Project goal is to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) that will protect and improve water quality for the Minnesota portion of the Mississippi River–Reno and Upper Iowa River watersheds. This information paired with other tools (e.g. Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models and best management practice spreadsheets) and will support restoration and protection strategy development and prioritization efforts in the 1W1P area.
This project will restore a sub-watershed by implementing a treatment train of practices. There are 275 acres in this sub-watershed, located directly upstream of the Upper Iowa River. The topography lends itself to flashy stormwater events which leave their mark on the upland gully erosion and severely degraded streambank. The watershed operates as a funnel, bringing the high velocity water to a concentrated area and shooting it through the banks, rather than over. This has lead to a site which is void of vegetation and six streambank blowouts within a 300 foot area of streambank.
This project is designed to complete an inventory and assessment of existing stormwater infrastructure in the cities of Two Harbors and Silver including mapping urban surface and sub-surface storm water flow to determine flow paths, pour points, and areas of limited storm water infrastructural capacity. The results of this assessment will be an assessment with prioritized and targeted opportunities for municipal infrastructure retrofits or best management practice installation on both public and private land.
Use mobile AI-assisted technologies to survey lake visitors. Assess perceptions of water quality and perceived threats. Combine survey data with water quality data and trend monitoring to inform lake management.
Wolf survival and predation in summer are almost unknown but critical to deer, moose, and wolf, management. We'll study wolf predator-prey ecology, share charismatic natural history, and promote Voyageurs' region.
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.
Vermilion Community College will assist the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with meeting the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) development objectives of collecting data and completing watershed assessments for the Rainy River Headwaters, Vermilion River, and Little Fork River watersheds. Services will include providing support for field water monitoring, other field sampling and measurements and related field data management, analysis, and assessments in these watersheds.
The DMF has completely redesigned its website to broaden and improve public experience and increase accessibility to Boundary Waters history by illustrating the life of Dorothy Molter. The updated website provides searchable internet access to its archives, collects and shares memories of Dorothy Molter, has enabled news updates and improved the ease of online membership renewals and product sales.
This project will educate and assist landowners to seal unused wells by providing cost-share funds of 50% up to $1,000 per well located in highly vulnerable groundwater areas in 10 southeast Minnesota counties. Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water and due to the karst geology in SE MN groundwater is more vulnerable to contamination.
Increasing wildfires in Minnesota are mobilizing mercury and degrading water in wilderness lakes, potentially causing increased mercury concentrations in fish. We will develop approaches to protect our lakes and fish.
Having completed one year in a new and expanded facility, the Duluth Children’s Museum focused on deepening and enriching the visitor experience. Minnesota Arts and Cultural Legacy funding allowed the Museum to focus on intensive educational program services; the rotation of the exhibits to bring fresh and new experiences to the visitor; and investment in a new tracking and reporting system, Altru by Blackbaud, a project begun with a previous Legacy grant.
UMN Extension Center for Youth Development will partner with Winona and Rochester ALCs to engage 40 youth in year-long activities that connect, engage, and empower youth as environmental change-agents.
This project is in phase two of our overarching Knyaw History Archive. Phase two of the archive will be focused on the collaborative work of supporting deep knowledge acquisition of our Knyaw youth of their history and homeland experiences. Phase two of this archive will provide training Knyaw youth in interviewing techniques, videography, video editing, and secondary source research. They will also engage focus groups in discussion with Urban Village staff on the understanding, impact, and importance of preserving culture through archival work.
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.
Completion of the Master Plan for the Zumbro River Regional Water Trail (ZRRWT). Roughly 150 miles of navigable waters that wind through a diverse landscape before joining the Mississippi River.
