Within Whitewater River Watershed, groundwater is the primary drinking water source for both private and community wells. These drinking water aquifers often lack adequate protective layers making them vulnerable to contamination. Unused wells can deteriorate and pose a serious risk to groundwater quality by providing a pathway for contaminants from the surface to easily travel into groundwater. This project will use cost-share funds to incentivize sealing twelve abandoned wells that are contamination risks to vulnerable aquifers.
This program acquired, developed, and added 638 acres to the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system. These lands protect habitat and provide opportunities for public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses consistent with the Outdoor Recreation Act (M.S. 86A.05, Subd.8).
This grant will fund about 45 projects in High Groundwater Priority areas, High Surface Water Priority area, and/or in sub-watershed with stressed/impaired streams for the four WinLaC planning regions. These practices will reduce overland total nitrogen loading and loading to groundwater; reduce overland total phosphorous and sediment; and increase headwater storage and/or reduce peak flow rates and sediment loading.
The WinLaC Prioritization and Public Participation Project will identify priority water quality issues and concerns for the watershed approach in the Mississippi River - Winona and La Crescent watersheds. Information obtained from this project will help develop the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) Update report as well the WinLaC Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan.
This project will produce a final Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report and Watershed Restoration and Projection Strategy (WRAPS) reports for the Winnebago and Mississippi River – La Crescent watersheds including the drafting of public notice versions of the reports, responding to comments during the public notice period and producing the final TMDL and WRAPS reports.
To hire a qualified consultant to develop a Historic Structure Report that will help preserve the Winona Public Library, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
To restore the battlement on the Winona Armory, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and currently used as the Winona County History Museum.
Four individual national register nomination forms were prepared for Central, Madison, Jefferson and Washington-Kosciusko elementary schools located in the city of Winona. A qualified historian was hired to prepare the documentation. The schools had been previously evaluated and found to be eligible for nomination.
The Winona County Well Sealing Costshare Program will utilize Clean Water Funds to speed water well sealing in a continuing effort to protect the groundwater aquifers used for drinking water in Southeast Minnesota. Since 1990, 1303 unused water supply wells have been sealed in Winona County with costs ranging from $500-$10,000+ per well.
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.
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.
In previous phases of work, a Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model of the Zumbro River Watershed was developed to simulate hydrology and water quality for the 1995-2009 simulation period (Phase I), applied to evaluate various management scenarios for reducing sediment and nutrient loading (Phase II), and used to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for impaired stream segments and inform development of a nutrient TMDL for Rice Lake (Phase III).
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.
OVERALL PROJECT OUTCOME AND RESULTS This project identified and prioritized areas in the Zumbro River Watershed that were determined critical for restoring and protecting water quality. Studies suggested that small areas of the landscape contribute disproportionately to nonpoint source pollution. So implementation of conservation projects that focus on those areas will maximize water quality benefits and ensure efficient use of resources.
This project will build upon the outreach and education efforts of the Zumbro Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS). The targeted area will be residents of the Zumbro River Watershed, specifically individuals and organizations that are not professionally involved in managing natural resources. This project will provide necessary outreach and education during the interim between the Zumbro WRAPS and beginning the One Watershed, One Plan process.
The goal of this project is to test the sensitivity of the Zumbro River Watershed Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model management scenario results. Additional goals are to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for impaired stream reaches and Rice Lake, which will be documented in a TMDL Report. The consultant will apply the existing calibrated and validated Zumbro River Watershed HSPF model to construct load duration curves to develop TMDLs.
The Zumbro River watershed HSPF model will be refined to include recent data and information as well as evaluate various management scenarios to inform the most effective actions for reducing sediment and nutrient loading and improving water quality. Specifically, to provide the foundation for the Lake Zumbro Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).
