This project combines the use of automated soil moisture probes for irrigation scheduling with diverse cover crop planting to reduce or eliminate leaching of nitrogen and other nutrients on cropland with an early season harvested crop in the rotation. The more efficient use of irrigation waters provides a secondary benefit: less withdrawal from the aquifers that provide recharge for the Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifer.
DNR regional clean water specialists and area hydrologists work with local partners to provide technical assistance on implementation projects and related outreach, resulting in cleaner water through healthier watersheds, shorelands and floodplains. We help partners identify, develop, target, design and/or implement on-the-ground projects that improve water quality, enhance habitat and protect infrastructure. We help design restorations that provide lasting benefits by mimicking features of healthy ecosystems.
The goal of this project is to add dual endpoints to the turbidity section of the North Fork Crow TMDL so that it addresses the proposed TSS standards.
This Oak Glen Creek stormwater pond expansion and enhancement using an iron enhanced sand filter (IESF) is a partnership between the Anoka Conservation District (ACD) and a private company to protect a downstream corridor stabilization and improve the quality of stormwater discharged to the Mississippi River. Very little stormwater infrastructure currently exists in the 573 acre Oak Glen Creek subwatershed, and it discharges 147,519 pounds of sediment and 353 pounds of phosphorus to the Mississippi River annually.
This project will establish a web-based permitting system to capture essential water appropriation information. The system will include an online permit application process for water use and other permits. The online system will streamline the permitting process for applicants and significantly reduce staff time correcting and managing permit applications and water use reports that are incomplete or have incorrectly calculated permit fees. The use of technology in the application and reporting process will also eliminate staff time needed to enter data and scan and route documents.
The Otter Tail County Community Partners Grant Project will enable community groups to go beyond planning and take action to protect their water resources. This grant program will provide targeted community groups with the means to make positive improvements now and identify high priority projects for future opportunities. Engaging community members in the identification of water protection opportunities with the data in recently completed lake assessment reports will help build connections and foster a stewardship ethic.
Minnesota Clean Water Funds will be used to complete a paleolimological study of the St. Louis River Estuary for the purpose of providing information critical to removing Beneficial Use Impairments in the St. Louis River Area of Concern. This project will reconstruct the biological (algal load and composition), geochemical (organic and inorganic), sediment, and mercury chronology to identify historical temporal and spatial variations in the St. Louis River Estuary in order to better understand the natural and anthropogenic drivers related to beneficial use impairments for the St.
The purpose of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's monitoring activities is to determine the presence and concentration of pesticides in Minnesota's groundwater and surface water. Monitoring information is used to characterize and assess the extent of pesticide impacts to Minnesota's water resources.
This project will fund the stream restoration of a failed, 30-year old sediment control structure in the Deer Creek subwatershed using natural channel design methods to restore the stream to a stable state. Since the dam breached an estimated 78 tons of sediment is transported annually to the turbidity-impaired Deer Creek.
Increases in crop prices have reduced the acreage of land in conservation set-aside programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and other marginal land use. Significant conversion of grasslands to cultivated agricultural crops has increased the levels of runoff and sedimentation. Phase III of this project addresses the need to protect vulnerable sites by installing water and sediment basins. These basins are earthen embankments built to temporarily detain sediment-laden runoff, allowing sediment to settle out before runoff is discharged.
The goal of the Pomme de Terre River Association (JPB) is to improve local water resources within the watershed through targeted voluntary efforts and build strong relationships with local landowners, producers, and citizens. Utilizing the State's first Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy, the JPB has targeted and identified specific areas and activities required for marked water quality improvement.
This project will work to install 30 water and sediment control basins (WaSCOBs) in three subwatersheds adjacent to Lake Minnewaska to reduce the amount of total phosphorus (TP) entering Pelican Lake, Lake Minnewaska, and Lake Emily. Pelican Lake and Lake Emily have been identified in an 8 lake Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study conducted in Pope County as being impaired for excess nutrients.
The Prioritization, Targeting, and Measuring Water Quality Improvement Application (PTMA) connects the general qualitative strategies in a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Restoration and Protection (WRAP) and the identification of implementable on-the-ground Best Management Practices (BMPs). Leveraging geospatial data from the International Water Institute this application will be developed for two pilot areas within the Red River Basin.
This project will review highly erodible land plans for landowner/operator compliance and update plans with landowners that are not meeting plan requirements due to changes in their operations.
