The goal of this project is to use the We Are Water MN exhibit and their technical knowledge in relationship-building and storytelling to increase community capacity for sustainable watershed management in the Cannon River, Cedar River, Mississippi-Headwaters, Mississippi-Grand Rapids, Mississippi-Twin Cities, Red Lake River, Rum River and St. Louis River watersheds.
The goal of this project is to facilitate strategic networking, relationships, and learning in targeted groups to assess, build, and leverage community capacity (i.e. community resources and values) to increase knowledge of the Blue Earth River watershed’s water resources and increase best management practice (BMP) adoption to restore and protect water quality in the Blue Earth River watershed. Additional goals include providing information that is readily available to the general public for updates on Watershed Approach work in the Blue Earth River watershed.
This project will result in the final the Bois de Sioux River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) report and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study. This work order will authorize the consultant to address all comments received during the public notice period and produce the final WRAPS report for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's final approval and a final TMDL study for United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) final approval.
This is the second phase of building the Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model for the Buffalo River watershed. The project will result in a completed model including necessary calibration and validation phases.
This Surface Water Assessment Grant (SWAG) project is intended to supplement the 2019-2020 Intensive Watershed Monitoring (IWM) process for the Buffalo and Upper Red River of the North watersheds. Nine sites will provide water chemistry and river eutrophication data to the IWM. Monitoring sites were requested by the Buffalo - Red River Watershed District (BRRWD) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
This project will assess the ability of using cover crops as a best management practice to reduce nitrate leaching loss from corn and soybean acres. This contract provides funding for the coordination, outreach and field work to support implementation of the Cannon River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) nitrogen strategy (cover crop application) in Rice Creek. Funding for the actual best management practice (BMP)cost-sharing has been secured via other sources.
The purpose of this project is to create a shared plan for the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) process with roles, responsibilities, commitments and deliverables clearly understood by all (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Chippewa River Watershed, and local partners). The MPCA and the Chippewa River Watershed Project (CRWP) will be working together to ascertain the level of involvement that local units of government and other partners want to engage in for the second round of the WRAPS process.
The Chippewa River Watershed Project (CRWP) will work with the Minnesot Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to conduct watershed pollutant load monitoring at four sites in the Chippewa River watershed and one site in the neighboring Pomme de Terre River watershed to aid the MPCA in measuring and comparing regional differences and long-term trends in water quality. Our goal is to collect quality data and complete load calculations for five sites using the MPCA's Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) established protocols.
This project is for Cycle 2 of the Intensive Watershed Monitoring (IWM) process for the Lower St. Croix Watershed. Seven stream sites will be monitored by the Isanti Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Anoka Conservation District, and Chisago SWCD. Sampling will be conducted in 2019 and 2020 and Chemistry and field observation data will be taken.
This project will create a new chloride source assessment model and generate the best management practice (BMP) information and needed water softening data for the Smart Salting Assessment tool, which will allow Minnesota communities to fully evaluate their specific sources and magnitude of chloride and develop a community specific chloride reduction plan.
This project will produce a final Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report that will be utilized by local government units for water planning purposes during the Board of Water and Soil Resources One Water One Plan process for the Clearwater River Watershed.
This project is to develop a watershed restoration and protection strategies report that provides quantitative pollutant source estimates and a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to protect and achieve water quality standards for all aquatic life and aquatic recreation impairments in the watershed. The strategies will be understood and adoptable by local units of government and other stakeholders. New understandings and new relationships will inform and lead to eventual environmental improvements.
Tetra Tech will gather information for eventual incorporation into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. The Stormwater Manual is used by stormwater practitioners to make decisions related to stormwater management, such as selecting appropriate Best Management Practices, meeting stormwater regulatory requirements, and determining pollutant and stormwater volume reductions associated with implementation of different stormwater management practices. The goal is to update existing information and provide new information on active construction site erosion prevention and sediment control.
