This grant will allow Nicollet SWCD and partners the means to establish local and regional volunteer monitors for this and future monitoring activities in the Middle Minnesota River Watershed Basin. It also enhances past water quality studies by providing present data for water quality assessment in the Seven Mile Creek Watershed, which has and is receiving support by numerous entities to increase the water quality of that watershed.
This project will fund two years of condition monitoring, data management, and oversight for two locations within the Minnesota River Mankato watershed.
This project will provide an interpretive assessment of nitrogen concentrations in Minnesota rivers and streams, including spatial and temporal trends based on historical data sets. The trends analyses will provide information useful for evaluating nitrogen reduction efforts in the past couple of decades.
Nobles County has five stream sites and three lake sites that need monitoring. These sites have had some testing in the past
and it is important to continue to monitor these for changes. Soil and Water Conservation District staff will gather the water samples in the most accurate manner possible and track the funds spent to do so. The samples will be taken monthly and sent to the labs in a timely manner.
The State of Minnesota has adopted a ten year cycle for managing water quality for each of the 80 major watersheds in the state. Every ten years, each major watershed will undergo a surface water assessment and a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) project. The North Fork Crow River WRAPS process is entering its second round which will focus both on addressing data gaps identified in the approved NFCRW Comprehensive Watershed Plan and on addressing additional required Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
This St. Louis River Watershed assessment will include the waters of Dempsey Creek, West Two River, St. Louis River, Mud Hen Creek, Embarrass River, West Swan River, Partridge River, Barber Creek, East Swan River, Helen Lake, Pine Lake, Cadotte Lake, Colby Lake, Loon Lake, St. James Pit, Strand Lake, Nichols Lake, Ely Lake, Silver Lake, Elbow Lake, Mashkenode Lake, Carey Lake and Island Lake. These lakes and streams are found throughout the St. Louis River Watershed, which spans parts of St. Louis and Itasca Counties.
The goal of this project is to produce a subwatershed assessment report for two subwatersheds in the Lake Pepin major watershed. The subwatersheds included are East Lake and the upper North Creek that drains from Lakeville, both will be studied for total phosphorus and total suspended solids. The report will include two distinct lists of potential best management practice (BMP) location, cost, feasibility, estimated reductions and 30% specifications of top projects.
This project will support the review of all public comments submitted for the North Fork Crow River TMDL and make appropriate edits and changes to the draft TMDL based on MPCA guidance.
The goal of this project is to complete Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) modeling on North and South Heron Lake and incorporate the results into the Des Moines River Watershed TMDL report.
This project will collect water quality data for 31 sites (22 lakes and 9 stream sites) within the Rainy River Headwaters, Cloquet, and Vermilion major watersheds as part of the 10-year cycle for monitoring Minnesota's waters. Due to the large number and geographic extent of monitoring sites, North St. Louis SWCD (NSLSWCD) is subcontracting with Lake County SWCD and Koochiching County SWCD. An intern from the Vermilion Community College (VCC) Water Resources Program will be hired to conduct monitoring of 4 stream sites and 3 lake sites located between Ely and Virginia.
This contract will be to initiate the second cycle of the North Fork Crow River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) development. The project will provide needed information and analysis to make sure that implementation strategies are well thought out and targeted. The result will be a framework for civic and citizen engagement and communication, which will contribute to long-term public participation in surface water protection and restoration activities throughout the watershed.
The goal of this project is to add dual endpoints to the turbidity section of the North Fork Crow TMDL so that it addresses the proposed TSS standards.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will coordinate the collection of high-resolution elevation data for northeastern portion of Minnesota using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems. The geographic area of the work includes Minnesota counties of Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties and that portion of Koochiching County that comprises Voyageurs National Park.
The overall project goal is to develop complementary (same year) physical, biological, and chemical data sets for eight agency-prioritized lakes and three streams in NE Minnesota to incorporate into the overall state database for MPCA assessment purposes as well as research purposes.
This project will improve the water quality of Northwood Lake by treating storm water runoff from over 110 acres of currently untreated urban land. The project includes the installation of a variety of practices at two different locations adjacent to the lake that will maximize storm water treatment while conserving drinking water and preserving park land.
The goal of this project is to refine the nutrient and algae simulation in the Minnesota River basin using all relevant available sources of information. The outcome of this work order is a revised Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model application for the Minnesota River basin that correctly represents nutrient sources and algae.
Olmsted SWCD will work in coordination with Fillmore SWCD and Root River (Houston) SWCD to collect water quality and chemistry parameters on 14 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved sites within the Root River watershed during the 2018-2019 sampling season.
Parameters to be tested include:TSS, TP, Chloride, CaCO3 (hardness), E. Coli, Chlorophyll A, Specific Conductance, Temp, pH, DO, NO2/NO3.
The ambient groundwater monitoring network collects samples for contaminants of emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals, insect repellents, bisphenol A, and alkylphenol detergent breakdown products. This project will fill a data gap by collecting water samples for organophosphate flame retardants and PFAS. Samples will be collected from 135 wells and tested for organophosphate flame retardants and selected wells for PFAS.
The goals of project are to: 1) engage stakeholders and the public in watershed management activities; 2) conduct microbial source tracking to determine the source(s) of E.
This project will determine the condition of the water bodies in the Otter Tail River watershed, initiate public participation in the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) development process, begin identification of potential stressors and priority management areas within the watershed, and begin development of initial drafts of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and WRAPS report.
