A family dairy farm in the shoreland area of Lake Miltona has a liquid manure storage area that is not up to standards due to sandy soil and a high water table, increasing the likelihood of groundwater contamination. Lake Miltona is connected to the Alexandria Area Chain of Lakes and ultimately the water ends up in the Long Praire River. Groundwater impacts to the Long Prairie River have the potential to be significant.
Lake Miltona is considered one of the finest lakes in Central Minnesota and its 15 miles of lake shore make it the largest lake in Douglas County. Smokey Timbers Youth Camp, owned by the Smokey Timbers Foundation, is located on the north side of Lake Miltona. There is currently an erosion problem at the camp where a large gully has developed that drains into the lake.
Protect and restore 590 acres of significant wildlife habitat through conservation easements and restoration projects on private lands within Important Bird Areas with an emphasis on those located in within priority areas identified in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan.
This project is for technical assistance during the Lake Winona Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) public notice and revisions to the document prior to sending to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final approval.
The overall goal of this project is to perform water quality monitoring and load calculation duties to accomplish Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) monitoring efforts at the seven sites within the Redwood and Cottonwood River watersheds as well as the Minnesota River site near Morton. To accomplish this goal the requested funds will provide for technician’s time, mileage, lab costs, supplies, as well as equipment calibration and upkeep.
We will characterize environmental drivers contributing to the decline of wild rice using lake sediment cores to reconstruct historical wild rice abundance in relation to lake and watershed stressors.
The purpose of this project is to improve understanding of primary productivity in the Red River and the diversity and population structure of the algal communities occurring along the river system. This will be accomplished through taxonomic identification of periphyton and phytoplankton assemblages necessary for characterizing responses to nutrient gradients along the Red River of the North.
The Redeye River watershed is conducting the second intensive watershed assessment. The water quality in the watershed is still pretty healthy, but the streams with poor water quality identified previously are still not meeting water quality standards. The goal during this cycle is to better identify problem areas so that parcel specific implementation can occur to achieve improved water quality. The best method available to better target implementation is through culvert inventories, visual and desktop surveys, as well as outreach.