In conjunction with the Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is developing a process for public participation that can be used across Minnesota Water Quality Framework programs such as 1 Watershed, 1 Plan, Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS), Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies, and others. This contract will provide support for a northern Minnesota Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to assist in shaping the statewide guidance.
The Cottonwood River watershed is one of the last remaining watersheds to complete Cycle I of the Watershed Restoration & Protections Strategies (WRAPS) process. The scope of this project upon completion is have two reports developed; a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies report and a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the entire watershed.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) offers grants to counties for Subsurface Sewage Treatment System (SSTS) program administration and special projects to improve SSTS compliance rates, and assistance for low-income homeowners with needed SSTS upgrades. The MPCA will determine grant allocations based on applications review; funds will flow to counties through the Board of Water and Soil Resources' Natural Resources Block Grants.
The project goal is to conduct water chemistry monitoring at five subwatershed sites and two basin sites annually from 2016-2019, based on flow conditions, targeting runoff events using protocols defined in the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedures and Guidance. The data collected will be submitted to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and used in the FLUX32 model for calculating pollutant loads.
This project will develop a watershed wide Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and River Eutrophication Standard (RES) TMDL report for water quality impairments in the Des Moines River basin, which includes the Des Moines River Headwaters, Lower Des Moines River, and East Fork Des Moines River watersheds.
This project will provide timely surface water quality data from waters of concern to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). This data will be analyzed and compared to historic data from the same sampling locations. All locations are in the Douglas County portion of the Chippewa River Watershed. Sampling locations include six lakes: Little Chippewa, Devils, Moon, Moses, South Oscar, and Stowe; and one stream site: County Ditch 60.
Four beaches along the North Shore of Lake Superior and within the Duluth Harbor have aquatic recreation impairments due to high concentrations of E. coli, a bacterial indicator of fecal contamination. The project area includes portions of the Lake Superior South and St. Louis River watersheds near Duluth. Several of the beaches are also listed as impaired for beneficial use (due to fecal bacteria) as part of the St. Louis River Area of Concern.
Several streams within the Duluth metropolitan area are identified as impaired and are included on Minnesota’s Impaired Waters List, with impairments to Aquatic Recreation, due to levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies have been completed (draft) for these impairments, including Keene Creek and Tischer Creek. The goal of this project is for the City of Duluth to provide the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with information on the sources of E.
This project continues the total maximum daily load (TMDL) and watershed restoration and protection strategies (WRAPS) process for the Duluth Metropolitan Area (DMA). The DMA is defined by water, sitting at the juncture of Lake Superior and the St. Louis River Estuary, and surrounded by semi-mountainous terrain. The project serves as a bridge into the next phase of restoration and protection identified by the Duluth Urban Stream TMDLs and WRAPS. In the first phase of community engagement, a collaborating organization was formed to define a framework for the DMA communities.
This project will respond to public notice comments received after a 2nd comment opportunity and several requests for changes to the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report and petition for contested case hearings (CCH). Additional review work must be completed and if necessary, edits or updates to the TMDL and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) reports. If there are substantial changes to both documents another public noticing will be necessary.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) requests assistance from local partners to collect samples and field data at designated stream monitoring sites for the purpose of assessing water quality and calculating annual pollutant loads.
The primary goal of this project is to enhance the current version of the Expert System for Calibration of HSPF (HSPEXP+) so that it can be more efficiently used for QA/QC of hydrology and water quality models developed using Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) and develop input files for two receiving waterbody models.
The goal of this project is to develop a tool to generate meteorological time-series input data for Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models based on publicly available gridded meteorological products.
This project will monitor six sites within the Minnesota River Basin: Hawk Creek near Maynard, Hawk Creek near Granite Falls, Beaver Creek near Beaver Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Granite Falls, Yellow Medicine River near Hanley Falls, and Spring Creek near Hanley Falls. The sites will be monitored according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedure, which is the procedure being followed for sites currently monitored by the Hawk Creek Watershed Project.
