The goals of this project are to develop and implement a stakeholder and public engagement program, update the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models for the Big Fork and Little Fork River Watersheds, develop Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies for impaired waterbodies, remove naturally impaired streams from the impairment list, develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report, and to conduct civic engagement activates necessary to ensure project success.
"This project will meet the following goals: develop, implement, and evaluate the impacts civic engagement outcomes for the Big Fork River Watershed; create a citizen understanding of the Watershed Restoration & Protection Strategy (WRAPS) and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process and the role citizens and stakeholders can play in attaining water quality restoration and protection; provide opportunities for citizens and stakeholders to assist local partners and state agencies in developing priorities for restoration as well projects to accomplish protection of high quality waters; and
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) proposes to complete stormwater best management practices (BMPs) that will reduce 40 pounds of phosphorus and 40 tons of sediment per year from entering Big Trout Lake. The Crow Wing County (CWC) Water Plan identifies Big Trout Lake as a priority lake to enhance due to its significant decline in water clarity and high ratio of impervious surface surrounding the lake. The 2015 CWC Assessors Property Tax Assessment reports that Big Trout has the second highest taxable land value in CWC at $4,200 per foot of shoreline.
The "Bigfork River Target Watershed Assessment – Lake of the Woods & Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation Districts" Project focuses on collecting water chemistry and field parameters at Bear River, Big Fork River (4 sites), Caldwell Brook and Sturgeon River. The project will support the biological assessments being completed by MPCA staff for this Target Watershed Assessment. This work will also train and develop Koochiching SWCD staff to enable them to continue water quality monitoring in the Rainy River Basin.
The goal of this project is to develop statewide biological criteria for managing the state’s water resources, in keeping with the federal Clean Water Act. The MPCA is using the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) for this development. The BCG is a conceptual model that describes changes in aquatic ecosystems on a gradient of increasing anthropogenic stress.
The purpose of this project is to provide stream and large river macro invertebrate sample processing and identification for the Minnesota Pollution Control agency (MPCA) Biological Monitoring Unit.
The final product will consist of; data submitted electronically to the MPCA, project reference specification, return of all identified specimens, and an external and internal QA/QC report.
This project will assess the efficiency of membrane bioreactor treatment to remove contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater, disinfect wastewater, and produce less toxic waste stream to fish. The study will analyze and interpret 40 effluent samples.
The funds requested will provide Big Lake Township with the technical and financial assistance necessary to retrofit up to six locations for stormwater treatment practices within the direct drainage area of Birch Lake, an impaired water body which is very close to meeting state standards. The projects have been identified as high priority in several water quality plans including a TMDL, a subwatershed assessment, the County Water Plan and the Mississippi River (St. Cloud) WRAPS.
The Birdie Lane East Ravine Improvement project consists of eliminating ravine erosion and treatment of an 8.24-acre watershed to reduce total phosphorus reaching Lake Hazeltine by 98 pounds per year. The eroding ravine will be replaced with a linear treatment feature to provide treatment of a watershed that has land uses that include roads, single-family residential, and a golf course. The project will involve development of a cascade, pool, and riffle channel system.
This project will focus, on a sub-regional scale, on water quality improvements targeted at concentrated runoff flows generated from upstream, developed portions of the City of Forest Lake. This project will work to modify an existing wetland complex located in publicly owned Bixby Park of Forest Lake to increase water quality treatment potential and storage capacity. The project will also incorporate an innovative iron-enhanced sand filter which will remove dissolved phosphorus, resulting in a 206 pound/year reduction of phosphorous and a 27 tons/year removal of sediment.
Prevention of groundwater contamination from unused, unsealed wells is identified as a priority in the 2020-2030 Dakota County Groundwater Plan. Dakota County plans to prevent groundwater contamination, especially in drinking water supply management areas, by completing a well inventory in the Black Dog Watershed area to identify suspected abandoned wells, and provide 50% cost-share grants to seal approximately 13 unused, unsealed wells in the watershed.
This project will reduce sediment to the Minnesota River, and protect private land and public infrastructure. Blakeley Trail (County Rd 60) in southwest Scott County is surrounded by deep ravines. As these ravines incise, they cause road shoulder landslides, which cut into private property, threaten the road at the head-cuts and generate sediment which creates maintenance and flooding issues downstream. The Scott Watershed Management Organization and the Scott County Highway Department have partnered on this project because of the multiple benefits.
The goal of this project is to facilitate strategic networking, relationships, and learning in targeted groups to assess, build, and leverage community capacity (i.e. community resources and values) to increase knowledge of the Blue Earth River watershed’s water resources and increase best management practice (BMP) adoption to restore and protect water quality in the Blue Earth River watershed. Additional goals include providing information that is readily available to the general public for updates on Watershed Approach work in the Blue Earth River watershed.
The goal of this project is to develop and write the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report for the Blue Earth River Watershed to provide restoration strategies to improve water quality for impaired waters and protection strategies to maintain the quality of water for water bodies meeting standards.
In South Minneapolis, the water quality of Diamond Lake has suffered in recent decades. In fact, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District's (MCWD) analysis of water testing results designated the water quality grade as F. This is largely a result of water that rolls off roofs, yards, and streets in the 690-acreDiamond Lake watershed and ends up in the lake - bringing pollutants, debris and dirt with it.
