This project will complete a TMDL equation and report and an implementation plan for Deer Creek. The TMDL report will describe turbidity impacts to aquatic life uses of Deer Creek, correlate turbidity to other pollutants (sediment, suspended solids, etc.), describe and quantify unique turbidity/sediment stressors which include groundwater influences, legacy impacts of the watershed and stream channel, significant in-stream and near stream sources (slumps, bank erosion, etc.) and upland contributions.
This project will result in the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for turbidity for Deer Creek and the Nemadji River, and will also define which reaches of the Nemadji basin may be meeting standards for turbidity. It will also allow the Carlton County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) to become a full and active partner in this TMDL study and implementation project as well as future restoration and protection projects.
Deer Creek has been identified as an impaired water body. This project will quantify the reductions in pollutant loading that would be necessary to bring water quality in the creek to an acceptable level. The project also includes collection of any additional data needed for stream channel modeling scenarios.
The East Branch Blue Earth River is currently negatively impacted and has been shown to contribute disproportionately high sediment loads to the Minnesota River. With limited funds available for implementing conservation practices, targeting tools to pinpoint locations where conservation practices have the highest effectiveness are increasingly important. Innovative use of technology can help streamline these targeting procedures.
Nitrogen is a serious problem in Minnesota's Mississippi River Basin and the Dodge Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will address this problem through saturated buffers. Nitrates have been linked to adverse health effects, and nitrogen is the leading cause of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Agriculture drainage through the use of tile drainage systems have been identified as the number one leading source of nitrogen in the Mississippi River Basin.
At the public drainage system scale, Faribault County will develop comprehensive Multipurpose Drainage Management Plans that focus on traditional and innovative conservation practices to reduce on-field and in-channel peak flow and erosion with enhanced water quality and wildlife habitat benefits. Planning will occur in conjunction with an established Redetermination of Benefits (ROB) schedule or as initiated through the petition process.
The karst topography of southeast Minnesota increases the possibility of drinking water supplies becoming contaminated with high concentrations of nitrates. To address this risk in the region, there needs to be an increase in the use of nitrogen best management practices and agronomic rates of nitrogen need to be fine-tuned to balance production with environmental degradation. In addition, potential point sources of nutrient contamination in groundwater need to be addressed wherever possible. This project will have three components that will address these needs.
This project will provide cost-share funds to landowners in vulnerable groundwater areas for the incorporation of cover crops in their crop rotation and to provide education related to nitrogen BMPs through field trials and Nutrient Management Plans. An anticipated 100 producers in highly vulnerable areas, will plant 3,000 acres of cover crops resulting in preventing potentially 19,800 pounds of nitrate from leaching into groundwater.
The goal of this project is to develop a watershed-wide, multi-parameter Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Implementation Plan that will collectively address all water quality impairments throughout the Elm Creek watershed.
Fish Lake is 238 acres and does not meet state water quality standards due to excessive nutrients. Through the Total Maximum Daily Load study, a recommendation was made to treat the lake with alum to achieve the state's water quality standards. The goal of this project is to reduce the phosphorus load to Fish Lake by 310 pounds per year and meet the needed phosphorus reduction goal. The project will be completed as a partnership between the Elm Creek Water Management Commission, Three Rivers Park District, the City of Maple Grove, and The Fish Lake Area Resident's Association.
The Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District (RWMWD) is responsible for the protection and restoration of the water quality of 20 lakes and 5 creeks within its boundary. Permit and voluntary cost share programs serve to slowly redevelop the watershed to the benefit of these water bodies. However, additional projects are needed- not only to implement green infrastructure in areas that need extra restoration and protection, but also to foster new relationships between citizens and the RWMWD to rally together in a common goal to the benefit of their water resources.
The purpose of this project is to increase awareness of environmental stewardship practices by providing up to five subgrants to local partners to engage the public, provide education on conservation practices, and create projects, including rain gardens, vegetative buffers, and wetland restorations. Each subgrant will reduce the movement of sediment, nutrients, and pollutants to multiple water resources, retain water on the land, and increase environmental knowledge to individuals within Rice County.
This project will support Minnesota's condition monitoring strategy through the collection of water quality data on streams and rivers in the Nemadji River watershed. The Nemadji River watershed is located in southeastern Carlton County and northeastern Pine County. Water quality samples will be collected primarily during weather-related events that affect stream flow such as snowmelt and rainfalls.
The Fairview Avenue storm sewer system is under capacity and stormwater runoff reaches the pipe faster than the pipes can convey the water downstream. This causes the system to surcharge, causing arterial street flooding, local street flooding, inundation of open spaces, as well as private property damage. This storm sewer system is directly connected to several significant regional water bodies.
Faribault County Soil and Water Conservation District will develop a mini-grant program to partner with area non-profits, community groups and lake associations to implement stormwater management practices that will intercept, treat, filtrate and/or infiltrate runoff that will reduce phosphorus and sediment loads into high priority and TMDL impaired waters in Faribault County. This program would provide cost-share and technical assistance to enable these organizations to go beyond planning and take action to protect our water resources.