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 conducting water chemistry monitoring at two specified stream locations from ice out through October 31, capturing snow melt, rainfall events and base flow conditions. In addition, project staff will compile and submit the required data, information, and reports, and calculate pollutant loads using the FLUX32 model.
The primary goal of this project is to train the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency staff in Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model calibration of nutrients, oxygen demand, and algal processes and in MATLAB script development for model output processing and report generation. Additionally, a pilot application process will be developed to link HSPF applications to Water quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) to take advantage of the advanced sediment oxygen demand processes.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been monitoring for contaminants of emerging concern in Minnesota's surface water since 2007. These contaminants include a wide variety of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and other chemicals that can harm fish and wildlife and human health. One group of these chemicals, disinfection by-products, are formed when water is treated with chlorine. Some of these chemicals are cancer-causing and highly toxic.
This contract is for Itasca County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to assist in the public participation activities in Rainy Basin Watersheds of Little Fork and Big Fork.
The purpose of this work is to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs; a federal clean Water Act requirement) for streams and lakes in the Kettle River and Upper St. Croix watersheds. This and other technical information will be used to develop a separate report called a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report.
Previous research by the St. Croix Watershed Research Station (SCWRS) has identified lake physics (temperature and oxygen) and nutrient recycling (nitrogen and phosphorus) as key drivers of lake algal blooms. SCWRS will conduct monitoring consistent with the prior research efforts by re-deploying three moored buoys to collect data throughout the 2019 ice-free season, including surface water samples. Additionally, SCWRS will deploy an in situ flourometer to measure total algae and cyanobacteria concentrations and will collect and analyze cyanobacterial toxins.
The purpose of this project is for Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District to continue to assist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s watershed approach and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) process in the Rainy River Headwaters and Cloquet River watersheds. As part of this, Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District will lead efforts to increase levels of civic engagement and community participation in support of the current WRAPS process.
The goal of this project is to finalize the Lake Pepin Watershed phosphorus total maximum daily load (TMDL) report by using the existing information and documentation prepared under previous contracts to prepare one TMDL report that addresses the impairments on the mainstem of the Mississippi River. Information developed to date for draft TMDLs on the Minnesota River mainstem will be documented for later use by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
This project is to conduct water chemistry monitoring at two subwatershed sites and two major watershed sites based on flow conditions, targeting runoff events using protocols defined in the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedures and Guidance. The data collected will be submitted to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and used for calculating pollutant loads. This loading information, in turn, will be used at both the state and local level to guide policy and strategies for the restoration and protection of Minnesota’s waters.
The Lake of the Woods (LOW) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study will: (1) identify water quality goals for the Minnesota portions of the LOW/Rainy River Watershed; (2) recommend nutrient allocations to achieve TMDLs where waters do not meet standards; and (3) provide opportunities for stakeholders to engage in the process of watershed-management planning to adopt protection and restoration strategies. The project will include existing in-lake and watershed model updates, TMDL component development, restoration plan development, and public participation.
The purpose of this project is to gain additional information about the amount of phosphorous flowing into Lake St Croix by implementing additional water quality monitoring and/or to reduce the amount of phosphorous entering Lake St Croix by the implementation of projects that will reduce phosphorus loadings. The St. Croix River Association (SCRA) will coordinate with a subgroup of the St. Croix Basin Water Resources Planning Team and other local resource experts on the identification and funding of comprehensive water monitoring and phosphorus reduction activities in the Lake St.
This project will complete updates to existing information and incorporate new information into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual including the Blue Star Assessment tool. Stormwater practitioners use the information and assessment tool to implement the most effective and cost-efficient practices for managing stormwater runoff volume, stormwater pollutants, and to meet regulatory requirements associated with stormwater permits.
Four stream segments, totaling over 100 miles, are impaired in the Little Fork River for Total Suspended Solids (TSS). This study will provide local partners with project options for reducing sediment in the Little Fork Watershed. Through the use of sediment fingerprinting determinations can be made if the sediment is from in (or near) channel, or the watershed and identify what sub-watershed the sediment is coming originating.
