Construct, calibrate and validate 3 Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed models for the St Louis, Cloquet, and Nemadji River Watersheds.
Construct, calibrate, and validate three Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).
The project will investigate why, when, and where different species of harmful algal blooms release toxins into the water using hyperspectral microscopic imaging towards developing early warning remote sensing tools.
This project will enhance the current program, integrating new invasive carp control and detection methods to monitor and remove invasive carp to avoid establishment in Minnesota.
Minnesota has 15.9 million acres of forest land managed by a variety of county, state and federal agencies, and private landowners for timber production, wildlife habitat, and ecological considerations. Forest managers rely on inventory data to make effective planning and management decisions. Because forests are continually changing through natural and human processes, forest inventory data is periodically updated. However, doing so is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor and, as a result, much of Minnesota’s forest inventory data is currently out of date.
Enhance knowledge of Minnesota's native aquatic plant biodiversity, the backbone of healthy aquatic systems, by delivering data products that support conservation, protection and management for decision-makers and scientists.
Demand for Engineering services in Northeast Minnesota's nine-county Area III Technical Service Area is exceeding the capacity to deliver the needed services. There are increased requests from Soil and Water Conservation Districts for engineering needed to design and install Best Management Practices in part due to requests related to Clean Water Fund projects. These funds will be used to hire an engineer, which will increase engineering capacity and result in the completion of at least five additional projects per year.
We will compile all available data for Minnesota Trumpeter Swans and use these sources to model historical population abundance and predict future population dynamics.
Co-sponsorship and assistance with a portion of the financial support for the 9th & 10th Annual International Lake of the Woods Water Quality Forum (Forum) to be held on March 7-8, 2012 and March 13-14, 2013 at the Rainy River Community College in International Falls, Minnesota. The Forum will feature the latest information on research conducted by Canadian and U.S. researchers regarding the International Lake of the Woods waters.
We will assess movements, survival, and causes of mortality of Minnesota elk while developing a non-invasive, safer method to estimate population size. This information is important for long-term management efforts.
Woody biomass energy systems have shown themselves to offer more locally-based, stable energy supplies for some communities. Itasca Community College is using this appropriation to design a renewable energy system based on woody biomass that will serve as a demonstration and educational tool in the region.
The Kairos Alive! Cultural Wisdom Immersion and Sharing Project collaborates with Centro Tyrone Guzman, Augustana Open Circle, Walker West Music Academy and outstate Developmental Achievement Centers to explore and exchange joyful cultural meaning through music, dance, song and story via 2-way Zoom webcast. Project explores cultural heritage and identity expression, and how it relates to the universality of human experience, in an environment of creative safety and intercultural exchange.
This project collaborates with 1) Minneapolis Hawthorne Neighborhood Council (multi-cultural/intergenerational); 2) Minnesota Independence College and Community (MICC), Richfield (neuro-divergent young adults); 3) an established network of 20+ senior centers and organizations serving people with developmental disabilities statewide (multi-cultural and intergenerational), such as Centro Tyrone Guzman (Latinx), Ecumen Prairie Lodge, Brooklyn Park, Wabasha County Developmental Achievement Center, Wabasha, and Adult Day Services, Bemidji; 4) community collaborations in Bemidji and New Ulm servi
This project encompasses surface water quality sampling within the Snake River Watershed over a period of two years (2017-18). This is the cycle II monitoring as follow-up to the original Snake River Watershed monitoring 10 years ago as part of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Report (WRAPS). This project shall provide follow-up data on the waters in the Snake River Watershed in regards to changes in water quality over this 10-year cycle. The current sampling project will entail sampling 5 lakes and 11 stream sites.
The purpose of this work is to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs; a federal clean Water Act requirement) for streams and lakes in the Kettle River and Upper St. Croix watersheds. This and other technical information will be used to develop a separate report called a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report.
After completing the One Watershed One Plan planning process for the Kettle & Upper St. Croix Watershed, and having the Kettle & Upper St. Croix Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan (KUSC CWMP) approved by BWSR, the local partners of the watershed will use the implementation funds to complete the actions in the plan. These actions will help complete the 10-year goals that are laid out in the plan. This in turn will help protect and restore water and soil resources in the Kettle & Upper St. Croix watersheds.
