The Big Sandy Area Lakes Watershed Management Project has developed innovative projects to protect and improve water quality, wildlife, and the fishery resources in the Big Sandy Lake Watershed since 1991. Projects have focused on the main ecological problems and sources of nutrient loading to Big Sandy and other watershed lakes. A Clean Water Fund Grant provided funding for nine demonstration projects that continue this work. Projects planned for this area focus on controlling shoreline erosion and overland runoff that carries soil and nutrients to the lakes.
Funds used to address water infiltration of museum collections storage by improving exterior drainage.
Water from melting snow and rainfall has been leaking into the museum's agricultural wing artifact storage room and Main Street exhibit gallery due to inadequate drainage and insufficient landscaping on the building's north side.
This project will collect water samples at seventeen monitoring locations ranging in size from 23,173 acres (7 Mile Creek) to over 9 million acres (Minnesota River at St. Peter) as a part of the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN). The Minnesota State University - Water Resources Center (WRC) has been directly involved with the program and is familiar with the streams and hydrology of the region. In addition to monitoring, the WRC will review, manage and submit the data in formats provided by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
To support Minnesota?s climate resiliency investments, we will generate critical water resources information and share it with impacted communities and individuals to guide adaptation planning and water resources management.
Tetra Tech will work to support the science needed when planning in Minnesota for water storage practice implementation. The goal is to provide practical water storage recommendations that can be incorporated into smaller scale planning within major watersheds (HUC 8), as well as larger scale planning for the Sediment Reduction Strategy for the Minnesota River and South Metro Mississippi River.
The Metropolitan Council was awarded $1,500,000 from Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment funds for a Water Efficiency Grant Program during the Minnesota Legislature's 2023 Session. The Metropolitan Council (Council) implemented a water efficiency grant program effective July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026. Grants were awarded on a competitive basis to municipalities that are served by a municipal water system. The Council provides 80% of the program cost; the municipality must provide the remaining 20%.
The goal of this project is to develop guidance for water quality parameter evaluation and calibration for Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) applications focused on dissolved oxygen (D.O.), nutrient, and algal simulation, along with a demonstration of the guidance by step-by-step application to D.O.-impaired Minnesota watersheds.
This is a joint project between the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), North Dakota, and Manitoba. The project is a basin-wide, up-to-date water quality trend analysis using the "QWTrend" program for approximately 40 bi-national river sites to review nutrients, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, sulfate and chloride from 1980 - 2015.
This project targets one of Chisago County's few remaining large dairy operations. It is situated on the top of the St. Croix River escarpment and drains over the bluff to the St. Croix River. This project includes installation of several practices in the feedlot area, including critical area planting to help stabilize a gully formed through the feedlot. There are also two other gullies located at the edge of fields or pasture areas that will be stabilized using water and sediment control structures, grade stabilization practices, or diversions.
This program supports communities as they plan and implement projects that address emerging drinking water supply threats. It supports the exploration cost-effective regional and sub-regional solutions, leverages inter-jurisdictional coordination, and prevents overuse and degradation of groundwater resources.
Activities in this program provide metro communities with:
This initiative is for the design and implementation of projects in Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), or other state administered lands that increase water storage while also stabilizing streambanks in impaired watersheds where watershed restoration and protection strategies or comprehensive watershed management plans developed under the One Watershed, One Plan program have identified the need for water storage and water quality improvements.
Connecting Kids is organized out of school time youth development and enrichment opportunities. Youth scholarships include K-12 youth that reside in Blue Earth, Nicollet, Waseca and Le Sueur Counties. From the help of previous funding from MDE, we have increased scholarships from swimming lessons from 80 to 200. Program partners include Lifeguard Training and Water Safety Instructors training. Additional partners include Mankato Community Education, Mankato Family YMCA, Lake Crystal Area Recreation Cetner, City of St.
Over the last two years, Three Rivers Park District staff have heard a resounding and persistent request from communities currently underrepresented in outdoor spaces to have access to family-focused, culturally responsive, and low-barrier water safety instruction. This proposal builds-upon that community feedback, gathered in partnership with trusted Community Liaisons, to further pilot and expand family-focused, 3-hour water safety workshops in partnership with V3 Sports, Inc, and connect communities back to water-based activities within a natural resources-based park system and beyond.
Cloquet Community Educaiton and Recreation, in conjunction with the City of Cloquet Parks Department, provides ARC swimming lessons, as well as manages public use of the Beach at Pinehurst Park and the indoor swimming pool at Cloquet Middle School. Swimming lessons are not only provided to students that attend the Cloquet Public Schools, but also the surrounding school districts of Esko, Carlton, Wrenshall, Moose Lake, and Barnum which lack swimming pools. In the past year, over 1200 children have participated in the 168 group and private swim lessons offered.
Faribault faces significant poverty, with 73% of its students receiving free or reduced-price school lunch. It also represents one of the most diverse student bodies in Greater Minnesota, with students of color comprising 61% of Faribault's student population. For the past year and a half, the Healthy Community Initiative (HCI - a backbone youth-serving organization that helps identify and meet needs for local young people) and the Faribault Public Schools have been convening the Prevention Partnerships for Healthy Youth (PPHY) Coalition.
The proposed Aquatics Safety Initiative for Saint Paul Public Schools Community Education will address systemic inequities, cultural barriers and program access specifically around water safety for underserved populations. Our population focus includes East African and Muslim women and girls as well as underserved elementary aged youth within the City of St.Paul. The primary project goals are to create a safe space for East African women and girls and underserved youth populations to have access to basic water safety tools, swim lessons and culturally specific equipment.
