This project will support Minnesota's condition monitoring strategy through the collection of water quality data on streams and rivers in the Nemadji River watershed. The Nemadji River watershed is located in southeastern Carlton County and northeastern Pine County. Water quality samples will be collected primarily during weather-related events that affect stream flow such as snowmelt and rainfalls.
The Fairview Avenue storm sewer system is under capacity and stormwater runoff reaches the pipe faster than the pipes can convey the water downstream. This causes the system to surcharge, causing arterial street flooding, local street flooding, inundation of open spaces, as well as private property damage. This storm sewer system is directly connected to several significant regional water bodies.
Long Lake is impaired for nutrients and is a high priority in the City's Surface Water Management Plan and the Vermillion River Watershed Management Plan. As part of a pond feasibility study funded by 2021 WBIF dollars, the City identified pond EVR-P11 as a high quality project to help reduce nutrients in the watershed. The city is requesting $115,331 for a project that will include the excavation of existing pond, reconstruction of the pond outlet, and the installation of infiltration bench. The project will provide approximately 2.21 lbs of Total Phosphorous removal.
Faribault County Soil and Water Conservation District will develop a mini-grant program to partner with area non-profits, community groups and lake associations to implement stormwater management practices that will intercept, treat, filtrate and/or infiltrate runoff that will reduce phosphorus and sediment loads into high priority and TMDL impaired waters in Faribault County. This program would provide cost-share and technical assistance to enable these organizations to go beyond planning and take action to protect our water resources.
The Faribault County Soil and Water Conservation District Drainage Engineer will inventory public drainage ditches to identify priority systems and areas where erosion, sediment, and nutrients contribute to water quality degradation. Sites identified for potential side inlet control, buffer strip need, or water storage will be prioritized for landowner contact and follow through by seeking external funding opportunities.
Working with a consultant, a current online database to manage public drainage systems will be enhanced and a corresponding mobile inspection app will be developed to facilitate drainage compliance and improve inspection planning. With these improvements, a long-term, comprehensive, GIS-compatible database will be in place to help plan, collect, document, summarize, and analyze system condition, repair needs, and violations with the overall goal of protecting and improving water quality.
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
After 6 years of intensive baseline monitoring at 5 edge-of-field sites, 1 intermittent and 3 in-stream sites in 3 sub-watersheds representing the geomorphic regions of the Root River, the second phase of the project is well prepared for the implementation of BMPs. Continued monitoring will be used to measure the effectiveness of the BMPs for the next 6 years. In preparation for BMP implementation, extensive planning was completed using LiDAR terrain analysis and the Tomer Framework to prioritize practices.
Although agriculture dominates the landscape in the Root River watershed, urban stormwater is a component of the nonpoint sources that create the sediment load that is the main focus for reduction strategies in the draft turbidity TMDL report. This project will provide an opportunity to work with non-profits and other groups in local communities to implement stormwater practices that improve infiltration, storage and treatment of stormwater before it discharges into streams and rivers.
The Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council work with forest landowners, managers and loggers to implement a set of voluntary sustainable forest management guidelines that include water quality best management practices (BMPs) to ensure sustainable habitat, clean water, and productive forest soils, all contributing to healthy watersheds. This project will monitor the implementation of these forest management guidelines and BMPs on forested watersheds in MN.
River Watch (RW) enhances watershed understanding and awareness for tomorrow’s decision-makers through direct hands-on, field-based experiential watershed science. High School based teams throughout the Minnesota River Basin participate in a variety of unique and innovative watershed engagement opportunities such as Water Quality Monitoring and Macroinvertebrate surveys that are suited to their school, community, and watershed needs.
BWSR will administer funding to eligible County projects that provide funds and other assistance to low income property owners to upgrade or replace Noncompliant Septic Systems. BWSR will also manage annual reporting completed by each County.
Varney Lake is owned and maintained by the City of white Bear Lake as part of its stormwater collection system. The City will excavate approximately 10,000 cubic yards of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contaminated sediment from Varney Lake (which is located in a residential portion of the City) and manage the sediments on site by encapsulating the sediment in a berm covered with clean top soil. The encapsulated sediment will be managed as a solid waste in what the MPCA refers to as a limited use solid waste landfill (Facility).