Previous research by the St. Croix Watershed Research Station (SCWRS) has identified lake physics (temperature and oxygen) and nutrient recycling (nitrogen and phosphorus) as key drivers of lake algal blooms. SCWRS will conduct monitoring consistent with the prior research efforts by re-deploying three moored buoys to collect data throughout the 2019 ice-free season, including surface water samples. Additionally, SCWRS will deploy an in situ flourometer to measure total algae and cyanobacteria concentrations and will collect and analyze cyanobacterial toxins.
Contractor will address MPCA comments to the pre-public notice draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study for the Lake of the Woods watershed and produce a revised study ready for public notice. RESPEC will also prepare for and participate in two webinar-style public meetings once the study is on public notice.
To offer arts and cultural heritage activities at the Lake of the Woods County Fair. Programming will include steel drum band demonstrations and a cooking demonstration.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will partner with the Science Museum of Minnesota Saint Croix Watershed Research Station (SCWRS) - to collect sediment cores from six basins in the Lake of the Woods (LOW) to analyze the total sediment phosphorus inventory in each basin and compare those results to results from a similar study conducted in 2012.
Lake of the Woods Watershed Assessment will include the tributary waters of Zippel, Williams and Bostic Creeks in Lake of the Woods (LOW) County. This assessment focuses on collection of water chemistry and field parameters at three key sites identified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and field parameters only at one site identified by LOW SWCD. Two of the sites will have extra phosphorus and chlorophyll analysis completed as identified by the MPCA for collecting river nutrients.
This project is to conduct water chemistry monitoring at two subwatershed sites and two major watershed sites based on flow conditions, targeting runoff events using protocols defined in the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedures and Guidance. The data collected will be submitted to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and used for calculating pollutant loads. This loading information, in turn, will be used at both the state and local level to guide policy and strategies for the restoration and protection of Minnesota’s waters.
This project will determine pre- and post-settlement nutrient trends from sediment chronology, fossil diatom assemblages, and from sediment profiles representing human history in the region (i.e., at least 150 years). Project activities include sample collection; sample preparation; diatom analysis; database creation and management; and data interpretation. Sample cores will be taken on the Lake of the Woods in five major bays (i.e., Four-mile, Muskeg, Sabaskong, Little Traverse, and Big Traverse) in the southern basin.
This project will help to improve the water quality of Lake of the Woods by providing local staff with the resources necessary for implementing best management practices that will reduce erosion in drainage ditches. The Lake of the Woods Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will assist the County in developing a process for inventory and inspection of ditches. Public drainage is critical to the local economy and proper drainage management is critical to water quality protection.
The purpose of this project is to gain an understanding of modern and historical nutrient and thermal dynamics in Lake of the Woods using modeling, monitoring, sediment core analysis, and whole basin techniques.
The sixth largest fresh water lake in the United States, Lake of the Woods has sustained significant shoreline erosion through a number of high water events, high inflows from the Rainy River, sustained strong NW winds, and erodible soils on the southern shore. This project implements strategies to protect and enhance private shoreline on the lake by addressing long-term shoreline management.
This project will provide monitoring of four of the major watersheds (8-digit Hydrologic Unit Codes) in the western part of the Rainy River Basin. Staff from the Lake of the Woods SWCD will conduct water quality sampling, review, manage and provide collected data to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
The Rainy River - Rainy Lake, Rainy River - Baudette and Rapid River Watershed Assessments will include the waters of the Baudette River, Black River, Peppermint Creek, Rapid River, Rat Root River and Winter Road River in Koochiching and Lake of the Woods Counties. This assessment focuses on collection of water chemistry and field parameters at the 12 key sites identified and modified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Five of the sites will have extra total phosphorus and chlorophyll analysis completed as identified by the MPCA for collecting river nutrients.
This project will complete the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) for the Lake Superior North watershed. Two segments of the Flute Reed River are impaired for aquatic life due to elevated turbidity and total suspended solids. The lower Poplar River is also listed as impaired but significant progress has occurred in the last 10 years. A TMDL and implementation plan have been completed for the lower Poplar River impairment. All other waters meet water quality standards and will be considered for protection measures.
This project will support the collection of water-quality samples and gauge streamflow near the mouths of the Rainy and Warroad Rivers; collect water-quality samples at 10 sites in LOW; and measure streamflow velocities and cross-sectional areas of 5 channel constrictions in LOW.