The Faribault County Soil and Water Conservation District Drainage Engineer will inventory public drainage ditches to identify priority systems and areas where erosion, sediment, and nutrients contribute to water quality degradation. Sites identified for potential side inlet control, buffer strip need, or water storage will be prioritized for landowner contact and follow through by seeking external funding opportunities.
Working with a consultant, a current online database to manage public drainage systems will be enhanced and a corresponding mobile inspection app will be developed to facilitate drainage compliance and improve inspection planning. With these improvements, a long-term, comprehensive, GIS-compatible database will be in place to help plan, collect, document, summarize, and analyze system condition, repair needs, and violations with the overall goal of protecting and improving water quality.
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
After 6 years of intensive baseline monitoring at 5 edge-of-field sites, 1 intermittent and 3 in-stream sites in 3 sub-watersheds representing the geomorphic regions of the Root River, the second phase of the project is well prepared for the implementation of BMPs. Continued monitoring will be used to measure the effectiveness of the BMPs for the next 6 years. In preparation for BMP implementation, extensive planning was completed using LiDAR terrain analysis and the Tomer Framework to prioritize practices.
The Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council work with forest landowners, managers and loggers to implement a set of voluntary sustainable forest management guidelines that include water quality best management practices (BMPs) to ensure sustainable habitat, clean water, and productive forest soils, all contributing to healthy watersheds. This project will monitor the implementation of these forest management guidelines and BMPs on forested watersheds in MN.
River Watch (RW) enhances watershed understanding and awareness for tomorrow’s decision-makers through direct hands-on, field-based experiential watershed science. High School based teams throughout the Minnesota River Basin participate in a variety of unique and innovative watershed engagement opportunities such as Water Quality Monitoring and Macroinvertebrate surveys that are suited to their school, community, and watershed needs.
BWSR will administer funding to eligible County projects that provide funds and other assistance to low income property owners to upgrade or replace Noncompliant Septic Systems. BWSR will also manage annual reporting completed by each County.
Varney Lake is owned and maintained by the City of white Bear Lake as part of its stormwater collection system. The City will excavate approximately 10,000 cubic yards of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contaminated sediment from Varney Lake (which is located in a residential portion of the City) and manage the sediments on site by encapsulating the sediment in a berm covered with clean top soil. The encapsulated sediment will be managed as a solid waste in what the MPCA refers to as a limited use solid waste landfill (Facility).
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate three HSPF watershed models. The project will result in HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. The models are expected to generate predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The goal of this project is to supplement and refine the Deer Creek Watershed TMDL Report and Implementation Plan project with detailed determinations of critical source areas and prioritization of the associated management practices, facilitated by additional meetings with local resource managers and validated with a field survey. Completed work will more fully inform the TMDL report and TMDL implementation plan on critical source areas of sediment and quantify those sources.
The Lower St. Croix Watershed (LSCW) consists of an abundance of natural resources making it conducive for both agricultural production and urban areas. The watershed also contains various geologic features rendering substantial areas of the watershed to have vulnerable groundwater including DWSMA vulnerability, pollution sensitivity to wells, pollution sensitivity to near surface materials, karst features, and well testing show ? 5 mg/L nitrate.
The Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA) is a joint powers organization consisting of ten member Counties and SWCDs encompassing the Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Watonwan Watersheds. Our mission is to lead in the implementation and promotion of economically viable watershed activities through the combined efforts of local partners. We have identified two target areas in the GBERB (Greater Blue Earth River Basin) where high levels of nitrates directly affect public water supply.
This project will study the geologic controls on nitrate transport in southeast Minnesota's karst landscape and will also provide datasets for other projects over time.
The GVCC Pond Excavation Project will remove approximately 2,500 cubic yards of accumulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) Level/Tier 3 contaminated sediment from the Golden Valley Country Club stormwater treatment pond.
The purpose of this project is to develop a framework to implement best management practices (BMPs) on ditches in headwater areas utilizing a partnership between drainage staff and the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA). By replacing failing side-inlets with an alternative design, we can make strides towards our water quality and water quantity goals. The alternative inlets serve to prevent sediment and phosphorus from washing downstream and the design can also alleviate peak flows by temporarily storing stormwater.
Provide education, outreach and civic engagement necessary for the development of structural and non-structural best management practices needed to improve water quality within the Greater Blue Earth River Basin. General Education will have a regional focus to landowners. Outreach effort will be focused on regional officials, staff and landowners. Civic engagement efforts will have a smaller watershed scale focus with efforts resulting in structural BMPs being placed on the land and non-structural BMPs being adopted. Implementation of structural best management practices on the land.
From 2011 to 2013, the full reconstruction of University Avenue in Saint Paul for the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit (CCLRT) presents a unique opportunity to improve the quality of stormwater runoff from the Corridor that will not be seen again. Assistance from the Clean Water funds will augment large investments being made by Capitol Region Watershed District, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, and Metropolitan Council implementing highly visible, green infrastructure practices in this transportation corridor to achieve significant stormwater volume reduction and water quality improvements.
Green Streets for Blue Waters is a collaborative effort to install curb cut raingardens and other stormwater management practices within public right of way and on private lands. The project development was funded by the City of Bloomington and the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District, who worked with Metro Blooms to identify the project area and goals.
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.