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate three HSPF watershed models. The project will result in HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. The models are expected to generate predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The goal of this project is to supplement and refine the Deer Creek Watershed TMDL Report and Implementation Plan project with detailed determinations of critical source areas and prioritization of the associated management practices, facilitated by additional meetings with local resource managers and validated with a field survey. Completed work will more fully inform the TMDL report and TMDL implementation plan on critical source areas of sediment and quantify those sources.
The VRWJPO and partners will be completing two activities under this grant. These activities include 1) a stream restoration project at Middle Creek in the City of Lakeville, and 2) an alum treatment feasibility study for Alimagnet Lake in the Cities of Apple Valley and Burnsville. The outcome for the Middle Creek restoration project is an estimated removal of 10.75 tons/year of TSS and 64.5 lbs/year of TP. The outcome for the alum treatment feasibility study is one completed lake alum treatment feasibility study.
The Lower St. Croix Watershed (LSCW) consists of an abundance of natural resources making it conducive for both agricultural production and urban areas. The watershed also contains various geologic features rendering substantial areas of the watershed to have vulnerable groundwater including DWSMA vulnerability, pollution sensitivity to wells, pollution sensitivity to near surface materials, karst features, and well testing show ? 5 mg/L nitrate.
The VRWJPO, and its partner, the City of Lakeville, propose the installation of a fish barrier to prevent migration of rough fish between East Lake in Lakeville, MN and the North Creek tributary of the Vermillion River (North Creek). The partners also propose rough fish removals from East Lake. East Lake is a nutrient-impaired water body. Rough fish, specifically common carp and goldfish are both invasive species that have been found to be exacerbating internal nutrient load issues within East Lake.
The Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA) is a joint powers organization consisting of ten member Counties and SWCDs encompassing the Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Watonwan Watersheds. Our mission is to lead in the implementation and promotion of economically viable watershed activities through the combined efforts of local partners. We have identified two target areas in the GBERB (Greater Blue Earth River Basin) where high levels of nitrates directly affect public water supply.
This project will study the geologic controls on nitrate transport in southeast Minnesota's karst landscape and will also provide datasets for other projects over time.
The GVCC Pond Excavation Project will remove approximately 2,500 cubic yards of accumulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) Level/Tier 3 contaminated sediment from the Golden Valley Country Club stormwater treatment pond.
This soil health funding opportunity will focus on reducing nitrate contamination in the City of Goodhue's municipal water supply. The Goodhue SWCD and the City of Goodhue will expand on existing partnerships within the Wellhead Protection Area which surrounds city limits. Goodhue's 2,500 acres DWSMA sits in the Karst and Driftless Region of SE MN. About 2,000 acres of Goodhue's DWSMA are in row cropped agriculture and roughly 500 of which have been identified by the MDH as highly vulnerable; these areas will be the main focus of implementation.
This monitoring effort will focus on collecting chemistry and field data information from six sample locations on Hay Creek, Wells Creek, Bullard Creek and Gilbert Creek in Goodhue County and Miller Creek in Wabasha County within the Mississippi River-Lake Pepin Watershed (MRLP). These streams are typically cold water streams which outlet directly to the Mississippi River or Lake Pepin. This monitoring effort is to assist with the 10-year watershed-monitoring schedule that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has placed on major watersheds across the State.
The drainage areas for the Root and Whitewater rivers are located in the karst region of southeastern Minnesota. Karst is defined as a landscape with depressions such as sinkholes caused by underground erosion that dissolves the limestone bedrock making this region home to one of the largest collections of freshwater springs in the United States and some of the best trout fishing in the Midwest.
The project will estimate sand-sized sediment loads for the Blue Earth and Le Sueur Rivers using United States Geological Survey (USGS) measurements to create an overall sediment budget for the rivers in conjunction with already completed fine sediment budgets. The development of the estimates from USGS data and comparisons will strengthen the understanding of the magnitude of the sand component of the total sediment load in the rivers.
The purpose of this project is to develop a framework to implement best management practices (BMPs) on ditches in headwater areas utilizing a partnership between drainage staff and the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA). By replacing failing side-inlets with an alternative design, we can make strides towards our water quality and water quantity goals. The alternative inlets serve to prevent sediment and phosphorus from washing downstream and the design can also alleviate peak flows by temporarily storing stormwater.
The project will estimate the amount of sand loading at the mouth of the Blue Earth and Le Sueur Rivers using suspended sediment and bedload data collected by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and the analysis results published by the USGS and others. The development of the estimates from USGS data and comparisons to existing estimates will strengthen the understanding of the magnitude of the sand component of the total sediment load in the rivers.
