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).
This project will repair and upgrade the water control structure and provide water quality enhancement measures on Oasis Pond in Roseville, Minnesota. This project will also protect the quality of downstream receiving waters; specifically Lake Johanna, by reducing phosphorus pollutant loads.
This project will provide information about the amount and sources of phosphorous flowing into Lake St Croix by implementing additional water quality monitoring and reduce the amount of phosphorous flowing into Lake St Croix by implementing phosphorous reduction activities. The St Croix River Association (SCRA) will coordinate with the St. Croix Basin Water Resources Planning Team (Basin Team) on the identification and funding of comprehensive water monitoring and phosphorus reduction activities in the Lake St. Croix portion of the St.
Phase 4 of the Lake Winona Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project will finalize the draft Lake Winona TMDL, dated November 2009, by completing additional data analysis, lake quality modeling, updating the TMDL report, and supporting the public involvement process.
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.
The Lake Ocheda Shoreline Improvement Project will restore and provide long term protection of 1,600 feet of lake shoreline resulting in improved drinking water supplies, improved water quality for fishery and upland habitat and historical preservation. A large portion of this shoreline currently has a 10 to 20 foot vertical wall of shoreline that has been sloughing for the past 50 to 100 years.
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.
This project will gather watershed data necessary for the development of a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy to maintain or improve water quality within the LoW Watershed; and establish project and sub-basin work groups and/or focus groups to guide the MWRPP process.
The Lake of the Woods (LOW) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study will: (1) identify water quality goals for the Minnesota portions of the LOW/Rainy River Watershed; (2) recommend nutrient allocations to achieve TMDLs where waters do not meet standards; and (3) provide opportunities for stakeholders to engage in the process of watershed-management planning to adopt protection and restoration strategies. The project will include existing in-lake and watershed model updates, TMDL component development, restoration plan development, and public participation.
This project provides fiscal resources for Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District for civic engagement activities in the Lake Superior South, North, and Cloquet watersheds for Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS). This project also includes provide funding for water chemistry monitoring assistance and diagnostic field work that will fill identified monitoring gaps and stressors within the Lake Superior South watershed.
The goal of this project is to finalize the draft Lake Pepin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Report, issue it for public comment, address comments, and finalize the report. Lake Pepin is impaired by high levels of nutrients that cause excessive growth of algae. High levels of sediment, carried in by major river systems, also affect the lake. The sediment is filling in the lake at a much faster rate than before Minnesota was settled and intensely farmed. Nutrients and sediment are distinct yet inter-related pollutants, and are being addressed in separate TMDL reports.
Concern for Deer Yard and Poplar lakes centers on their current trends of decreasing water transparencies often associated with phosphorus or sediment increases. Although both lakes still meet nutrient goals, trends in Secchi depth may presage emerging issues with the state of the lakes. This has further led to questions whether the productivity of the lakes have changed over time, what the natural or historical condition of the lakes were, what the current trajectory of each lake is, and how to best set management goals.
The Lake Ida and Ditch 23 Wetland Feasibility Project will investigate and review the phosphorus loading of Lake Ida and design a project to protect Lake Ida water quality. Lake Ida is a 'high quality, unimpaired lake at the highest risk of becoming impaired' according to MPCA's Lakes of Phosphorus Sensitivity Significance. With the County Ditch 23 inlet identified as a priority area to reduce phosphorous, a professional engineering firm will explore the best solution to reduce phosphorus.
Lake Winona is a beloved natural and recreational amenity surrounded by a public park within the urban fabric of the City of Winona. The purpose of this project is to develop a Lake Winona Water Quality Improvement Report that will include a prioritized, targeted, and measurable implementation plan. This plan can be used to effectively restore Lake Winona and its watershed.
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 Lake St. Croix Rural Subwatershed Project Implementation Clean Water Fund Grant will allow the Washington Conservation District and its partners to carry out the implementation of 8-10 of the top 50 highly ranked conservation projects already identified in the Top50P! rural subwatershed analysis. Implementation of the conservation practices will work towards achieving an estimated 80-160 pounds of phosphorus load reduction to Lake St. Croix.
As lake-focused development continues these high quality waters will see increasing amounts of land use change. The State Demographer projects that the targeted lake catchments will see population increases of 25-62% within 20 years. Isolating these contributing areas permits the Lake Protection Analysis project to perform multiple GIS analyses to accurately inform water quality discussions. The final framework will allow local water managers to prioritize across their water bodies, target activities to specific subsheds, and develop measurable goals.
This project, beginning in Spring of 2014 and lasting until December 2015, will collect water quality data for 16 sites (7 lakes and 4 stream sites) within the Rainy River - Headwaters Major Watershed as part of the 10-year cycle for monitoring Minnesota's waters. Due to the large number and geographic extent of monitoring sites Lake County Soil and Water Conservaion District (SWCD) has coordinated site selection with North St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservaion District (SWCD) and will monitor sites within the southwestern (Kawishiwi River) portion of the watershed.
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.
