We will reconstruct historical lake conditions to identify factors linked to successful walleye fisheries and guide effective management in the face of warming temperatures, invasive species, and nutrient loading.
Minnesotans increasingly value native fishes. For example, >95% of bowfished species in MN are native, yet all are poorly understood. Foundational natural resource data is absolutely necessary for all stakeholders.
Our goals are to engage 100,000 underserved youth statewide in environmental education, engaging them in the conservation and preservation of Minnesota wilderness through the experiences in the outdoors.
To update the 2003 Historic Structures Report to provide more specific guidance on the restoration of the Randolph M. Probstfield House, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Phase II of the Upper South Branch Project will continue a FY2011 CWF project with the strategic implementation of conservation practices within the Upper South Branch of the Buffalo River watershed. This second phase will result in approximately 305 acres of new filter strips, 50 side inlet sediment control structures, and 8 sediment control basins which will reduce sediment loading to the stream by 4,700 tons/year and phosphorus by 9,700 pounds/year.
This project will provide MPCA staff, local partners and citizen volunteers with a framework for building local capacity to design civic engagement and communication/outreach efforts that will contribute to meaningful and sustained public participation in surface water protection and restoration activities throughout the watershed.
This goal of this project is the completion of a Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Upper Red River watershed in the Red River Basin. This includes the construction, calibration, and validation of the model for hydrology and water quality parameters.
A joint effort of Becker and Clay Soil and Water Conservation District, the Buffalo Red Shallow Lakes and Mainstem Improvement Strategy will reduce nutrient and sediment delivery to 12 impaired lakes and impaired reaches of the Buffalo River through a targeted and prioritized approach to the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs). Numerous models have been combined with local knowledge to identify chief sources of constituents in the watershed and to isolate and prioritize implementation sites demonstrating the most significant gains in water quality.
Project partners play a vital role in the implementation of the Verdi Wellhead Protection Plan and have made this water source a priority in lowering nitrate levels. The aquifer used by the wells in the Verdi Well Field consists of a sand and gravel horizon about 30' thick which overlies clay-rich till. The geological sensitivity in all five of the Verdi wells is classified as "high".The Verdi Well Field supplies water to ten community water suppliers, 34 large rural users, and 1,126 rural hookups. Total population served by this water supply is about 7,500.
The Red River is impaired for turbidity. The level of turbidity is a significant factor in the cost of treatment of drinking water by the City of Moorhead. This water quality improvement project involves the retrofit of Clay County Ditches 9, 32, and 33 just south of the city. The project involves the installation of an estimated 87 side inlet sediment controls and 35 acres of buffer strips. All three of these ditch systems with over 16 miles of County Ditch will be treated for sediment and erosion control with the installation of conservation practices.
Minnesota Sea Grant seeks to create a science-policy fellowship program to train Minnesota's science-policy workforce and advance Minnesota's water resource policy, emulating Sea Grants successful federal-level fellowship program.
We propose robotics-based educational activities for middle-school youth on water quality in Minnesota. Youth will gain skills for measuring water quality and communicating results through group study and hands-on projects.
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.
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 Yellow Medicine One Watershed One Plan has identified Protecting and Preserving Groundwater Quality and Quantity as one of the three priorities addressed in the Plan. Seven priority sub-watersheds have been identified as priority areas, as well as two townships that have been identified by the Department of Agriculture to have vulnerable groundwater areas. Our goal is to provide 50% cost share to seal 34 abandoned wells that are located in these priority areas.
Phase 4 of the Wetland Habitat Protection and Restoration Program will result in the protection of 800 acres of high priority wetland habitat complexes in Minnesota’s Prairie and Forest-Prairie Transition areas by securing permanent conservation easements within scientifically prioritized habitat complexes. The Minnesota Land Trust will use its innovative landowner bid model to maximize conservation benefit and financial leverage in protection project selection.
Phase 2 of the Wild Rice River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) project includes: continued civic engagement; production of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study, which allocates pollutant load reductions for impaired waters; and production of the WRAPS report, which identifies implementation strategies that will maintain or improve water quality in many lakes and streams throughout the watershed.
Assesss current data sources and preliminary information about the conditions in the watershed and present the information through bibliographies, abstracts and memos.
Over the next six years, the Buffalo-Red River Watershed District (BRRWD), in partnership with landowners, federal, state, and local agencies, intends to implement a long-term comprehensive plan to restore the Wolverton Creek and its riparian corridor. This comprehensive project will turn 20 channelized stream miles to 26.2 miles of restored natural prairie stream channel. It will also protect, enhance, and restore over 740 acres (357 acres in Phase 1) of floodplain wetland and grassland habitat along the Wolverton Creek.
Wolverton Creek is a 25 mile long tributary to the Red River of the North. Its watershed drains approximately 105 square miles located in Wilkin and western Clay Counties. Wolverton Creek is the outlet for numerous ditch systems and natural drainage in the area and is a significant contributor of sediment to the Red River. The City of Moorhead and other downstream communities obtain drinking water from the Red River. Since 85% of Moorhead's drinking water comes from the Red River, high turbidity results in
higher treatment costs for their drinking water system.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requires the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to carry out the Total Maximum Daily Load Program (TMDL) in the state of Minnesota. Minnesota has an abundance of lakes and river reaches, many of which will require a TMDL study. In an effort to expedite the completion of TMDL projects, the MPCA has decided to construct watershed models. These models have the potential to support the simultaneous development of TMDL studies for multiple listings within a cataloging unit or 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code watershed.
This project will monitor four lakes and 18 stream sites within the Yellow Medicine River Watershed to collect surface water quality data to determine the health of the watershed's streams and lakes and if they are in need of restoration or protection strategies. The sites will be monitored according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) Water Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures.
The Yellow Medicine River Watershed District will contract with the Water Resource Center at the Minnesota State University - Mankato to complete a Geographic Information System (GIS) terrain analysis for the watershed using recently completed LIDAR data in southern Minnesota. Analysis will concentrate on the impaired reaches of the Yellow Medicine River Watershed and its tributaries. This inventory will utilize the State of Minnesota LiDAR elevation datasets to create many datasets through the analysis of this elevation data.
Over the years, the landscape of the Yellow Medicine Watershed has changed through drainage and loss of wetland areas. The Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Lincoln, Lyon and Yellow Medicine counties work cooperatively with the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District to oversee implementation of conservation practices in this watershed. Based on previous Clean Water Partnership diagnostic studies, it is known the river is receiving an excessive loading of nutrients, phosphorus and suspended solids. These conditions have led to declining dissolved oxygen levels as a result.
Adoption of renewable energy technologies and energy conservation practices can contribute in a variety of ways to the environmental and economic health of rural Minnesota communities through costs savings and emissions reductions. Engaging and coaching students as the leaders in the process of implementing such practices provides the added benefit of increasing knowledge, teaching about potential career paths, and developing leadership experience.
