To engage the residents of Hubbard County in the arts and encourage them to exhibit their work in the Open Class Building. Funds will additionally be used to restore the one room school house.
To hire a qualified and experienced HVAC engineer to evaluate current system preparatory to better control of the North Superior Lifeboat Station Lightkeeper's House, listed in the National Register of Historic Places and current home of the Cook County Historical Society.
To hire a qualified and experienced HVAC engineer to evaluate the current system preparatory to better control of the McLeod County Historical Society museum environment.
To hire a qualified and experienced HVAC engineer to evaluate the current system in preparation for better control of the Northfield Historical Society museum environment.
To implement recommendations from an HVAC evaluation that will ensure better climate control for the preservation of historic resources documenting Itasca County history.
This project will continue HSPF watershed model construction beyond the initial framework development. The consultant will add representation of point source discharges to the model. The consultant will also compile flow data for the purposes of calibration and validation. Finally, an initial hydrologic calibration will be performed and submitted for approval.
This project will complete a guidance document for the construction of Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed models which are intended to support MPCA Watershed programmatic activities. It will also customize and populate a national HSPF parameter database with values from Minnesota HSPF model applications. This enhanced database will expedite the future construction of HSPF models as well as increase the consistency among HSPF model applications in Minnesota.
This project will address the numerous recommendations included in the original Guidance Document to provide an updated and improved Guidance Document. This improved guidance will help to ensure consistency and validity of future HSPF model applications within the State as part of the One Water Program.
The goal of this project is to develop a watershed-scale decision support tool, Scenario Application Manager (SAM), to facilitate prioritization and placement of best management practices (BMPs) needed to achieve the necessary reductions identified by various watershed management programs in Minnesota. SAM consists of a Geographic Information System (GIS) for site selection, and Hydrological Simulation Program – Fortran (HSPF) model application to simulate the transport of pollutants.
Development of Target NPS loading rates along with a pollutant source allocation tool for assessing and quantifying source allocations for impaired stream reaches for use in the TMDL development.
The goal of this project is to extend the existing HSPF models through 2012 in the Chippewa Watershed (07020005) and Hawk-Yellow Medicine Watershed (07020004) to incorporate recent monitoring data to support current MPCA business needs and sediment source investigations.
Mower County has completed the first phase of their county-wide imminent public health threat inventory and are currently in the process of phase two. This project will fund the third phase which will allow Mower County to inventory over 1,400 sites and remove an anticipated total of 230 imminent public health threats from discharging to local waters or to ground surface.
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive insect that has been decimating ash trees throughout the Great Lakes states. It was first discovered in Minnesota in 2009 and is now found in four counties (Hennepin, Houston, Ramsey, and Winona). EAB poses a particularly serious threat to Minnesota because it is home to nearly 1 billion ash trees that occur throughout the state - the second most of any state.
Minnesota has 15.9 million acres of forest land managed by a variety of county, state and federal agencies, and private landowners for timber production, wildlife habitat, and ecological considerations. Forest managers rely on inventory data to make effective planning and management decisions. Because forests are continually changing through natural and human processes, forest inventory data is periodically updated. However, doing so is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor and, as a result, much of Minnesota’s forest inventory data is currently out of date.
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive insect that has been decimating ash trees throughout the Great Lakes states. It was first discovered in Minnesota in 2009 and is now found in four counties (Hennepin, Houston, Ramsey, and Winona). EAB poses a particularly serious threat to Minnesota because it is home to nearly 1 billion ash trees that occur throughout the state - the second most of any state.
To enhance access to arts and cultural activities by showcasing a variety of performers, artisans and educators, never before hosted by the fair. Programming will include children's puppetry, German musical performances and dancing, Spanish, French and German singing, folk singing and fiddle music, presentations on the MN River preservation and history.
In partnership with the Chisago Lakes Lake Improvement District, subwatershed assessments for the communities of Center City, Lindstrom and Chisago City, all within the Chisago Lakes Chain of Lakes watershed have been completed. The tourism economy of these communities depends on the Chisago Lakes Chain of Lakes.
In partnership with the Washington Conservation District and City of Woodbury, this project will improve water quality in Colby Lake through implementing 30 priority small-scale water quality conservation practices. Projects may include bioretention, vegetated swales and pond modifications. Priority projects were identified as part of the Colby Lake Watershed Retrofit Assessment and represent the most cost-effective means to reduce excess phosphorus loads that have impacted Colby Lake.
Green Lake is a popular and regionally significant lake. Monitoring data collected on Green Lake indicates that the lake's water quality is declining. Over recent decades, development in the City of Spicer and around Green Lake has increased dramatically, resulting in much higher percentages of impervious surfaces such as parking lots, driveways and roads. The resulting increase in runoff velocities and volumes require the incorporation of stormwater infrastructure to accommodate water that previously infiltrated soils.
This water quality improvement project involves the retrofit of county ditch #31 also known as Connelly Ditch. The capacity of the ditch is inadequate and there is a need to reduce sediment and peak flows to it.
The Crow River is known to be one of the highest nutrient loading watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Years of water quality monitoring confirm a variety of water quality issues in drainage ditches. These include high nutrient loading and delivery of high levels of suspended solids to downstream receiving waters such as Diamond Lake which is negatively impacted for elevated phosphorus levels.
Agricultural drain tiles with surface intakes are considered a significant delivery mechanism of nutrients to Minnesota River. Protecting those surface water inlets can reduce the direct path those nutrients have to the river. In addition, in agricultural fields with subsurface drainage, leached nitrate creates elevated nitrate levels in tile drainage water. These high nitrate concentrations can cause algae blooms that remove oxygen. To help remove nitrates leached into tile drains, wood chip bioreactors can be installed to remove nitrate from the tile water before it enters surface water.
As the City of Wadena is being re-built after an EF4 tornado, it has become evident that more needs to be done to reduce runoff by retaining or diverting stormwater. The purpose of this project is to provide subgrants to citizens to install various conservation practices on their properties including grassed waterways, rain gardens and tree plantings. Through this subgrant program the citizens of Wadena will have a greater understanding of the importance of stormwater management.
Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park, contract trail, path, seating, concessions, and shoreline improvements and play area rehabilitation. Includes site furniture, landscaping, site utilities and lighting, design and engineering, project management.
To improve display areas that feature quilts, historic and artistic photographs, American Indian fine art, indigenous floral arrangements, locally grown herbs, and other handiwork indicative of Becker county by purchasing display cases and improving lighting. Additionally, to feature American Indian performers and a Norwegian performing pair to share their talents under the free tent during the fair.
The Diversity Committee guides MNHS in relation to its strategic priority for diversity and inclusivity. The team meets regularly to discuss current offerings, interactions with various diverse communities and provides services for MNHS to increase cultural competency of staff. The committee activities have emphasized training and development of staff, choosing the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) as an assessment tool to provide a benchmark of the current state of intercultural competency with the plan of reassessing at a later date to gauge improvements.
Demand for Engineering services in Northeast Minnesota's nine-county Area III Technical Service Area is exceeding the capacity to deliver the needed services. There are increased requests from Soil and Water Conservation Districts for engineering needed to design and install Best Management Practices in part due to requests related to Clean Water Fund projects. These funds will be used to hire an engineer, which will increase engineering capacity and result in the completion of at least five additional projects per year.
