With over 500 public water lakes in Becker County, we are blessed with abundant and diverse lake resources that, like those of much of lake country, are at risk of degradation due to increasing development pressures, redevelopment of non-conforming lots, rising stormwater runoff and land use changes within their watersheds.
The Berger Fountain, known as the dandelion fountain to most, was installed in 1975 by Benjamin Berger and has been a beloved neighborhood landmark in Loring Park and a favorite location for wedding photographers and children ever since. Ben Berger was a park board commissioner and, after seeing a dandelion fountain in Australia, fundraised to build a sister fountain right here in Minnesota.
This study will leverage our current bioacoustics monitoring framework to assess avian diversity at the statewide scale through a citizen science acoustic monitoring program, with a focus on private lands.
This project will reduce sediment to the Minnesota River, and protect private land and public infrastructure. Blakeley Trail (County Rd 60) in southwest Scott County is surrounded by deep ravines. As these ravines incise, they cause road shoulder landslides, which cut into private property, threaten the road at the head-cuts and generate sediment which creates maintenance and flooding issues downstream. The Scott Watershed Management Organization and the Scott County Highway Department have partnered on this project because of the multiple benefits.
Seminary Fen, a 600-acre complex in Carver County, supports one of only 500 calcareous fens in the world and is one of the highest quality calcareous fens in southern Minnesota. The Fen feeds Assumption Creek; one of the metro area's last known trout streams that supports naturally reproducing native brook trout. Assumption Creek then discharges to the nearby Minnesota River. The Fen's unique hydrology, soils, plants, and habitats are highly sensitive to water quality and sedimentation stress.
This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project will develop a TMDL Report and Implementation Plan defining the sources contributing to the impairments and outlining the steps necessary to bring Bluff Creek back to meeting water quality standards.
This project will develop a Final TMDL report and Implementation Plan for the Bluff Creek Watershed. The main outcomes of this project are the development of a Final TMDL Report approved by MPCA and EPA and a Final Implementation Plan approved by MPCA.
The goal of this project is to complete the construction of an Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Buffalo River watershed. Tetra Tech will produce a HSPF watershed model application(s) that will be fully functioning and ready for calibration as part of Phase 2.
This is the second phase of building the Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model for the Buffalo River watershed. The project will result in a completed model including necessary calibration and validation phases.
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 continue to develop, and calibrate/validate the hydrology of an Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Buffalo River watershed. The consultant will add representation of point source discharges to the model. The consultant will compile flow data for the purposes of calibration and validation. An initial hydrologic calibration will be performed and submitted for approval.
Multiple water courses in the Buffalo River - Red River Watershed District are impaired for turbidity. These waterways include the Red River of the North, Wolverton Creek, Deerhorn Creek, Stoney Creek, South Branch Buffalo River, and the main stem of the Buffalo River. This project will provide a means of prioritizing areas of the watershed to implement conservation practices to reduce overland runoff contaminant loadings contributing to water quality impairments.
The goal of this project is to address public comments on the public noticed draft Watershed Restoration & Protection Strategy (WRAPS) study and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report for the watershed, and to produce a final draft WRAPS study and TMDL report ready for final approval by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
A century of channel straightening efforts has significantly reduced the habitat quality within the BRRWD. The BRRWD has identified, with preliminary designs completed, a number of straightened streams. In the second phase of this multi-phase project, the BRRWD in partnership with landowners, federal, state, and local agencies, will restore 7 miles of the Upper Buffalo River channel and riparian habitat corridor, and 4.2 miles of the South Branch Buffalo River channel and riparian habitat corridor.
This Surface Water Assessment Grant (SWAG) project is intended to supplement the 2019-2020 Intensive Watershed Monitoring (IWM) process for the Buffalo and Upper Red River of the North watersheds. Nine sites will provide water chemistry and river eutrophication data to the IWM. Monitoring sites were requested by the Buffalo - Red River Watershed District (BRRWD) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
During the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's 2011 lake assessment process nine shallow lakes located in the Buffalo-Red River Watershed in western Becker County were determined to be impaired for excessive nutrients primarily from agricultural runoff. Located in a heavy agricultural production area, this project will address agricultural stormwater runoff by installing 50 water and sediment control basins and 20 acres of vegetative buffer strips adjacent to the lakes. Fifteen landowners with a potential for 26 water and sediment control basin sites have already been identified.