Faribault County Soil and Water Conservation District will develop two watershed plans using charettes, an intensive planning process used to engage citizens, conservation agencies, and others to collaborate on a vision for the development of a drainage watershed scale plan. The process allows landowners, producers, businesses, townships, cities and the county to partake in a comprehensive plan directly relating back to concerns and solutions related to surface water and nonpoint source pollution.
When completed, this Lake County-wide culvert inventory project will have multiple direct benefits to water quality protection, natural resource planning, and municipal asset protection. This inventory will be used to provide local and state authorities accurate information on the condition of road crossings, better calibrate hydrological modeling tools crucial to the inter-agency Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) process, and assess how road crossings in Lake County are affecting the water and sediment transport capacity of our waterways.
The goal of the Lake Volney Targeted Restoration project is to improve the water quality draining to Lake Volney, which is impaired for excess nutrients. The project contains eight priority areas and will install a variety of Best Management Practices, including stormwater basins, ag retention, wetland enhancement, and more.
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 is a joint grant application from the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District (RPBCWD) and the City of Chanhassen. In 2010, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency listed Lake Susan as a shallow lake impaired for excess nutrients. A 2013 report recommended a project located at the park pond immediately northwest of Lake Susan as the most cost-effective watershed implementation project. The project calls for an outlet control structure at a higher elevation that will provide increased dead pool storage and the installation of a Minnesota Filter to treat dissolved phosphorus.
This project will address the nutrient impairment of Lake St. Croix through the installation of targeted stormwater treatment best management practices as prioritized in the 2014 Lake St. Croix Direct Discharge Stormwater Retrofit Assessment. The project will install up to 16 Low Impact Development practices to reduce pollutant loading to Lake St. Croix by at least 8.0 pounds phosphorous and 3,000 pounds sediment and 1.0 acre foot of stormwater per year.
The goal of this project is to prepare a draft Lake Pepin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Report. Lake Pepin is impaired by high levels of nutrients that cause excessive growth of algae.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began work in 2021 within the Lake Superior South Watershed (Watershed) as part of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) update. Components of the WRAPS include collecting data to fill data gaps and monitoring assistance. With a focus on local needs, this project will provide an avenue for Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District (Lake SWCD) to assist MPCA in accomplishing this work and in achieving our overall water quality goals.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began work in 2021 within the Lake Superior South Watershed (Watershed) as part of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) update. Components of the WRAPS include collecting data to fill data gaps and effectiveness monitoring. With a focus on local needs, this project will provide an avenue for South St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District (SSL SWCD) to assist MPCA in accomplishing this work and in achieving our overall water quality goals.
This project will collect water quality data for 3 stream sites and 1 lake site within the Lake Superior North major watershed as part of the 10-year cycle for monitoring Minnesota's waters. Stream sites include the Baptism River, Manitou River, and Caribou River. Crooked Lake (west bay) is the only lake site available in Lake County through this Surface Water Assessment Grant (SWAG). The project will provide two years of surface water quality data to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
The biological communities present in a lake are the result of cumulative effects of natural and human-caused influences within the entire area of land and water that flows into the lake (i.e., the watershed). Biological assessments are used on lakes to identify water pollution and habitat concerns based on the type and abundance of selected animals and their habitats. Certain species cannot survive without clean water and healthy habitat while other species are tolerant of degraded conditions.
Lambert Creek is wholly within the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization (VLAWMO) and is located in northeastern Ramsey County. Lambert Creek is surrounded by mainly residential land use and flows through three communities before discharging into East Vadnais Lake, which is the final impoundment reservoir containing the water supply that the Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) treats and then distributes to thirteen municipalities including the city of St. Paul.
Past and current monitoring data has shown Ramsey County's Lambert Creek has high levels of total phosphorus (TP), anywhere from 0.14 mg/L to 0.30 mg/L, which is above the proposed State standard of 0.10 mg/L for streams in the Central Region.
With a perceived increase in the frequency and intensity of cyanobacterial algal blooms in Lake of the Woods (LOW), there has been an increased effort to collect information about the nature of algal blooms, nutrient concentrations and sources of nutrients to the LOW.
This project will implement timber stand improvement activities on over 300 acres of private forest land within the Knife River and Skunk Creek watershed; both are not meeting state water quality standards for turbidity. These activities will culminate in planting diverse, large-statured native trees, resilient in the face of forest pests and diseases, climate change, and deer browse. Through this project, significant areas of the Knife River and Skunk Creek watersheds will have a patchwork of seed sources that will naturally expand the footprint of a healthier forest.
The Washington Conservation District (WCD) proposes a program to reduce overall phosphorus contributions to Lake St. Croix impaired for excess nutrients by converting maintained turf grass areas to native plant cover. Initial water quality benefit modeling results reveals up to a 99% reduction in total phosphorus runoff when converting an acre of turfgrass to an established native planting. Priority will be given to locations directly connected to Lake St. Croix or to receiving water bodies impaired that are a tributary of Lake St. Croix.
