This project will increase the ability of the Carver County Water Management Organization (CCWMO) to approach local community partners and fund projects that treat stormwater runoff at the source instead of treating stormwater downstream at a regional pond or through other large scale best management practices (BMPs). The CCWMO will target three geographic areas that have demonstrated strong community involvement, effective partner relationships, and support for the goal of improving water quality of locally impaired waters or regionally significant water body.
Carver County Staff will monitor Silver Creek at station S000-843 following the basic monitoring regime. S000-843 is located in the Lower Minnesota subwatershed in southeastern Carver County. The monitoring will be conducted from 2014 to 2015 and include 13 site visits in 2014; collecting TSVS, TSS, Total P, Ammonia-N, TKN, NO2+NO3, Sulfate, Chloride, and Hardness as CaCO3 ten times. E.coli will be collected nine times in 2014.
The Minnesota Historical Society is administering grants to organizations to support civics education programs for Minnesota's youth. Civics education provides students with an understanding of the democratic foundation of our national, state, and local government and constitutional principles. Programs run by Kids Voting St. Paul, the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation, and the YMCA has been funded with this money.
The mission of the Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force is to promote and share the rich history of the American Civil War and Minnesota's connection to it. With support from the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, the task force oversees the development of statewide, balanced activities commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War and Minnesota's involvement in it and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.
The goals of the program are to evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices, identify underlying processes that affect water quality, and develop technologies to target critical areas of the landscape. Funded projects provide current and accurate scientific data on the environmental impacts of agricultural practices and help to develop or revise agricultural practices that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining farm profitability.
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 Clearwater River watershed. 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 Q-Lot at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is an 8 acre (1,000 spaces) gravel and asphalt parking lot. The parking lot's surface is impervious, which means it doesn't allow for rainfall or snow melt to soak into the ground. Instead, the water runs off directly into storm sewers, taking with it sediment, bacteria, automotive fluids and other pollutants which flow straight into the Mississippi River. SCSU staff has frequently witnessed plumes of sediment the color of chocolate milk where the storm sewer discharges into the river.
The St. Cloud Waste Water Treatment Facility (SCWWTF) is currently conducting long term planning for future biosolids management. The most likely path forward includes dewatering of the digested biosolids, which will produce a supernatant stream with significant phosphorus and ammonia loads that would be returned to the liquids treatment portion of the WWTF. Returning these nutrient loads to the liquids train would result in increases to effluent concentrations, increases in power consumption, or both.
College students from underrepresented communities are placed across the Minnesota Historical Society's various departments and sites as interns. During their semester-long internships, the students have the opportunity to work alongside museum professionals to enhance their skills and apply their knowledge in a professional environment. They also participate in learning activities to enrich the internship experience and network with other interns in their cohort.
