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.
With roughly 70,000 residents, Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong population in the United States. The top spinning game of Tuj Lub (pronounced - too loo) has its roots in Southeast Asia and holds cultural significance to the Hmong community. Formal Tuj Lub courts, constructed near a multi-shelter picnic area at Keller Regional Park, seek
The final outcome of this project will be 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 management plan will also include implementation activities for reducing chloride to TCMA waters as well as identify high priority areas to target implementation activities.
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.
From family reunions to the nightclub scene, nobody documented the Twin Cities black community like Charles Chamblis.The 1,500-square-foot exhibition, "Sights, Sounds, and Soul: Twin Cities through the Lens of Charles Chamblis," opened April 26, 2014, and ran through February 16, 2015.
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.
A class of insecticides known as systemic neonicotinyl insecticides has been identified as a potential factor in recently observed declines in pollinators, including the phenomenon amongst honeybees known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Previous research examining the effects of neonicotinyl insecticides on lab colonies of bumblebees found that exposure to these insecticides at various levels increased queen bee mortality and detrimentally altered bee behavior and production.
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.
A 2017 workshop determined we don’t know enough about brainworm transmission to moose and what mitigation strategies are optimal. We’ve assembled a multidisciplinary team to tackle the highest research priorities.
Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are found in surface waters in Minnesota and nationally. CECs can cause adverse ecological and human health impacts, and occur as complex mixtures in the environment. One of the greatest barriers to addressing the problem of CECs is a lack of understanding of where these compounds come from and which sources dominate in different locations and at different times.
Through our “Somali Language and Culture” gatherings, Central MN neighbors will learn conversational Somali phrases they can share with their colleagues, customers, clients, patients, and/or friends. These gatherings will also include a time of learning about the Somali culture! These sessions will be taught by Farhiya Iman, a member of the St. Cloud Somali community, a Unite Cloud speaker, and a local small business owner.
For this project, we are partnering with a local Somali-owned business, Nori Cafe and Creamery. Nori Cafe and Creamery provides a space that bridges the gap between different cultures through events and an array of coffee, tea, smoothies and cold drinks. Starting this past June, they have hosted bi-monthly “Somali Language Nights” where a local member of the Central MN Somali community teaches Somali phrases to non-Somali community members. #unitecloud has promoted this event on our social media and the response has been fantastic!
Cognizant to the needs of the stormwater community, a group that has engaged in stormwater research at the University of Minnesota (UMN) has developed a research program for the biennium that addresses pressing needs: a stormwater research roadmap and framework for priority needs, research required to improve stormwater pond maintenance, and information transfer related to these needs.
The Minnesota Zoo will develop educational displays and engaging, hands-on interactives to summarize scientific findings about moose decline in Minnesota. Information will be integrated online to increase accessibility for all.
Land and water conservation efforts require accurate information about land cover and land use. Minnesota’s land cover and land use data has not been updated since 2000 and so does not reflect changes since that time resulting from growth and development, agricultural production, or landscape cover. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are using this appropriation to conduct a statewide update and enhancement of land cover and land use data and make it freely available online for use by government and non-government organizations involved in land and water conservation.
This work order will provide the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with assistance in assembling, graphics, geographic information system (GIS) maps, data synthesis, writing, formatting and editing the 5-year nutrient reduction strategy progress report and update and similar updates for the Sediment Reduction Strategy. The Sediment Strategy update also involves incorporation of modeling results and other technical information into the 2015 strategy document.
This project will result in updates to the Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) Calculator, creation of a water quality calculator based on the MIDS Calculator, and recommended updates to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. The updated MIDS Calculator will be called MIDS Calculator Version 4 and the water quality calculator will be called MPCA Water Quality Calculator Version 1.
The goal of this project is to obtain key information needed to update the Nutrient Reduction Strategy based on watershed approach experiences over the past five years.
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.
This church, built in 1901 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, had its electrical service updated. The main circuit breaker and subfeed panels were replaced. An outdoor electrical outlet was replaced and several more outlets were added to the interior. Larger supply wires were installed to improve capacity for future handicap accessible improvements to the building.
