To enhance the spectator experience at the gazebo stage at the Wabasha County Fair. The fair provided a sun roof area for spectators to watch performances out of the sun.
To provide the region free access to numerous arts, cultural, historical, and educational events and activities that were not available in the area. The Wabasha County Agricultural Fair held a children’s event called “Games that Require no Batteries,” and several workshops engaging all ages of fairgoers in local history, bluegrass music, and music of the Elvis era.
To offer new arts access and cultural heritage programming to both children and adults at the Wadena County Fair. Programming will include demonstrations in depression era toy making, finger knitting, bead work, leather work, growing container gardens, and a presentation on hoop dance, a Native American cultural performance.
To hire a qualified historian to complete an evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the Wadena Commercial District.
Lake of the Woods (LOW) is a resource with local, regional, state, and international significance and is the second largest lake in Minnesota. Over the past three decades the Warroad River Harbor in LOW has experienced severe sedimentation problems. The sedimentation has led to frequent dredging to remove excess sediment and protect this vital resource. However, it is unsustainable to continue dredging the harbor without also addressing the sources of upstream sediment within the Warroad River watershed.
To offer new arts and cultural heritage programming at the Waseca County Free Fair. Programming will include a performance by a Minnesota band, a German heritage band, and Homeward Bound Theater.
To increase access to a variety of performance art at the Washington County Fair. Funds will be used to showcase a miming presentations by Theatre of Fools, a Native American dance demonstration by the Little Thunderbirds, and a comedy show by author Michael Perry, who discusses today’s small town fardmand family culture.
The Red River is impaired for turbidity. The level of turbidity is a significant factor in the cost of treatment of drinking water by the City of Moorhead. This water quality improvement project involves the retrofit of Clay County Ditches 9, 32, and 33 just south of the city. The project involves the installation of an estimated 87 side inlet sediment controls and 35 acres of buffer strips. All three of these ditch systems with over 16 miles of County Ditch will be treated for sediment and erosion control with the installation of conservation practices.
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).
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:
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 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.
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.
To expand children's arts programming at the Watonwan Count Fair by providing hands-on learning opportunities and demonstrations. The fair will also welcome Latin, Norwegian, Swedish, and German Dancers to the stage, enhance the fair’s creative arts exhibits, host a historic horse pull, and purchase a portable PA system to ensure that all cultural activities can be heard by fairgoers.
With the completion of LiDAR data in southern Minnesota, it is imperative to use this data as effectively as possible. In order to do so, the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA) will contract with a vendor to complete a Geographic Information System (GIS) terrain analysis in subsheds of the Watonwan River watershed. This inventory will utilize the State of Minnesota LiDAR elevation datasets to create many GIS datasets by spatially analyzing the elevation data.
MNHS continues to focus on broadening access to many of its Legacy-funded programs through the Internet. This funding supports the web development professionals who plan, build, and implement digital components that are part of many Legacy-funded history projects and helps pay for Web hosting to make these projects accessible to people in Minnesota and beyond. MNHS also uses the web to report on its use of Legacy funds at legacy.mnhs.org and for the public to apply for Legacy grant funds at legacy.mnhs.org/grants.
This program is a part of a comprehensive clean water strategy to prevent sediment and nutrients from entering our lakes, rivers, and streams; enhance fish and wildlife habitat; protect groundwater and wetlands. Specifically the Wellhead Protection Conservation Easement program is targeted to protect drinking water through the Reinvest in Minnesota Program (RIM).
This project will apply science to identify viable and priority wetland restorations and rehabilitations that will deliver sustainable water quality benefit, along with flood storage and habitat benefits. Decision tools will be developed to assist with selection of restoration projects.
What's Up, Doc? The Animation Art of Chuck Jones is a new traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution that reveals the creative genius behind some of the most enduringly popular cartoons and animated films of all time. Chuck Jones brought to animation an unparalleled talent for comic invention and a flair for creating animated characters with distinctive and often wildly eccentric personalities.
The Whiskey Creek Watershed is the largest subwatershed in the Upper Red River of the North drainage, encompassing 165.63 square miles in Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties. This watershed contains the headwaters of the Red River of the North, which begins in far west central Wilkin County, an area of mixed residential and agricultural land use. The cities of Breckenridge, Minnesota and Wahpeton, North Dakota, as well as the small town of Kent are within the watershed.
2010 Grant Activities
Recording of 1st speakers. Webmaster hired to maintain language website. Conduct two half day gatherings for 1st Generation speakers.
Wicoie Nandagikendan Early Childhood Urban Immersion Project provides a 3-hour-a-day preschool language immersion experience. It builds on the integral connections between culture, literacy, and educational attainment. The project partners with existing programs to provide fluent speakers and language curriculum.
The MPCA is currently collecting additional information needed to evaluate the 10 mg/liter wild-rice-based sulfate standard and has received funding through legislation passed during the 2011 Special Session to implement a wild rice research plan and contract with scientific experts to further understand the effects of sulfate on the growth of wild rice. The goal of this project is to determine responses of wild rice to sulfate and the products of geochemical transformations of sulfate.
This project makes an additional plant growth chamber available to increase efficiency for the MPCA Wild Rice Standards Study, which is gathering information about the effects of sulfate on the growth of wild rice.
The goal of this project is to collect and analyze samples from lake, stream, wild rice paddy, and experimental field sites across a spectrum of sulfate concentrations and wild rice plant abundance. The scientific information developed will be part of the evidence used by the MPCA in its decision as to whether or not a change to the existing sulfate standard is necessary, and if so, what the revised standard should be.
The MPCA is undertaking a study to investigate the potential effects of elevated sulfate on the growth of wild rice. One high-priority hypothesis is that the conversion of sulfate to sulfide in anoxic subsurface sediment may harm the roots of wild rice, either directly, or indirectly. The goal of this project is To observe and develop an understanding of exposure of wild rice roots to changes in concentration of sulfide and related chemicals over time and space (depth of sediment and distance from roots).
This project will provide lab analyses and interpretation required for 2012 wild rice field survey. The 2012 lab analyses will be merged with the 2011 field survey data and determine what additional work, if any, is needed during the 2013 field season.
The MDH Environmental Laboratory provides essential analyses of water for the MPCA Wild Rice Standards Study, which is gathering information about the effects of sulfate on the growth of wild rice. For this study, the lab developed a ultra-sensitive test for hydrogen sulfide, which greatly facilitated the research. For this large study, the lab staff analyzed several thousand water and sediment samples from lakes, wetlands, rivers, rice paddies, experimental mesocosms, and hydroponic experiments.
The Bird’s Eye Lake AMA acquisition has been completed. A portion of the land cost had come from this
appropriation, the 2016 Aquatic Habitat OHF appropriation, and by gifts matched with RIM Critical Habitat. This
tract consists of 52 acres, of which 5 acres are being reported on under this appropriation, as to not double count
acreage.
This Corridor Habitat Restoration Project is a cooperative effort between the District (WRWD), MN Board of Soil and Water Resources (MNBWSR), MN DNR, and Red River Watershed Management Board (RRWMB). This is a voluntary program with the long-term goal to restore a natural corridor area along the Lower Reach of the Wild Rice River. When completed, the project will restore 23 channelized river miles to 50 miles of natural stream channel.
This program acquired, developed, and added 638 acres to the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system. These lands protect habitat and provide opportunities for public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses consistent with the Outdoor Recreation Act (M.S. 86A.05, Subd.8).
