The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program will be managed by the Department of Natural Resources to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and government entities.
We restored 2,081 acres of grassland and enhanced 42,425 acres of grassland for a total of 44,506 acres of wildlife habitat across 329 sites with these funds.
The goal of this project is to adapt and expand the existing successful Master Water Stewards program to engage citizens and catalyze clean water projects in suburban, exurban and rural communities of Washington and southern Chisago Counties. As part of this project, 20 citizens' stewards will be recruited and trained to work in partnership with the Washington Conservation District and area watershed management organizations to implement clean water projects in identified priority areas.
This project will develop an enhanced street sweeping plan for the City of Forest Lake that optimizes phosphorus removal from increasing sweeping frequency with the cost of additional sweeps. In addition, this project will identify road-specific street sweeping timing and frequency, quantify expected phosphorus load reductions, itemize costs of enhanced street sweeping, and recommend funding options to the City of Forest Lake.
Forest Lake Area Schools, the Rice Creek Watershed District and the City of Forest Lake have partnered to develop the first phase of a long-term stormwater reuse and education program starting. This project will result in stormwater pond retrofits and construction of new irrigation infrastructure to reduce potable groundwater usage by over 4 million gallons per year. Further, educational curriculum will be developed to integrate the reuse technology and water conservation concepts. Clear Lake is an important regional resource and boasts a very active lake association.
To hire a qualified historian to complete an evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the George Metcalf property in Afton.
Minnesota’s use of groundwater has increased over the last two decades. An increasing reliance on groundwater may not be a sustainable path for continued economic growth and development. The DNR is establishing three pilot groundwater management areas (GWMA) to help improve groundwater appropriation decisions and help groundwater users better understand and plan for future groundwater needs associated with economic development.
Improve parking, buildings and other features at the Lake Elmo Swim Pond to better meet ADA standards and improve other park visitor needs. The swim pond area was originally developed in 1986. The park had 464,200 visits in 2013.
Renovation and partial relocation of the roads and parking areas at the park; including improvements to buildings and other related facilities. The current park building was constructed in 1985. The park had 75,300 visits in 2013.
Funding supports an Irrigation Specialist to develop guidance and provide education on irrigation and nitrogenbest management practices (BMPs). In this position, Dr. Vasu Sharma provides direct support to irrigators onissues of irrigation scheduling and soil water monitoring. She is collaborating on the development of new irrigationscheduling tools that help irrigators manage water and nitrogen resources more precisely. These tools help reducenitrogen leaching losses in irrigated cropping systems.
After nearly a decade of intensive targeting, design and installation of water quality improvement practices, Lily Lake has an improving trend in long-term summer total phosphorous concentrations for the first time since monitoring began in 1985. To date, 36 storm water quality improvement projects have reduced 100 pounds of annual phosphorous discharging to Lily Lake.
Brown's Creek Watershed District and Washington County will work together to retrofit McKusick Road during a 2017 road improvement project. The project will install seven catch basin retrofits with separation devices, and three 40 foot x 5 foot diameter underground water quality tanks to trap sediment and floatables from the roadway.
This project will establish a groundwater monitoring network in the 11 county metropolitan area. The network will provide information about aquifer characteristics and natural water trends by monitoring healthy aquifers (non-stressed systems). The project will also develop an automated system that captures groundwater level and water use data. This system will enhance evaluation of changes in aquifers that are stressed by pumping from existing wells.
The Metro Big Rivers (MBR) partners successfully completed their work with the Phase 7 / ML2016 OHF appropriation. MBR exceeded original acreage goals by 14% and completed work on a total of 1,199 acres. Partners protected 145 acres through fee title acquisition and 194 acres through permanent conservation easement, restored 241 acres and enhanced 619 acres.
MBR 7 expended 99% of the OHF funds granted and leveraged the grant by 49% with almost $2 million in other funds.
Minnesota’s twelve regional library systems, which encompass more than 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, can benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional library system is eligible to receive a formula-driven allocation from the annual $2.2 million Minnesota Regional Library System Legacy Grant. Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA) is a federated regional public library system in the Twin Cities Metro Area in central Minnesota.
Legacy funds allow the Minnesota Zoo to extend the season of the Wells Fargo Family Farm beyond its historical May to September season to include full programming and exhibits from April through November.
