The South St. Louis SWCD will collaborate with the City of Duluth to implement 13 stormwater BMPs in two high priority parks in the Miller Creek Watershed. The proposed BMP locations were prioritized by the city & SWCD based on the desire to coordinate with upcoming construction planned for Lincoln Park & on the sediment impacts resulting from worsening erosion problems in Piedmont Park.
This project will provide cost-share funds to landowners in vulnerable groundwater areas for the incorporation of cover crops in their crop rotation and to provide education related to nitrogen BMPs through field trials and Nutrient Management Plans. An anticipated 100 producers in highly vulnerable areas, will plant 3,000 acres of cover crops resulting in preventing potentially 19,800 pounds of nitrate from leaching into groundwater.
Dakota County is partnering with the Dakota Soil and Water Conservation District to preserve and enhance the chain of shallow lakes in Lebanon Hills Regional Park which is owned and operated by Dakota County and located within the City of Eagan. Dakota County proposes to construct two regional iron-enhanced sand filtration practices to achieve the load reduction goals set forth in the LHRP Subwatershed Assessment Report to protect Jensen and Schulze lakes and prevent them from being listed on the 303(d) Impaired Waters List. The project will reduce 26 pound of phosphorus annually.
Three streambank stabilization projects have been identified as high priority projects in the Thief River Falls Water Quality Study completed in 2017. The proposal will use a combination of bendway weirs, toe protection by building a floodplain bench and live stake plantings. It has been estimated that a total of 385 tons per year of sediment from these three locations is entering the river contributing to the impairment downstream.
