All Projects

284 Results for
Recipient
Freshwater Society
2011 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$500
Fund Source

This project will provide support for the 10th Annual Road Salt Symposium at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The symposium brings together environmental organizations, companies that produce winter road de-icing salts and chemicals, scientists, policy-makers and transportation workers. They Symposium provides information on chlorides in our waters and provides innovative and new approaches to help repair our waters and sustain our resources for future generations.

Statewide
Recipient
LimnoTech
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$54,696
Fund Source

The goal of the project is the development of an overall strategy for reduction of turbidity/TSS, with sets of sediment reduction initiatives and actions for various sources, to address the Minnesota River Turbidity TMDL and the South Metro Mississippi River TSS TMDL.

Big Stone
Blue Earth
Brown
Carver
Chippewa
Cottonwood
Dakota
Hennepin
Kandiyohi
Lac qui Parle
Le Sueur
Lincoln
Lyon
McLeod
Nicollet
Ramsey
Redwood
Renville
Rice
Scott
Sibley
Stevens
Swift
Traverse
Watonwan
Yellow Medicine
Recipient
Minnesota State University-Mankato
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$260,000
Fund Source

MSU-Mankato Water Resources Center in the Mankato area will provide conventional pollutant monitoring at the following sites: Beauford Ditch, Big Cobb River, Blue Earth River, Le Sueur River (3), Little Cobb River, Minnesota River (2), Watonwan River.

Blue Earth
Brown
Cottonwood
Faribault
Freeborn
Jackson
Le Sueur
Martin
Steele
Waseca
Watonwan
Recipient
Cannon River Watershed Partnership
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$32,421
Fund Source

This project will support the monitoring of two sites on the Cannon River throughout the field seasons of 2013 and 2014 during storm events and baseflow conditions to capture 25 samples per year at each site according to the WPLMN objectives. The information gathered from these samples and site visits will be compiled for reporting purposes and for use in calculating pollutant loading using the FLUX32 model.

Blue Earth
Dakota
Dodge
Freeborn
Goodhue
Le Sueur
Rice
Scott
Steele
Waseca
Recipient
Hawk Creek Watershed Project
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$99,217
Fund Source

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 MPCA’s Major Watershed Load Monitoring (WPLMN) Standard Operating Procedure, which is the procedure being followed for sites currently monitored by the Hawk Creek Watershed Project (HCWP).

Chippewa
Kandiyohi
Lac qui Parle
Lincoln
Lyon
Redwood
Renville
Yellow Medicine
Recipient
Peer Engineering
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$72,000
Fund Source

Contractor assistance with site selection, reconnaissance and obtaining access for installation of ambient groundwater monitoring wells in Ramsey county and Hennepin county. This project will provide services and oversight of the installation for up to 16 well sites.

Statewide
Recipient
Widseth Smtih Nolting
2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$116,042
Fund Source

Widseth Smith Nolting (WSN) will evaluate and recommend to MPCA groundwater monitoring staff prospective sites/locations for the installation of groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate contaminant/pollutant concentrations from various sources. Peer will oversee the installation of monitoring wells by retaining a state drilling contractor or preparing bid documents to retain well driller through the Department of Administration. Superfund staff will assist in the project by providing oversight of contractual requirements and provide technical assistance as needed.

Statewide
Recipient
Widseth Smtih Nolting
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$74,429
Fund Source

Widseth Smith Nolting (WSN) will evaluate and recommend to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) groundwater monitoring staff prospective sites/locations for the installation of groundwater monitoring wells to evaluate contaminant/pollutant concentrations from various sources. Peer will oversee the installation of monitoring wells by retaining a state drilling contractor or preparing bid documents to retain well driller through the Department of Administration.

Statewide
Recipient
AMEC Geomatrix
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$80,000
Fund Source

Installation of 35-40 monitoring wells in the 11 county metropolitan area.

Statewide
Recipient
Widseth Smith Nolting (WSN)
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$20,000
Fund Source

Contractor assistance with site selection, reconnaissance and obtaining access for installation of ambient groundwater monitoring wells in Minnesota. This project will provide services for up to 25 well sites.

Statewide
Recipient
Thein Well Company
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$73,945
Fund Source

This construction project will provide the installation of (40) wells to support Ambient Groundwater monitoring activities at the MPCA.

