To hire qualified professionals to rebuild the chancel wall in the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In the North Fork Crow River Watershed, land use is mainly row crop agriculture with an extensive drainage system. Many of the existing tile lines have open intakes that transport sediment and nutrients to open ditches that drain to the North Fork Crow River. The river flows into Rice Lake which has elevated phosphorus levels. Studies show a major source of phosphorus loading comes from animal manure. Field applied manure has potential to runoff to open tile intakes being a direct path to surface water.
Rice Lake, in Stearns County, is an impaired water for nutrients that has a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation plan developed. Rice Lake is one of the larger lakes in the county, offering major water recreation opportunities, economic benefits as well as fish and wildlife habitat. It is a priority for Stearns County to implement projects that have positive impacts on this resource.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 71 easements were recorded on a total of 4,365 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. The easements were accomplished with local implementation done by SWCD, NRCS and FSA staff within the 54 county CREP area and leveraged federal funds for both landowner payments and cost share for conservation practice installation.
The Clean Water Fund (CWF) and Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF) were used together to secure easements on buffer areas. 25 easements have been recorded for a total of 672.1 acres and are reported in the output tables for the final report (acre total does not include Clean Water Fund acres). The total acreage from both CWF and OHF sources for recorded easements is 1,152.4 acres. Only the OHF acres are being reported in this final report to be consistent with the approved accomplishment plan.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 28 easements were recorded on a total of 2,390 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. Two easements are RIM wetland easements that were required to complete wetland restoration work on an adjacent easement secured with 2018 Wetlands funding. The landowners received the RIM-Only payment rate. The easements were accomplished with local implementation done by SWCD, NRCS and FSA staff within the 54 county CREP area and leveraged federal funds for landowner payments and conservation practices.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 38 easements were recorded on a total of 2,732 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. One easement is a flowage easement that was required to complete wetland restoration work on an adjacent
The Clean Water Fund (CWF) and Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF) were used together to secure easements on buffer areas. 84 easements have been recorded for a total of 1,441 acres and are reported in the output tables for the final report (acre total does not include Clean Water Fund acres). The total acreage from both CWF and OHF sources for recorded easements is 2,793.2 acres. Only the OHF acres are being reported in this final report to be consistent with the approved accomplishment plan.
This continuation of the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve buffers program will protect and restore riparian areas, permanently protecting approximately 600 acres on 17 easements. This program will continue utilizing a science-based ranking and selection process and be implemented locally, working with Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff in targeted areas in the state. Historically, buffer funding was used to expand basic water quality buffers into larger buffers.
Develop outdoor recreation facilities including a nature study/observation area, roads and trails, information boards and signs. Park includes shoreline adjacent to the Mississippi Wild & Scenic River. The new trails will provide safety and accessibility along the bluff line overlooking the river and prevent erosion caused by existing, informal earthen trails.
To hire a consultant to complete a publicly available, digital-audio tour of the city's historically significant Mississippi River built environment based on recommendations in a Community Education and Marketing Plan.
We propose identifying hot spots of groundwater chloride pollution of surface waters due to excessive road salt use, which is a long term source increasing chloride impairment of surface waters.
The project goal is to conduct water chemistry monitoring at one subwatershed site, one basin site, and one major watershed site in 2016 and 2017 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 project will focus on monitoring & assessment, stressor ID assistance, problem investigation, watershed prioritization and targeting, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report development, Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report updates and continuing civic engagement for the Sauk River Watershed.
The goal of this project is to compile the observed flow and water quality data and update the Sauk River Watershed HSPF model calibration through 2019. The Sauk River Watershed HSPF model simulates hydrology, sediment (sand, silt, and clay), temperature, phosphorus, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and chlorophyll a.
This program will permanently protect, restore and enhance critical habitat within the Sauk River Watershed, which has experienced considerable habitat loss and is at high risk for more land conversion. Using conservation easements and fee land acquisition, we will protect approximately 660 acres of priority habitat in Minnesota's Prairie and Forest-Prairie Transition Area. We will restore/enhance approximately 224 acres of wetlands and accompanying uplands to create habitat for waterfowl and populations of Species in Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN).
