The goal of this project is to achieve a 10% reduction in overall sediment discharge to the Mississippi River from the Northeast St. Cloud Drainage Area by installing one regional underground stormwater detention and treatment facility in partnership with a Neighborhood Redevelopment Project. The project will have over 16,000 cubic feet of water storage capacity treating 35 acres of stormwater runoff and is modeled to reduce sediment by 4.5 tons, which is 10% of the sediment reduction goal for this drainage area.
This project is targeting unsealed wells in parts of the county that are highly vulnerable to drinking water contamination and are already at a high risk to
contamination from other sources.
Provides grants to Soil and Water Conservation Districts that focuses on increasing capacity to address four resource concern areas?Soil Erosion, Riparian Zone Management, Water Storage and Treatment, and Excess Nutrients.
These funds will be utilized in cost-share for landowners to install Agricultural Best Management Practices following Little Rock Lake TMDL Implementation Plan. Example of projects include Feedlot Improvements, Waste Storage Facilities, Erosion Control BMPs, Filter Strips and Streambank Stabilizations. An estimated 830 pounds per year of phosphorus and 800 tons of sediment will be reduced annually.
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.
Crow Wing SWCD is building off its success with Project Recharge and expanded the program to target Gull and Big Trout lakes. The SWCD selected these two lakes because of their declining transparency readings, 25 interested landowners, 2 adjacent resorts, and the community support, past partnerships, valuable fisheries, high ratio of forested land, and low ratio of impervious area in the lakeshed.The SWCD worked with partners to find willing landowners and businesses to complete the following types of projects:Swap Rock for Native Stock: Implement bioengineering to stabilize shorelines.
Crow Wing County, in cooperation with the municipalities within the County, plans to continue its successful well sealing program that pays 50% of the cost to seal / abandon wells up to a maximum of $1000 per well. Priority will be given to wells located in or near existing wellhead protection areas.
This project will provide Stressor ID work and assistance for the development of a work plan for the Major Watershed Project. The Major Watershed Project will include a plan for civic engagement and outreach, with assistance from ten Local Government Units from the Crow Wing River Watershed.
This project will initiate project coordination among project partners. It will enhance civic engagement and outreach endeavors activities to support Phase 2 of TMDL project. It will also support field activities associated with stressor ID work.
This project will identify and compile existing nitrate data from groundwaters and surface waters in the Lower Mississippi Basin (LMB) generally and focus on the Root River Watershed. The purpose is to investigate the quantity and quality of existing nitrate data, and to organize it for use in comprehensive watershed strategy development (including assessment, TMDL computation and identification and study of nitrate sources and delivery mechanisms).
This project will complete an implementation plan, as required by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, for the Zumbro River turbidity TMDL project. It will also revise the Zumbro River Watershed Management Plan (completed 2007) to ensure it continues to reflect local needs, incorporates new information, and develops more effective linkages with related local, state and federal government programs.
This project will determine the magnitude and sources of pollutants in Little Rock Creek and will estimate the reductions in loadings that are needed in order for the stream reaches to support cold water fish assemblages and attain water quality standards.
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.
The Elk River Watershed Association (ERWSA) was formed to enable Sherburne and Benton Counties to work together to implement Local Water Management Plans. Since its formation in 1994, the ERWSA has primarily focused on working with land owners to reduce non-point sources of pollution within the watershed. Sherburne and Benton SWCD staff have extensive experience installing conservation practices. The ERWSA draws support from Sherburne County, Benton County, and local lake associations.
Currently, there are approximately 5,050 feedlots with fewer than 300 animal units that need to come into compliance with State feedlot rules. Clean Water Feedlot Water Quality Management Grant funds are being used to provide financial assistance to landowners with feedlot operations less than 300 animal units in size and located in a riparian area or impaired watershed.
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.
This project will study the geologic controls on nitrate transport in southeast Minnesota's karst landscape and will also provide datasets for other projects over time.
This project will support construction of three watershed framework models built using the Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF). These executable models will simulate hydrology at the subbasin scale. An HSPF model will be built for each of these major watersheds: Crow Wing River, Redeye River, and Long Prairie River.