This project will, over a 27 month period, fund a 0.75 Full Time Equivalent Conservation Planning Specialist position to update approximately 400 United States Department of Agriculture Highly Erodable Lands conservation plans on 40,000 acres in high priority areas within the Root River watershed. Currently, only 5% of the USDA conservation plans -approximately 40 per year - are being checked for compliance, and this project will increase that number to 150 or more per year.
This will fund a competitive grant program for sewer projects that will help protect or restore the water quality of waters in national parks located within Minnesota.
This project will reduce sediment to the Minnesota River, control erosion and reduce sedimentation in a local DNR Protected Water and protect private land and public infrastructure. The County Road (CR) 6 ravine (Quarry Creek) cuts through the Minnesota River valley bluff in Blakeley Township. Active channel incision and erosion within the ravine has caused large amounts of sediment to be deposited under the bridge at CR 6 such that the road is frequently flooded and sediment has to be removed several times a year.
The goal of this project is the development of the Rainy River Headwaters, Vermilion River and St. Louis River Watersheds Local Civic Engagement and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy.
Ramsey County has 3,500+ acres tied to 358 faith organizations and 304 schools. On average, these properties contribute 1 billion gallons of stormwater runoff, 3,000 lbs of phosphorus, and 1,000 tons of sediment to our local water bodies. The Ramsey Conservation District (RCD), working with community partners and Watershed Districts/Water Management Organizations, will install 6-12 stormwater best management projects that will help protect and improve water quality of surrounding lakes.
As part of the FY 2012 funding cycle, the Board of Water and Soil Resources granted funds for development of the Water Quality Decision Support Application (WQDSA). The WQDSA will provide land and water managers with geospatial data and online tools to prioritize, market, and implement actions on the landscape to achieve water quality objectives identified in local and state water plans and to ensure that public funding decisions are strategic and defensible.
The Clearwater River Watershed in northwestern Minnesota is a targeted watershed for the 2014-15 Surface Water Assessment Grant (SWAG) funding. A partnership of local agencies will monitor water quality at the targeted sites within this watershed that are listed in Appendix C of the 2014 Surface Water Assessment Grants (SWAG) Request for Proposal (RFP) document. Fifteen monitoring sites have been chosen within the Clearwater River watershed.
The objective of this project is to collect real-time parameter data for specific conductance, water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and stream flow at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gaging stations located at Fargo and Grand Forks North Dakota.
International Water Institute (IWI) staff will monitor 24 sites in the Bois de Sioux, Mustinka (2 sites), Buffalo (8 sites), Red Lake (4 sites), Sandhill (3 sites), Thief (2 sites), and Tamarac River (3 sites) Watersheds intensively over a 2 year period in an attempt to collect 25 samples per year at each site. If conditions allow for the collection of all planned samples, 1200 stream samples will be collected over the time period. Monitoring will include field measurements, observations, and at least three photographs during each site visit.
The goal of this project is to engage citizens in local watershed monitoring, work with regional partners to promote understanding and protection of watersheds, and organize and facilitate gathering of scientific data for the benefit of water quality in the Red River Basin.
Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD), in partnership with the City of Roseville, will construct a volume reduction/capture-reuse irrigation facility below the Upper Villa Park Softball field in the City of Roseville. This project will protect Lake McCarrons and the Villa Park Wetland System (VPWS) by reducing runoff volumes and the pollutants associated with urban stormwater such as Total Phosphorus (TP), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), heavy metals, and petroleum products among others.
The Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) will create a web-based, mobile-compatible public drainage system inspection and maintenance database. This database system will enable District staff to create and track maintenance requests and inspections from the field, including Geo-referencing locations requiring repair via a mobile device. The system will greatly reduce the time required to identify and log each maintenance request, enabling staff to inventory more miles of public drainage system yearly thereby identifying erosion problems more efficiently and thoroughly.
Rice Lake, in Stearns County, is an impaired water for nutrients that has a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation plan developed. Rice Lake is one of the larger lakes in the county, offering major water recreation opportunities, economic benefits as well as fish and wildlife habitat. It is a priority for Stearns County to implement projects that have positive impacts on this resource.
This project will engage the public and community partners in Rice County. The goal of this project is the implementation of conservation practices that retain water on the land by providing up to five sub-grants for rain gardens, vegetative buffers, and wetland restorations.
