This project will complete a chloride management plan which will lay out a strategy for addressing chloride impacts to our surface waters for the 7-county metropolitan area. This chloride management plan will satisfy EPA requirements for impaired waters, address waters not yet listed, and develop a strategy to protect waters that are currently meeting the water quality standards.
This project will provide the MPCA and all local partners in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA) the information and tools necessary to improve and/or maintain water quality with respect to chloride for the 7-county metropolitan area during the winter maintenace period.
The City of Hallock will restore and enhance habitat to facilitate fish passage by retrofitting the existing Hallock Dam on the South Branch of the Two Rivers and re-establishing a stable riffle-pool habitat downstream, as funding allows. The existing 11-foot high dam will be modified with a rock-arch rapids fishway that will provide lake sturgeon and walleye spawning habitat and reconnect more than 30 miles and in excess of 300 acres of high quality, diverse habitat along the South Branch.
This project is the second phase of updating the Two Rivers watershed Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model. This project includes calibration of the model and including a proposed impoundment in the model. An analysis of possible downstream water quality impacts will also be done.
The primary objective of this project is to extend the simulation period of the Two Rivers Watershed Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model through 2017 to support future simulation and assessment of the planned Klondike impoundment.
The goals of Phase I of the TRW WRAP are to: 1) gather or develop watershed data needed for the development of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy; and 2) establish project and sub-basin work groups, develop a social outcomes strategy, and develop a civic engagement evaluation strategy to guide the WRAP project.
This project will provide modeling services to support the completion of the Typo Lake and Martin Lake Excess Nutrients TMDL report. A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report quantifies pollutant levels, identifies sources of pollution, and proposes ways to bring water quality back to an acceptable level.
The goal of this project is to assess groundwater sustainability in the I-94 corridor between the Twin Cities and St. Cloud due to the corridor's significant expected growth, the inerent natural limits of groundwater, and the vulnerability of groundwater to contamination.
Increase rural community capacity to teach and transmit Dakota language. Create a safe, nurturing immersion - learning environment that actively engages 15 intergenerational families in learning and speaking Dakota together through traditional Dakota lifeways.
By creating an active and joyful Dakota-speaking community learning environment, we anticipate that the proposed Unspeunkiyapi project will result in: 1. A unique language learning model for Dakota youth in rural southwestern Minnesota. 2. Increased trust, confidence, and ability to speak the Dakota language with adults, elders and other youth in our rural region. 3. Sustainable community expectations sills to continue speaking together into the future. 4. Informational language lesson videos made available for youth and adults who are not part of the program.
By creating an active and joyful Dakota-speaking community learning environment, we anticipate that the proposed Unspeunkiyapi project will result in: 1. A unique language learning model for Dakota youth in rural southwestern Minnesota. 2. Increased trust, confidence, and ability to speak the Dakota language with adults, elders and other youth in our rural region. 3. Sustainable community expectations sills to continue speaking together into the future. 4. Informational language lesson videos made available for youth and adults who are not part of the program.
Over the past 100 years, about half of Minnesota’s original 22 million acres of wetlands have been drained or filled. Some regions of the State have lost more than 90 percent of their original wetlands. The National Wetland Inventory, a program initiated in the 1970s, is an important tool used at all levels of government and by private industry, non-profit organizations, and private landowners for wetland regulation and management, land management and conservation planning, environmental impact assessment, and natural resource inventories.
Though many parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area are urbanized, there are also has large areas of natural lands that continue to serve as important habitat for fish, wildlife, and plant communities. However, pressure on these remaining lands continues to intensify as population and development pressures increase.
This project will provide the monitoring of reaches where there are data gaps, incorporate new data and analyze relevant data, identify pollutant sources, hold a stakeholder meeting, and gather information towards the future development of a Draft Restoration (TMDL) and Protection Plan.
The goal of this project is the completion of an Upper Mississippi River Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Protection Plan. In addition, an Implementation Plan will be developed and finalized under this contract.
The goal of this project is to conduct water chemistry monitoring at two subwatershed sites based on flow conditions, targeting runoff events using protocols defined in the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedures and Guidance. The data collected will be submitted to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and used in the FLUX32 model for calculating pollutant loads. This loading information, in turn, will be used at both the state and local level to guide policy and strategies for the restoration and protection of Minnesota’s waters.
This project will support the monitoring of reaches where there are data gaps, incorporate new data and relevant data, continue identification of pollutant sources, complete load duration curves, coordinate and encourage participation in stakeholder meetings. The information gathered during Phase IIB will be utilized towards the development of a Draft Restoration (TMDL) and Protection Plan (Plan).
This project will extend the simulation period for the Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) models for the Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Crow Wing, Redeye, Long Prairie, Sartell, Sauk, St. Cloud, and Crow watersheds, and review and comment on the calibration.
This project will extend, calibrate, and validate watershed models using the Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Mississippi Headwaters, Leech Lake, Pine, and South Fork Crow Watersheds.
Upper Mississippi, North Fork Crow River Major Watershed TMDL Project led by CROW with assistance from local partners North Fork Crow River Watershed District (WD); Middle Fork Crow River WD; Wright Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
This project will develop a watershed restoration plan that provides quantitative pollutant load reduction estimates and a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to achieve water quality standards for all impairments within the watershed. It will also an important 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 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.
This project will collect up to one year of water quality and stream flow information on Kelle’s Coulee to aid in the development of the Valley Branch Watershed District Restoration and Protection study. The information being collected by the Washington Conservation District will be used in developing the models necessary to complete the TMDL for Kelle’s Coulee.
The VRWJPO is pursuing a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) project in cooperation with the MPCA in order to better identify the sources of stress and impairment to the river, tributaries, and lakes and evaluate the feasibility of reaching water quality goals, and properly allocating pollution reduction goals to those areas identified as likely pollution sources. Successful restoration and protection outcomes are dependent on successful community building and ownership of both the problems and solutions identified in the WRAPS.
The goal is to develop the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) and a public and stakeholder participation process that encourages local involvement in water quality discussions and solutions, identifying impaired waters, developing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs); and planning, setting priorities, and implementing the WRAPS recommendation to restore impaired waters. Phase II of the WRAPS will consists of developing TMDLs for the impaired reaches as well as developing the final WRAPS document and implementation planning.
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.
Tetra Tech will work to support the science needed when planning in Minnesota for water storage practice implementation. The goal is to provide practical water storage recommendations that can be incorporated into smaller scale planning within major watersheds (HUC 8), as well as larger scale planning for the Sediment Reduction Strategy for the Minnesota River and South Metro Mississippi River.
The Metropolitan Council was awarded $1,250,000 from Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment funds for a Water Efficiency Grant Program during the Minnesota Legislature's 2021 First Special Session. The Metropolitan Council (Council) implemented a water efficiency grant program effective July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. Grants were awarded on a competitive basis to municipalities that are served by a municipal water system. The Council provides 80% of the program cost; the municipality must provide the remaining 20%.
This is a joint project between the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), North Dakota, and Manitoba. The project is a basin-wide, up-to-date water quality trend analysis using the "QWTrend" program for approximately 40 bi-national river sites to review nutrients, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, sulfate and chloride from 1980 - 2015.
This program supports communities as they plan and implement projects that address emerging drinking water supply threats. It supports the exploration cost-effective regional and sub-regional solutions, leverages inter-jurisdictional coordination, and prevents overuse and degradation of groundwater resources.