This project will develop an enhanced street sweeping plan for the City of Forest Lake that optimizes phosphorus removal from increasing sweeping frequency with the cost of additional sweeps. In addition, this project will identify road-specific street sweeping timing and frequency, quantify expected phosphorus load reductions, itemize costs of enhanced street sweeping, and recommend funding options to the City of Forest Lake.
Forest Lake Area Schools, the Rice Creek Watershed District and the City of Forest Lake have partnered to develop the first phase of a long-term stormwater reuse and education program starting. This project will result in stormwater pond retrofits and construction of new irrigation infrastructure to reduce potable groundwater usage by over 4 million gallons per year. Further, educational curriculum will be developed to integrate the reuse technology and water conservation concepts. Clear Lake is an important regional resource and boasts a very active lake association.
Forest Lake is one of the top recreational lakes in the metro area with a diverse and healthy fishery along with thee public accesses. The water quality of Forest Lake also impacts downstream waters, particularly Comfort Lake, the Sunrise River, and ultimately Lake St. Croix. A water quality study was completed for Forest Lake identifying nutrient reduction goals to meet state water quality standards for all three basins of Forest Lake along with the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District's (CLFLWD) long term goal water quality goals for the lake.
The Crow Wing River is a valuable natural resource and forested regions in the watershed are at risk from conversion to cropland and clearing for other uses. In order to maintain the high quality upland that protects the water quality, forestry practices are being encouraged with cost-sharing and education in an effort to manage, protect, and improve existing forest stands.
The Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council work with forest landowners, managers and loggers to implement a set of voluntary sustainable forest management guidelines that include water quality best management practices (BMPs) to ensure sustainable habitat, clean water, and productive forest soils, all contributing to healthy watersheds. This project will monitor the implementation of these forest management guidelines and BMPs on forested watersheds in MN.
Forever Green Initiative develops perennial and cover cropping systems specific to Minnesota that are necessary to protect and restore the state's surface and groundwater resources while increasing efficiency, profitability, and productivity of Minnesota farmers.
In the fourth year of this project, MNHS staff completed inventory and rehousing of most artifacts excavated from Historic Fort Snelling between 1957 and 1981. The Collections Management System now has 118,500 records for Fort Snelling artifacts. Three hundred items were photographed and are now accessible to the public online. In 2016, an exhibit featuring patent medicine bottles found at Fort Snelling was developed and installed in the Fort Snelling Visitor Center.
This project will layer hydrologic, hydraulic, geomorphic, and pollutant loading analysis with existing countywide PTMApp outputs to identify the four highest priority areas for BMP implementation in an eastern Nicollet County ravine system experiencing dramatic mass wasting events. Three alternatives for each priority site will be presented, including an evaluation of water quality benefit, construction costs, and a cost-benefit summary.
The goal of the High Island Creek Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring project is to assist the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with meeting the objectives of the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN). This will be accomplished by providing staff support throughout fiscal years 2016 and 2017 to conduct water chemistry monitoring at two specified stream locations from ice out through October 31 capturing snow melt, rainfall events and base flow conditions.
