Native trout require clean, cold water that usually originates from springs, but the springs feeding the 173 designated trout streams in southeastern Minnesota are under increasing pressure from current and expected changes in land use. This joint effort by the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is working to identify and map the springs and the areas that feed water to these springs and to learn how these waters might be affected by development and water use.
Native trout require clean, cold water that usually originates from springs, but the springs feeding the 173 designated trout streams in southeastern Minnesota are under increasing pressure from current and expected changes in land use. This joint effort by the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is working to identify and map the springs and the areas that feed water to these springs and to learn how these waters might be affected by development and water use.
The Washington County Department of Public Health and Environment is seeking funds to conduct countywide records catalog and subsequent risk analysis of subsurface sewage treatment systems, or septic systems, in the county. The records catalog will involve the collection, digitization and review of historical permit records from 1972-2004. The risk analysis will utilize information from the historical review, in addition to other pertinent available data.
Having current and accurate data on historic and archaeological sites is important to understanding our past and to preserving Minnesota’s history for future generations. In 2010-2011, the Minnesota Historical Society awarded contracts for these survey projects:
Each fiscal year of ACHF funding, a majority of the twelve regional library systems agree to allocate 10% of their ACHF funding to support statewide partnership projects. SELCO serves as the fiscal agent for statewide projects.
We will deploy acoustic detectors and revisit roost trees identified in our previous ENRTF project to measure effect of seven years of white-nose syndrome on Minnesota bats.
In recent times, the owners of Wolf Marine on the St. Croix River have to excavate sediment that has built up at the outlet of Brown's Creek every year just to keep their marina navigable. Their business is directly affected by how much soil gets into the creek. Reducing dirt and sand entering Brown's Creek is also important to others. The creek is one of the few designated trout streams in the Twin Cities area that supports a fishable brown trout population.
Bald Eagle Lake is a popular recreational lake known for its fishery on the Metropolitan Council's Priority Lakes List. The lake is negatively impacted by excess nutrients and restoring its water quality is a local priority.
This project will collect stormwater runoff from an approximately 900 acre area and re-use it to irrigate an existing golf course. This innovative project will provide a multitude of environmental benefits for Bald Eagle Lake including significant runoff volume reduction, groundwater recharge and phosphorus load reduction.
This project will generate water quality data for 10 stream locations MPCA designated for their 2012 and 2013 open-water sampling seasons (8 by NRRI-UMD and 2 via subcontract to the North St. Louis SWCD). The overall project goal is to collect event-based physical and chemical data sets for 10 agency-prioritized stream sampling sites in NE Minnesota for calculating pollutant loads and for incorporation into the overall State database for MPCA assessment purposes.
The Children's Discovery Museum's (CDM) new 3,000 piece Wizard of Oz (WOZ) collection will be properly archived, conservation materials purchased, and exhibit concept and design drawings completed. CDM facilitators and educators will travel to other children's museums in Minnesota for staff enrichment and professional development.
This project seeks to provide data on insecticide contamination in the soil and the insect community across the state and the effect of sublethal insecticide exposure on insect reproduction.
This project will apply the Sunrise River watershed computer model generated under previous projects to selected scenarios of land-cover and land-management changes. The watershed model calibrated to conditions in the late 1990s will form the initial baseline against which all other model runs will be contrasted. Scenarios to be run will include changes in future land cover, agricultural practices, urban practices, and natural resource management.
To support teachers in addressing new science standards , we propose a series of workshops across Minnesota facilitating conversation about sustainability and water conservation, specifically integrating western science and Indigenous perspectives.
This project will collect water chemistry and field parameters at the Popple River, Bowstring River, Big Fork River, Rice River, Caribou Lake and Eagle lake. It will also support the biological assessments being completed by MPCA staff for this Target Watershed Assessment. This project is a collaborative effort with MPCA, 3 SWCDs, and the well established Bigfork River Watch Program. This project is a collaborative effort with Lake of the Woods and Koochiching County SWCDs because the Big Fork Watershed encompasses both Itasca and Koochiching Counties.
This assessment will be performed using scientific volunteers, will build capacity at a technical training program at Itasca Community College (ICC), and will provide MPCA with answers providing a reasonable expectation for water quality in this under-studied region of Minnesota.
This project involves monitoring Arcola Creek. Stewardship strategies were defined for long term protection for the creek as part of the District's Lower St. Croix River Spring Creek Stewardship Plan and Ten Year Comprehensive Water Management Plan. Water quality monitoring is necessary to gather appropriate data for assessment.
The Mississippi River is a priority for the SWW 1W1P partnership. The partnership is committed to making progress in reducing sediment delivered to the the Mississippi River in support of achieving the South Metro TSS TMDL. The partnership proposes to construct one structural stormwater BMP directly benefitting the Mississippi River in the City of Newport. The completed practice will reduce sediment delivered to the Mississippi River by up to 22 tons/yr.
South Washington Watershed District and its partners will work to restore the Colby Lake watershed and prevent continued degradation of Bailey Lake by installing two large scale water re-use systems. The water re-use systems at Eagle Valley and Prestwick Golf Courses will capture urban runoff and excess nutrients that would otherwise flow into Colby and Bailey Lakes and use it for irrigation.
The South Washington Watershed District (SWWD) and its partners will continue restoration of Colby, Wilmes, and Powers Lakes through coordinated implementation of targeted watershed retrofits as part of planned roadway rehabilitation projects. Watershed retrofits will include right of way bioretention, iron enhanced sand filtration, and stormwater reuse for irrigation. These practices represent some of the most cost-effective options remaining to provide the nutrient loading reductions necessary to protect and restore SWWD's lakes.
Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District (RWMWD) is a largely developed area of the Twin Cities with an average impervious surface area of 34%. Faith organizations often have large impervious surface areas with little to no stormwater treatment on site. The goal of this project is to collaborate with faith organizations in high priority areas to implement stormwater volume reduction retrofit projects. High priority areas are defined as areas with limited to no stormwater treatment before reaching a water body and/or areas that drain to an impaired water.
This project will continue collaboration with faith organizations in priority areas to implement stormwater volume reduction retrofit projects. Priority areas are defined as areas with limited to no stormwater treatment before reaching a water body and/or areas that drain to an impaired or at risk water.
A new GIS technician will help prioritize and target conservation activities and protection strategies in nine north-central Minnesota counties. The GIS technician will create GIS products, assessments, and watershed analysis to identify the high priority areas in each County or watershed in need of protection or restoration using all available data, including LiDAR, soils, land use, completed WRAPS and other datasets. These areas will then be targeted for future resource management efforts, Clean Water Fund projects, and additional conservation activities.
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota will increase access and deepen engagement with their effectively proven School Service Program. The museum will take down the economic barriers and increase enrollment. This grant will fund more educators and facilitators, curriculum development, scholarship aid, transportation assistance and art/teaching supplies.