Funding supports an Irrigation Specialist to develop guidance and provide education on irrigation and nitrogenbest management practices (BMPs). In this position, Dr. Vasu Sharma provides direct support to irrigators onissues of irrigation scheduling and soil water monitoring. She is collaborating on the development of new irrigationscheduling tools that help irrigators manage water and nitrogen resources more precisely. These tools help reducenitrogen leaching losses in irrigated cropping systems.
This project will create a high accuracy elevation dataset - critical for effectively planning and implementing water quality projects - for the state of Minnesota using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geospatial mapping technologies. Although some areas of the state have been mapped previously, many counties remain unmapped or have insufficient or inadequate data. This multi-year project, to be completed in 2012, is a collaborative effort of Minnesota's Digital Elevation Committee and partners with county surveyors to ensure accuracy with ground-truthing.
The goal of this project is to simulate up to ten scenarios using the recently completed Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model for the Mississippi River–Lake Pepin (MRLP) watershed. The mode will be used to investigate a variety of management scenarios to support further planning work and implementation in the watershed. Model scenarios are being developed to inform 1W1P planning activities and future implementation.
This project will assist farmers across Southeast Minnesota by providing guidance on management of nutrient sources including livestock manure, commercial fertilizers, and legumes. This project is important because excess nutrients and bacteria are causing negative impacts to the quality of waters. Two Nutrient Management Specialists will work one-on-one with farmers to develop 70 plans each year. Over time, it is anticipated that the number of new nutrient management plans will decrease as acres with plans increase.
Residents of Oronoco historically depended on individual wells for all of their potable water needs. Most of these wells are shallow or sand point types and may have elevated levels of nitrates.The City of Oronoco recently completed the first phase of a municipal water system project that will lessen the citizen dependence on individual wells. As residents are connected to the municipal system their existing wells are no longer needed. The wells should be sealed to prevent possible contamination of the city wells.Grant funds will be used to assist with the cost of sealing these wells.
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (Wood) was selected for this project to conduct work in support of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) program. This project is a multi-phased pilot study to further validate and refine potential locations across Minnesota that may have historically been, or are currently, contaminated with PFAS. The primary objective is to evaluate potential PFAS locations, specifically compost sites, to determine presence or absence of PFAS at each site.
Little Rock Creek is the only trout stream in the Benton and Morrison County area. The creek has supported a wild brown trout population since they were introduced into Little Rock Lake in 1908. A population assessment done in 1992, however, failed to document the presence of brown trout suggesting that population may have become critically low during the drought years of the late 1980's and early 1990's. The stream has since been listed as impaired due to the low abundance of trout and other cold water fish.
This program is a part of a comprehensive clean water strategy to prevent sediment and nutrients from entering our lakes, rivers, and streams; enhance fish and wildlife habitat; protect groundwater and wetlands. Specifically the Riparian Buffer Easement Program targets creating buffers on riparian lands adjacent to public waters, except wetlands. Through the Reinvest in Minnesota Program (RIM) and in partnership with Soil and Water Conservation Districts and private landowners, permanent conservation easements are purchased and buffers established.
The purpose of this project is to assess the amount of land in the Root River watershed that is treated by structural best management practices (BMPs); more specifically, Water and Sediment Control Basins. The 2016 Root River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report recommended reducing sediment loss from upland areas and reducing nitrate loading to streams from runoff. Understanding the location and density of these BMPs will is important for targeting future watershed protection and restoration efforts.
TMDL project in the Root River Watershed that will support surface water assessment, analysis of data, interpretation of southeast Minnesota's karst landscape, stressor identification, TMDL computation, source assessment, and implementation planning.
Approximately 70 percent of all Minnesotans rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. Wells used for drinking water must be properly sealed when removed from service to protect both public health and Minnesota’s invaluable groundwater resources. The Minnesota Department of Health with the assistance of the Board of Water and Soil Resources protects both public health and groundwater by assuring the proper sealing of unused wells.” Clean Water funds are being provided to home owners as a 50% cost-share assistance for sealing unused private drinking water wells.
This project will conduct the second round of Intensive Watershed Monitoring (IWM) for the Mississippi River St. Cloud watershed. Partnering organizations intend to complete sampling of lakes and streams following the protocols and guidance set forth by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Watershed partners include Benton Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Clearwater Watershed District, Sherburne SWCD, Stearns SWCD, Stearns County staff, and Wright SWCD.
