All Projects

A direct appropriation of $400,000 in FY 2010 and $600,000 in FY2011 for the Anoka Conservation District (ACD) is for the metropolitan landscape restoration program for water quality and improvement projects in the seven-county metro area.

This program will harness the expertise, resources, and connections of a broad community of committed conservation stakeholders to significantly elevate restoration and enhancement of oak savannas (Minnesota's most critically imperiled habitat), woodlands and forests on public lands across the region.

The Anoka Sand Plain Partnership restored / enhanced 3,714 acres of priority prairie, savanna, forest, wetland, and shoreline habitat on public lands and waters within the Anoka Sand Plain EcoRegion within the Metropolitan Urbanizing, Forest-Prairie, and Northern Forest regions. Total R/E acreage achieved over the course of the appropriation is 126% of our stated acreage goals, and was accomplished through a robust partnership of four direct recipients improving a total of 16 priority sites including WMAs, state forest, national wildlife refuges, city and county lands. 

Through various means, human produced chemicals can make their way into surface waters where they can have adverse effects on the function of ecological communities. Of particular concern are antibiotics and other antimicrobial substances because they have the potential to create increased antibiotic resistance. While there is a background level of naturally occurring antibiotic resistance in the natural world, elevated or persistent levels caused by human activities have the potential to harm human, animal, and overall ecosystem health.

Aquatic invasive species pose critical ecological and economic challenges for the entire state and beyond. They can cause irreparable harm to fisheries and aquatic habitat as well as damage to infrastructure. The problems posed by aquatic invasive species continue to grow as existing infestations expand and new exotic species arrive, most of which are poorly understood. New ideas and approaches are needed to develop real solutions.

This project is studying the response of certain aquifers to groundwater pumping. Research involves an aquifer test, which is an experiment where a well is pumped at a known, constant, pumping rate; changes in groundwater levels and stream flows in the areas around the aquifer test site are observed while the well is being pumped. These tests help us understand how groundwater flows between aquifers, which are underground rock and sand layers that hold water.

The DNR is working with local communities and an interagency team to define, prioritize, and establish groundwater management areas in Minnesota. Groundwater management areas will have increased data collection and monitoring that allow the state and local communities to understand water supplies, uses, limitations, and threats to natural resources that depend on groundwater. This information will support detailed aquifer protection plans that ensure equitable and sustainable groundwater and drinking water use for the future.

As preparation to additional historic preservation work on the Odeon Theatre, listed in the national Register of Historic Places, a qualified historical architect was hired to inspect and evaluate the building. Issues of safety/building codes, accessibility concerns, weather-tightness and future functional improvements were addressed. The final report included a mechanical/electrical evaluation of the building and its proposed future addition. Improvements will include accessible restrooms, a second accessible exit, expanded storage space and the repair of the stage floor.

A total of 961 linear feet of archival quality shelving was purchased and installed in the "vault" area and the College Archives storage room at Gustavus Adolphus College. Old, used shelving was re-purposed for use in other areas of the college. The installation of this shelving has alleviated overcrowding, provided a safer more secure storage environment and consolidated the collections to one location.

To make the Cathedral of St. Paul archives more accessible to the public, the Cathedral heritage foundation undertook a two-step project to sort, organize, inventory and file their collections. The first step involved general cleaning and the reorganization of materials. All materials were re-housed in archival storage units. Inventory information was entered into PastPerfect. The second step of the project focused on the recruitment and training of volunteers folow up on and continue the new preservation/storage best practices.

Construct treatment plant improvements

The Washington Conservation District (WCD), Washington County, and South Washington Watershed District (SWWD) are partnering to retrofit water quality improvement practices at the Oakdale Library. The goal is clean water and the project will work toward the 101 pound phosphorus load reduction target for Armstrong Lake identified in the SWWD Watershed Plan. The project will also benefit Wilmes Lake, which is downstream from Armstrong and is impaired by excess nutrients.

Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries are beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding.

Minnesota’s 12 regional public library systems, which encompass 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional public library system receives a formula-driven allocation from the annual $3 million Minnesota Regional Library Legacy Grant.