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 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has identified streamflow alteration as a key stressor on aquatic life, but the characteristics of streamflow alteration acting as stressors have not been identified in the MPCA Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) process. Without indices that characterize streamflow alteration, the MPCA cannot quantitatively associate metrics of aquatic life condition to streamflow alteration. The lack of quantifiable indices limits the ability of the MPCA to assess environmental streamflow needs for streams and rivers throughout Minnesota.
The Bell Museum will sort and identify all fish samples collected by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) North and South Biological Monitoring Units. The Bell Museum of Natural History (Bell Museum) will provide professional fish Identification expertise to the MPCA fish voucher program, while also helping the Bell Museum annually update their fish distribution map for the State of Minnesota. As the MPCA samples and vouchers species of significance, the Bell Museum shall catalog these species into their official fish collection.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will conduct water sample analysis and collect data for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to meet the requirements of the MPCA’s environmental programs.
This project will assist in assessing the quality of the Mississippi River bordering with Wisconsin in partnership with the Minnesota DNR (MNDNR), the Wisconsin DNR (WIDNR) and the Metropolitan Council of Environmental Services (MCES). Sampling will be conducted in 2016 using water chemistry and biological indicators, using a 5 state strategy recently developed recently with the leadership of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. The Minnesota entities will focus their work on the River from St Anthony Falls to the Chippewa River confluence in Lake Pepin.
Using data supplied by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), this project will model the relationship between sulfate and sulfide in wild rice habitats.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) uses a watershed-oriented approach to assess surface water quality and define restoration and protection measures. Each of Minnesota's 81 major watersheds is assessed intensively every 10 years, based on a staggered schedule that addresses, on average, eight watersheds per year. To increase the amount of data directly available to the public online, and to make internal operations more efficient, the MPCA started a multi-year Watershed Data Integration Project (WDIP).
This project will evaluate best management performance and effectiveness to support meeting total maximum daily loads; develop standards and incorporate state of the art guidance using minimal impact design standards as the model; and implement a knowledge and technology transfer system across local government, industry, and regulatory sectors.
Staffing support to evaluate the performance of existing stormwater infiltration sites, as identified in the Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) project. Monitor the range of existing infiltration devices in Minnesota and compare to design criteria, maintenance records, and quantify year-round infiltration rates. Develop and refine pretreatment options and standards for municipal stormwater treatment.
This project supports activities by Minnesota Pollution Control (MPCA) Watershed Division staff that provide technical assistance, project oversight, coordination, outreach and other agency activities associated with assessing, listing and conducting Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies throughout the State of Minnesota. Project also includes lab analysis, equipment, and fieldwork expenses associated with TMDL work at the MPCA.
This project supports monitoring and assessment activities by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Environmental Outcomes staff and includes lab analysis, equipment, and fieldwork expenses associated with monitoring and assessment activities within the described priority watersheds. Lake Monitoring: Lakes are monitored for nutrients, clarity and other information to provide the data needed to assess the aquatic recreation use support. Biological and Water Chemistry Stream Monitoring: Monitoring to assess the conditions of streams in each watershed.
Agencies and stakeholders are working together to clean up contaminated sediments and restore aquatic habitat to the estuary in the St. Louis River Area of Concern within the Great Lakes Basin.
Staffing support for the development of permits that provide for implementation of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements at wastewater facilities and stormwater permittees.
This project supports monitoring and assessment activities by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Environmental Outcomes staff and includes lab analysis, equipment, fieldwork, data management, and interpretation expenses associated with monitoring and assessment activities. The ambient groundwater monitoring network describes the current condition and trends in Minnesota's groundwater quality.
Support for the subsurface sewage treatment system (SSTS) program administered by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The MPCA offers grants to counties for SSTS program administration and special projects to improve SSTS compliance rates, and assistance for low-income homeowners with needed SSTS upgrades.
The Clean Water Council was created through the Clean Water Legacy Act (Minn. Stat. Ch 114D) which was signed into law June 2, 2006. The council’s role is to advise on the administration and implementation of the Clean Water Legacy Act. See the Council’s FY18-19 Clean Water Fund and Policy Recommendations Report (December 1, 2016). The 28-member Clean Water Council (Council) represents organizations with a major role in achieving clean water, enabling consensus building and coordination on a wide array of issues critical to the people of Minnesota.
This project will develop and present to the MN association of townships on stormwater best management practices and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permits.
This will fund a competitive grant program for sewer projects that will help protect or restore the water quality of waters in national parks located within Minnesota.
The goal of this project is the development of a model of wild rice population dynamics, using RAMAS software, which mimics natural variability of population levels and calculates the probability of population extinction.
The Statewide Sediment Network was established to measure the levels of suspended sediment concentrations and particle size distributions at eight sites across Minnesota to evaluate the amount of sediment carried by rivers. USGS sample collection and laboratory analysis techniques provide a more rigorous, robust, and technically accurate measure of sediment in water than the current use of total suspended solids as the measure of sediment in water.
Cognizant to the needs of the stormwater community, a group that has engaged in stormwater research at the University of Minnesota (UMN) has developed a research program for the biennium that addresses pressing needs: a stormwater research roadmap and framework for priority needs, research required to improve stormwater pond maintenance, and information transfer related to these needs.
