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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Deer Creek has been identified as an impaired water body. This project will quantify the reductions in pollutant loading that would be necessary to bring water quality in the creek to an acceptable level. The project also includes collection of any additional data needed for stream channel modeling scenarios.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
This project will construct, calibrate, and validate two Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed models. The consultant will produce HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs) at the Big Fork River and Little Fork River watersheds.
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 gather watershed data necessary for the development of a comprehensive watershed management plan with parameter-specific thresholds that will maintain or improve water quality for the Kawishiwi Watershed.
Project between Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and United States Army Corp of Engineers at Knowlton Creek Watershed to address a large amount of sediment deposited into the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC).
The purpose of this contract is to augment data collection efforts for the St. Louis River (SLR) Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) and for four impaired Duluth beaches. For the SLR WRAPS, activities include: attaining datasets for watershed stressors and geomorphic conditions, water quality gap monitoring, and a civic engagement component. Impaired beaches activities include: collection of field observational data, field water chemistry, and water quality samples for analytical analysis.
Beginning in June 2019, the St Louis River Watershed will start the second round of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) process. This project helps the Carlton County SWCD (SWCD) initiate a broader citizen participation process in the Watershed. The SWCD staff will be enabled to create a greater degree of public interest in and awareness of the general health of the Watershed. This work will create the foundation for greater citizen involvement in the planning and implementation of restoration and protection activities in the Watershed.
The project provides the opportunity for the North Saint Louis Soil and Water Conservation District (NSLSWCD) to engage in efforts to increase public participation in the St. Louis River Watershed and participate in the planning and technical review of the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) process. NSLSWCD contains the headwaters of the St. Louis River Watershed. The District’s knowledge of the area, communities, and organizations puts them in a unique position to work cooperatively in the watershed.
This grant will restore a section of Miller Creek, an urban trout stream located in Duluth, that was straightened many years ago back to its natural channel. The original channel had a lot more sinuosity, or, curviness, than it does now and the straightened creek suffers from erosion and warm temperatures illsuited for trout.
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.
This project supports monitoring and assessment activities by MPCA EAO staff and includes lab analysis, equipment, and fieldwork expenses associated with monitoring and assessment activities.
Lake Monitoring: Lakes are monitored for nutrients, clarity and other information to provide the data needed to assess the aquatic recreation use support.
This St. Louis River Watershed assessment will include the waters of Dempsey Creek, West Two River, St. Louis River, Mud Hen Creek, Embarrass River, West Swan River, Partridge River, Barber Creek, East Swan River, Helen Lake, Pine Lake, Cadotte Lake, Colby Lake, Loon Lake, St. James Pit, Strand Lake, Nichols Lake, Ely Lake, Silver Lake, Elbow Lake, Mashkenode Lake, Carey Lake and Island Lake. These lakes and streams are found throughout the St. Louis River Watershed, which spans parts of St. Louis and Itasca Counties.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will coordinate the collection of high-resolution elevation data for northeastern portion of Minnesota using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems. The geographic area of the work includes Minnesota counties of Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties and that portion of Koochiching County that comprises Voyageurs National Park.
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.