Erosion is a serious water quality issue found throughout the Buffalo-Red River Watersheds rivers and tributaries. Excessive erosion occurs in the beach ridge area where the land naturally has excessive slopes. The beach ridge area consists of sand and gravel deposited by wave action along the shoreline of Lake Agassiz at various times as the lake level rose and fell. The sand and gravel soils, combined with the relatively steep slopes of the area can be susceptible to erosion.
A century of channel straightening has significantly reduced the stream habitat quality within the BRRWD. The BRRWD has identified, with preliminary designs completed, a number of straightened streams. In several multi-phase projects, the BRRWD in partnership with landowners, federal, state, and local agencies, will restore 3 miles of targeted stream and their respective riparian habitat corridors. Targeted restorations of straightened streams include the South Branch of the Buffalo River, Upper Buffalo River, Stony Creek, Whisky Creek, and Whiskey's Creek southern tributary.
We will partner with urban municipalities and school districts to support planting of climate-resilient tree species. Activities include planting trees, gravel bed nursery creation, tree assessment and mapping, and community.
Two buses, each holding 52 people, were rented to take people to the Minnesota State Capitol and the Minnesota History Center. The plan is to include people from Mahnomen, Frazee, Ulen, Lake Park, Cormorant and Detroit Lakes on this trip. Buses leave at approximately 6:00 am from Detroit Lakes with arrival at the Capitol/History Center scheduled for approximately 10:30 am. One busload will tour the capitol while the other bus tours the History Center. After tour the groups would switch venues - First Capitol group would go to tour the History
The Floyd chain of lakes is of economic significance to the Detroit Lakes region providing great game fishing, boating and other summer and winter recreational opportunities. Decades of nutrient loading into North Floyd from the surrounding Campbell Creek area has led to a decrease in water quality. The same is true for the Buffalo River portion of this project area.
Once thought to have an essentially inexhaustible groundwater supply, Minnesotans are now realizing our rates of use are regionally unsustainable. Recent advanced modeling by the MN DNR and Metropolitan Council of aquifer supplies, in conjunction with predicted demand, indicate the major metropolitan area aquifers are currently subject to extraction rates that exceed recharge. Simply stated, we are mining our groundwater.
While aspen is one of the most dominant forest types, predicted future conditions will negatively impact aspen growth. Increasing tree diversity can provide increase ecological and economic resilience.
The goal of this project is to use a science-based and participatory approach to understanding and promoting conservation practices in the agricultural community.
Asian Media Access (AMA) will embark on a capacity-building project aimed at cultivating individual donors from Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and the public, and encompasses a multifaceted approach to enhance grant writing, reporting, nonprofit management, and fundraising capabilities. Key activities include: 1) train and assist board/staff on grant writing and reporting; 2) build internal expertise in grant writing and reporting by obtaining consultation and training from experts in Donor Solicitation.
To enhance nonoprofit arts groups' ability to serve the artistic cultural and geographic diversity of the metro area through grants for minor capital improvements equipment and supplies.
Revitalizing the old deer yards into Caribou Yards is a transformative initiative aimed at creating habitats for a herd of caribou. The need for this project arises from the closure of the old deer yards, which were previously inhabited by white-tailed deer until the last one passed away of old age. Subsequently, the fencing surrounding these three habitats has weathered and suffered damage during the years of inoccupancy.
This monitoring project includes lake and stream monitoring and encompasses all of Cass County, and surrounding counties. The project will obtain water quality data for streams; in 2009, lakeshed assessments indicated that many surface waters throughout the county were data deficient. This project will address the need for sufficient data on a county-wide basis and fulfill the State’s intensive watershed monitoring program goals by obtaining water quality data at targeted lake and stream sites.
