the fifth septic inventory effort conducted by Todd County and will include eight lakes, 431 parcels, and 277 established addresses. Three of the lakes - Cedar, Long Higgens, and Pauley are located in the Sauk River Watershed District's Sauk Lake Management Unit which is a high priority for improvement. These are the last three lakes of any size to be completed in the Sauk River Watershed portion of Todd County. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are an issue through the watershed and this management unit in particular.
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).
This project strives to make further, substantial steps towards the sediment and nutrient reduction goals for Buffalo River Watershed District's (BRRWD) Mainstem and Lakes Planning Region and the objectives of the Buffalo-Red River Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan adopted in 2021.
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.