This program was designed to service children in the school district ages 8-18. Families participate with the student in the first hour of the swim class. During this first hour they participate in a nutrition class. Participants learned Nutrition based on the curricula Choose Health, Food, Fun and Fitness. The kids enjoyed learning these lessons: Drink Low-Fat Milk and Water Instead of Sweetened Drinks, Color Your Plate: Eat More Vegetables and Fruits, Read It Before You Eat It! The Nutrition Facts Label, Make Half Your Grains Whole! Eat More Whole Grains and Healthier Foods ?
According to the 2021 American Community Survey, Pine City has a poverty rate of 13.4% -about 1.5 times the rate in Minnesota as a whole {9.2%). The poverty rate for children under 18 is even higher at 25%. Within the Pine City School District, an estimated 28.4% of the 1,538 students are considered economically disadvantaged (https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/minnesota/districts/pine-city-public?school-district-102930), and 43.9% qualify for free or reduced lunch. Pine City has a strong need for low-cost and free recreation and educational opportunities for our youth.
Desire to use grant funds must primarily be used to provide water safety and beginning swimming instruction to students from historically underserved populations psecifically our new to country students and those verified as Homelss and Highly Mobile.
The proposed project aims to address a pressing need within the St. Louis Park Public Schools community, focusing on increased enrollment of students of color in swim safety classes. The primary beneficiaries of this initiative will be students from the East and West African communities residing in St. Louis Park, who often face barriers to accessing swim education due to cultural, financial, and social reasons. To achieve this goal, we are seeking a grant of $24,000 to cover the costs of safety swim equipment and facilitate free swim classes.
Bemidji Parks & Recreation in partnership with Bemidji State University (BSU) will increase access to water safety instruction for youth ages 5-14 within in Beltrami County. The overall goal is to provide swim lessons and to increase the knowledge of water safety skills to at-risk youth. The swim lessons will be based on the American Red Cross Learn to Swim Program as well as provide Lifeguard/Water safety instructor courses.
To hire a qualified consultant to develop architectural drawings for Bridge L3275 (Waterford Bridge), listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Effective groundwater management requires accurate knowledge about the water budget, which is the amount of water stored within the system in aquifers and the amount of water flowing through the overall hydrologic system including water flowing at the surface, water flowing from above ground down into aquifers, and water flowing between aquifers below the surface.
Vermilion Community College will assist the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with meeting the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) development objectives of collecting data and completing watershed assessments for the Rainy River Headwaters, Vermilion River, and Little Fork River watersheds. Services will include providing support for field water monitoring, other field sampling and measurements and related field data management, analysis, and assessments in these watersheds.
There are several models and tools that State agencies, university staff, and local government staff utilize to measure outcomes for pollution reduction benefits in agricultural watersheds in Minnesota. The mechanisms and scales at which these tools are built on are slightly to drastically different.
This project builds capacity in soil water conservation districts and Mille Lacs Band with BWSR and DNR to accelerate tree planting for water quality and carbon sequestration by private landowners.
The Watershed Health Assessment Framework (WHAF) is a web-based tool for resource managers and others interested in the ecological health of Minnesota's watersheds. The framework uses five ecological components to organize and deliver information about watershed health conditions in Minnesota. The five components are hydrology, connectivity, biology, geomorphology, and water quality. Statewide GIS data from DNR and partner agencies are used to calculate health scores that reveal similarities and differences between watersheds.
This project delineates and maps watersheds (drainage areas) of lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands for the state of Minnesota and provides watershed maps in digital form for use in geographic information systems. These maps become the basis for clean water planning and implementation efforts.
In 2009, residents from the Stradford Addition and the Avon Area Lakes Association (AALA) contacted the Stearns County SWCD with concerns of direct stormwater entering Middle Spunk Lake. The Stearns County SWCD met with representatives on site to assess the stormwater problems. Many areas of untreated stormwater that directly discharged into Middle Spunk Lake were identified. It was determined that the watershed areas within the Stradford addition should be retrofitted with best management practices capable of conveying and treating stormwater.
The DNR provides technical support related to the causes of altered hydrology and watershed management solutions. We use state-of-the-art models and statistical methods to look at cumulative impacts of drainage and land-use practices and determine the benefits of best management practices. This involves collaboration with multiple partners at multiple scales.
DNR regional clean water specialists and area hydrologists work with regional staff from other state agencies and with local partners to help identify the causes of pollution problems and determine the best strategies for fixing them. We collect and analyze stream channel stability and streambank erosion data to help identify root causes of certain water quality impairments in streams.
Minnesota has widespread water quality impairments due to nonpoint-source pollution generated by agricultural, urban, and other human-altered lands. Mitigation of these impairments requires implementing best management practices (BMPs) that are designed to limit soil erosion and nutrient transport from lands to receiving waters. Long-term data sets of water quality and land-use history are needed to tease apart the many factors that affect water quality. In particular, data sets that span periods before and after BMP implementation are needed to determine BMP effectiveness.
As Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as rain gardens and infiltration swales begin to be implemented in Chisago County, most people don't understand what they are and what their purpose is. With the dual goals of treating stormwater runoff and educating the public, the SWCD applied for and received a Clean Water Fund grant to implement several pre-designed BMPs at
