Continue and expand a River Watch program on the Minnesota River engaging teams of high school students in water quality monitoring and reporting the data to the MNPCA
Expand fishing opportunities in urban areas, teach more kids and families how to fish, and inventory and inform the public about safe and legal shore fishing sites throughout Minnesota.
The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will complete the innovative community engagement process started with the previous Legacy grant. CMSM will build upon the progress created with the previous Legacy grant by transitioning the team's focus to carrying-out of strategic access strategies that engage a diversity of community members in the exhibit development process, resulting in the completion of fabrication plans for exhibits and environments that are accessible; engaging; and reflect the diverse art, culture, and heritage of southern Minnesota.
Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried through three successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota used the 2013 direct appropriation to prepare for and begin building exhibit components for its permanent facility by combining professional museum expertise with local resources, volunteers, and community involvement.
In 2007, the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) conducted an environmental scan of early learning opportunities for children in southern Minnesota. It became apparent that the region creates few opportunities for children to engage in self-directed learning experiences in social settings; in particular, opportunities that create access to arts, culture, and heritage. This is still true today.
Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried out through four successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota will use the 2014-15 direct appropriation to complete fabrication and installation of several exhibit components for its permanent facility. Local resources, volunteers, and community involvement will be combined with museum expertise to complete this process.
This proposal aims to answer this question: How would the water quality of Minnesota's lakes change in the next century under future scenarios of urbanization, agricultural growth, and climate change?
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
This project will analyze existing and projected data to develop simple tools to predict the effect of land use and climate change on extreme floods and droughts.
The project will assess chemical and biological defluorination activities in environmental samples and identify the microorganisms, metabolic pathways, and intermediates resulting from degradation of fluorinated pesticides and pharmaceuticals.
This project will build the first comprehensive list of Minnesota moths and butterflies. Information gained through surveys and outreach efforts will inform land managers and inspire public appreciation.
River Watch (RW) enhances watershed understanding and awareness for tomorrow’s decision-makers through direct hands-on, field-based experiential watershed science. High School based teams throughout the Minnesota River Basin participate in a variety of unique and innovative watershed engagement opportunities such as Water Quality Monitoring and Macroinvertebrate surveys that are suited to their school, community, and watershed needs.
The Lower Minnesota River West Partnership (Partnership) is a group of the Counties and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) of McLeod, Nicollet, and Sibley, and High Island Creek Watershed District. The Partnership covers an area north and west of the Minnesota River (498,000 acres), including four major tributaries (High Island Creek, Rush River, Silver Creek and Bevens Creek) . The Partnership was formed to develop a Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan (Plan) through the One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P) program detailed in Minnesota Statutes 103B.801.
This project will create and optimize eDNA assays to detect the presence of 8 endangered or threatened mussel species around Buffalo Slough near Prairie Island Indian Community.
Geologic atlases provide maps/databases essential for improved management of ground and surface water. This proposal will complete current projects and start new projects to equal about 4 complete atlases.
Get the Lead Out is focused on protecting common loons and wildlife through education and outreach about the danger of lead fishing tackle and promoting lead-free tackle alternatives.
Per Minnesota Laws, 2011, 1st Special Session, Chapter 6, Article 4, Section 2, Subd. 6, "These amounts are appropriated to the commissioner of administration for grants to the named organizations for the purposes specified in this subdivision.
Per Minnesota Laws, 2009, Chapter 172, Article 4, Section 2, Subd. 5, "Funds in this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner of the Department of Administration for grants to the named organizations for the purposes specified in this subdivision. Up to one percent of funds may be used by the Department of Administration for grants administration. Grants made to public television or radio organizations are subject to Minnesota Statutes, sections 129D.18 and 129D.19."
This program helped to create a legacy of habitat connectivity, public access, and economic vitality based on increased outdoor recreational opportunities in the mid-Minnesota River Watershed.
This project proposes to increase the adoption of cover cropping in southwest Minnesota to address issues of loss of diversity and environmental degradation. By generating important information on cover crops,
The Hawk Creek Watershed Runoff and Sedimentation Reduction Project will improve and protect water quality through implementation of small-scale conservation practices within the watershed to reduce runoff and decrease movement of sediment and nutrients. Practices include streambank stabilizations, water and sediment control basins, grade/gully stabilizations, side inlets, alternative intakes, and buffer incentives.
This project will gather watershed data necessary for the development of a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report to maintain and improve water quality for the Hawk Creek Watershed.
This project will monitor four stream sites within the Hawk Creek Watershed to collect surface water quality data to determine the health of the potential for delisting impaired waters for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and additional data for River Eutrophication Standard (RES) evaluation. The sites will be monitored according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Water Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures.
This project will monitor seven lakes and 15 stream sites within the Hawk Creek 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 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Water Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures. The goal of this project will be to accurately gather water quality samples and data as part of an organized effort to determine surface water quality conditions within the Hawk Creek Watershed.
This project will monitor six sites within the Minnesota River Basin: Hawk Creek near Maynard, Hawk Creek near Granite Falls, Beaver Creek near Beaver Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Granite Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Hanley Falls, and Spring Creek near Hanley Falls. The sites will be monitored according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedure, which is the procedure being followed for sites currently monitored by the Hawk Creek Watershed Project.
This project will assess 4 lakes and 17 stream sites. The four lakes will be assessed for total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and secchi data by the HCWP staff. Staff will monitor East Twin, West Twin, West Solomon, and St. John’s Lakes for total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and Secchi disk readings. In order to obtain a sufficient dataset. Ten samples will be collected over 2 years. Water samples at 17 stream locations for chemical analyses, including intensive watershed monitoring sites and “non-target” sites.
This project will monitor a total of eight sites (six through the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network and two through the Intensive Watershed Monitoring). Through the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network, six sites will be monitored within the Minnesota River - Granite Falls Watershed: Hawk Creek near Maynard, Hawk Creek near Granite Falls, Beaver Creek near Beaver Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Granite Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Hanley Falls, and Spring Creek near Hanley Falls.
Evaluation of Minnesota raptors, in rehabilitation and free ranging settings, for current or previous exposure to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus to better understand outbreak impacts to raptor populations.
To strengthen a large partnership, including American Indian partners, as they improve and make available more historic information about the Minnesota River Valley.