The goal of this project is to reduce the number of vulnerable unused wells located within sensitive areas and to prevent potential groundwater contamination. Most Minnesotans rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. Unused and improperly sealed wells can serve as an open conduit to groundwater aquifers, allowing surface water runoff, contaminated water or improperly disposed waste to reach an uncontaminated aquifer. Properly sealing unused and improperly sealed wells is a preventive practice that protects groundwater aquifers from contamination.
The purpose of this project is to expand the County's long standing well sealing efforts by reducing the current inventory of identified well sealing projects.
The Blue Earth SWCD will be monitoring 7 stream sites located in the Le Sueur River Watershed. The stream sites will be monitored at the road crossing locations via bridge, culvert or shore. Onsite conditions will be recorded, water sample readings will be taken for Secchi tube, specific conductance, temperature, pH, DO, and photos taken.
With limited funds and limited staff time available for targeting critical service areas and implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs), Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tools that pinpoint locations where BMPs will have the highest effectiveness are increasingly important. The Blue Earth County/SWCD Watershed Implementation Targeting project will utilize LiDAR topographic data to determine areas of high importance for BMP implementation. The county is located in the Blue Earth, LeSueur, Watonwan and Middle Minnesota watersheds where there is a high density of impaired waters.
This project will conduct Inventory and Inspection of four drainage ditches in Blue Earth County: JD116, CD5, CD86 and CD56. The inventory of these drainage ditches is important in order to identify where erosion, sediment and/or nutrients contribute substantially to water quality degradation. The project will also prioritize sites for future side inlet control, buffer strip implementation, and/or storage and treatment implementation.
This project will utilize a systematic approach to identify principal sources, or “hot-spots”, of sediment contributions and work with individual landowners, county drainage officials, and municipalities to coordinate and implement critical Best Management Practices (BMP’s), establish demonstration sites, and provide education and outreach efforts. This project will also establish baseline watershed data with the addition of site specific information, and determine high priority watersheds. Appropriate practices will be identified and mapped utilizing GPS and GIS equipment and software.
The goal is to facilitate strategic networking, learning, and implementation in targeted groups to assess, build, and leverage community capacity (i.e. community resources and values) to increase best management practice (BMP) adoption to restore and protect water quality in the Blue Earth River watershed
Vegetated buffer and filter strips along waterways is a practice that addresses many surface water concerns. Establishing permanent vegetation along waterways is an implementation priority in the Blue Earth County Water Management Plan and required by local ordinance and Minnesota Rules. Minnesota Shoreland Rules, Chapter 6120 and the County Shoreland Ordinance contain standards for agricultural uses in shoreland. Agricultural uses are permitted in shoreland areas if steep slopes and shore and bluff impact zones are maintained in permanent vegetation.
Ravine, stream bank and bluff erosion contribute significant amounts of sediment to rivers and streams. The MPCA report, Identifying sediment sources in the Minnesota River Basin, found the Blue Earth and Le Sueur watersheds contribute as such as half of the sediment to the Minnesota River, even though they account for only one-fifth of its drainage area. These watersheds contain the majority of the bluffs in the basin as well as many large
ravines.
The Blue Earth Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will be monitoring 7 stream sites with 5 located in the Watonwan River Watershed and 2 located in the Minnesota River at Mankato Watershed. The stream sites will be monitored at the road crosssing locations via bridge, culvert or shore. Onsite conditions will be recorded, water sample readings will be taken for secchi tube, specific conductance, temperature, ph, DO, and phtots taken. The Blue Earth SWCD will work with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) on final reports and results of the water monitoring efforts.
Seminary Fen, a 600-acre complex in Carver County, supports one of only 500 calcareous fens in the world and is one of the highest quality calcareous fens in southern Minnesota. The Fen feeds Assumption Creek; one of the metro area's last known trout streams that supports naturally reproducing native brook trout. Assumption Creek then discharges to the nearby Minnesota River. The Fen's unique hydrology, soils, plants, and habitats are highly sensitive to water quality and sedimentation stress.
This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project will develop a TMDL Report and Implementation Plan defining the sources contributing to the impairments and outlining the steps necessary to bring Bluff Creek back to meeting water quality standards.
In 2002 and 2004, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency listed Bluff Creek for turbidity and biological integrity. A Total Maximum Daily Load report and implementation plan were finalized and approved in 2013. This project was identified as a high priority site for culvert restoration and bank repairs.
This project will develop a Final TMDL report and Implementation Plan for the Bluff Creek Watershed. The main outcomes of this project are the development of a Final TMDL Report approved by MPCA and EPA and a Final Implementation Plan approved by MPCA.
The purpose of this project is to complete a feasibility study to determine the best sites for projects in the Boot Creek headwaters, in the Le Sueur River watershed, to reduce erosion and pollutant loading. The study will identify critical source areas and provide additional watershed information to assist in prioritizing locations to address local resource management and water quality goals.
In recent years, nutrient enrichment has occurred in Lake St. Croix due to increasing amounts of phosphorus entering the lake from the watershed. According to the TMDL, approximately half of the phosphorus-loading to Lake St. Croix is in the soluble form, and agriculture has been identified as one of the largest contributors of that phosphorus. In addition to the TMDL, subwatershed analyses were completed to identify, assess, and prioritize phosphorus-reducing practices in rural areas draining to Lake St. Croix in Washington County. This project will reduce phosphorus discharges to the St.