The goal of this project is to complete the construction, calibration, and validation of a Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Otter Tail River watershed. The contractor will produce an HSPF model that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Studies. The model will generate predicted output for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen that is consistent with observed data.
This project will be the first of its kind Civic Engagement Cohort that focusses its efforts in an individual watershed. The Otter Tail River Watershed is scheduled to start a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) in 2016 and as a component of that project, the cohort will provide the civic engagement requirement. The cohort will be comprised of 25-30 individuals located throughout the watershed who represent a broad spectrum of resource managers and citizens who are familiar with water quality and watershed management.
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate a Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Otter Tail watershed. The contractor will produce a HSPF watershed model application(s) that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The contractor will clearly demonstrate that this model generates predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen that are consistent with available sets of observed data.
Minnesota Clean Water Funds will be used to complete a paleolimological study of the St. Louis River Estuary for the purpose of providing information critical to removing Beneficial Use Impairments in the St. Louis River Area of Concern. This project will reconstruct the biological (algal load and composition), geochemical (organic and inorganic), sediment, and mercury chronology to identify historical temporal and spatial variations in the St. Louis River Estuary in order to better understand the natural and anthropogenic drivers related to beneficial use impairments for the St.
The goal of this project is to better target restoration activities in the Cannon River watershed via a paleolimnological study of a selected set of the lakes addressed in the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the watershed. The goals are to better constrain lake phosphorus budgets, and determine the magnitude of ecological change experienced by a range of lake types.
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (Wood) was selected for this project to conduct work in support of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) program. This project is a multi-phased pilot study to further validate and refine potential locations across Minnesota that may have historically been, or are currently, contaminated with PFAS. The primary objective is to evaluate potential PFAS locations, specifically compost sites, to determine presence or absence of PFAS at each site.
The study will assess existing phosphorus data records and create a model to explain phosphorus loading into the Red River of the North. Studies have found that the majority of nutrient loading in the stream located in agricultural areas occurs with sediment loading since nutrients are typically bound to sediment particles.
To contractor will develop materials on the topic of phosphorus retention by bioretention media components. Information from the deliverables will be incorporated into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual, with the goal of providing information to MS4 permittees to facilitate compliance with Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements in stormwater permits.
The main goal of this pilot project is to use cutting-edge biological and data analysis methods to investigate, determine, and report on potential environmental stressors (including contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), adverse outcome pathways (AOPs, i.e., sub-organismal biological mechanisms that link environmental stressor occurrences to adverse organismal outcomes), and biological outcomes in urban surface and stormwater samples.
Phase II of this project will focus on source assessment, running watershed scenarios, Kego Lake TMDL, lake protection planning, Stressor identification and the continuation of the Civic Engagement components of the project. Information gathered in Phase II will be utilized in developing the WRAP report which will be developed in the future Phase III of the project.
This project is a continuation of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study that addresses lake eutrophication (phosphorus) in two lakes that are on the 2014 United States Environmental Protection Agency 303(d) list of impaired waters, located in the Pine River Watershed. The contractor will be responding to public comment on the Pine River TMDL.
The purpose of this project is to address Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on the pre-public notice draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report that were received by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in January 2016.
Samples will be taken from lakes and streams from the Kettle River Watershed. The sampling and monitoring of these waters will result in a better understanding of the water quality within the watershed. Having a better understanding of the water quality in the watershed can help when targeting where to put conservation projects on the ground.
This project will complete a Watershed Restoration and Protection (WRAP) Plan that includes a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to achieve water quality standards for the listed pollutants, and that are understood and adoptable by local units of government and other stakeholders. This project will also provide an important water quality framework for civic and citizen engagement and communication, which will contribute to long-term public participation in surface water protection and restoration activities throughout the watershed.
The overall goal is to develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) Report and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Study that will address water quality impairments and maintain or improve water quality throughout the Pioneer Sarah Creek watershed, which is part of the North and South Fork Crow major watersheds. The study will identify sources of pollutants to the streams and lakes, allocate pollution reduction goals, and prioritize and identify implementation strategies to maintain or improve water quality in key lakes and streams in the watershed.
The overall goal is to develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study that will address water quality stream impairments and maintain or improve water quality of streams throughout the Pioneer Sarah Creek watershed, which is part of the North and South Fork Crow major watersheds. The study will identify sources of pollutants to the streams and develop restoration and protection strategies for the streams in the Pioneer-Sarah Creek watershed.
The overall goal is to develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) report and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study that will address water quality lake impairments and maintain or improve water quality of lakes throughout the Pioneer Sarah Creek watershed, which is part of the North and South Fork Crow major watersheds. The study will identify sources of pollutants to the lakes and develop restoration and protection strategies for the lakes in the Pioneer-Sarah Creek watershed.
In 2022, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will engage in Intensive Watershed Monitoring in the Missouri River Basin which includes four watersheds. Through this agreement, the Pipestone Soil and Water Conservation District will assist with this effort by monitoring seven stream sites in three of the targeted watersheds. The sites are located on Medary Creek, Flandreau Creek, Pipestone Creek, Rock River (x2), Poplar Creek, and Chanarambie Creek. The sites were chosen by the MPCA and agreed upon by local entities.
The Platte River is listed by MPCA as impaired for fish bioassessments and water temperature. It is a recreational river used by many swimmers, paddlers and flotation users. The Platte is a major tributary to the Mississippi River which is the primary drinking water supply from St. Cloud to the Gulf. The Mississippi River segment immediately below Royalton is also impaired and therefore remedial efforts above are imperative.