Statewide
Recipient
Widseth Smith & Nolting
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$177,052
Fund Source

Contractor assistance with site selection, reconnaissance and obtaining access for installation of ambient groundwater monitoring wells in northcentral and northeastern Minnesota. This project will provide services and oversight of the installation for up to 31 well sites.

Statewide
Recipient
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
2017 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$180,000
Statewide
Recipient
Saint Croix Watershed Research Station (SCWRS) - Science Museum of Minnesota
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$42,341
Fund Source

Ann Lake has been the subject of lake management interest for several years. Ann Lake is a high resource value lake in North Central Minnesota. This is a unique lake (flow through, wild rice, native benthic species of concern to DNR non-game program, public land surrounding the lake). Stakeholders have expressed frustration due to missing information surrounding the history of primary production in the lake.
 

Kanabec
Recipient
Kanabec County Soil and Water Conservation District
2011 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$112,265
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$2,000
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$3,000
Fund Source

This project will be a complete TMDL report for the Biota and Bacteria (E. coli) impairments for the Ann River Watershed. The water bodies associated with these impairments will then be removed from the MPCA’s impaired waters list, and implementation activities to restore the water bodies will begin.

Aitkin
Chisago
Isanti
Kanabec
Mille Lacs
Pine
Recipient
Minnesota Humanities Center
2020 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$150,000
2021 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$120,000
Fund Source

This project will use the We Are Water MN traveling exhibit and the Minnesota Humanities Center's approach to community engagement, relationship building, and storytelling, to increase community capacity for sustainable watershed management in six Minnesota watersheds.

Aitkin
Anoka
Big Stone
Blue Earth
Brown
Carlton
Carver
Cottonwood
Dakota
Dodge
Douglas
Goodhue
Grant
Hennepin
Itasca
Lake
Le Sueur
Lincoln
Nicollet
Olmsted
Otter Tail
Pipestone
Ramsey
Redwood
Renville
Rice
Rock
Scott
Sherburne
Sibley
St. Louis
Steele
Stevens
Swift
Wabasha
Washington
Watonwan
Recipient
Minnesota Humanities Center
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$280,000
2023 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$104,540
Fund Source

This project will use the We Are Water MN traveling exhibit and the Minnesota Humanities Center's approach to community engagement, relationship building, and storytelling, to increase community capacity for sustainable watershed management in five Minnesota watersheds. The following communities were selected as host sites for this project:
Winona (City of Winona), active hosting period: March 3-April 25, 2022
Lake City (Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance), active hosting period: April 28-June 20, 2022

Aitkin
Anoka
Big Stone
Blue Earth
Brown
Carlton
Carver
Cottonwood
Dakota
Dodge
Douglas
Goodhue
Grant
Hennepin
Isanti
Lake
Le Sueur
Lincoln
Nicollet
Olmsted
Otter Tail
Pipestone
Ramsey
Redwood
Renville
Rice
Rock
Sherburne
Sibley
St. Louis
Steele
Stevens
Swift
Wabasha
Washington
Watonwan
Recipient
St. Cloud State University
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$125,816
Fund Source

This project is a continuation of Statewide Lake study that revealed the obiquitous presence of endrocrine active compounds (EACs) in many MN Lakes. The initial project findings suggested two potential knowledge gaps in our understanding of EACs and their effects in lake environments. First, the sources of EACs and their entrance points into lakes need to be better defined than was possible in our previous statewide lake study.

Statewide
Recipient
Tetra Tech Inc
2024 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$49,880
Fund Source

Minnesota is currently revising its state-level Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS), which was originally completed in 2014. Since 2014, all watersheds in the state have completed Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS). These technical strategies and reports have been used thus far by over two thirds of watersheds when developing comprehensive local water plans known as “One Watershed, One Plan” (1W1P).

Statewide
Recipient
University of Minnesota
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$5,739
2011 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$148,900
Fund Source

This project will promulgate a nitrate water quality standard to address aquatic life toxicity, and gather information needed to support the development of total nitrogen (N) loading reduction strategies for Minnesota’s waters and also address Minnesota’s contribution to marine water hypoxia. Project will also develop a framework for a watershed nitrogen planning aid that can be used to optimize selection of Best Management Practice (BMP) systems for reducing nitrogen.

Statewide
Recipient
Tetra Tech
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$109,878
Fund Source

The goal of this project is to develop statewide biological criteria for managing the state’s water resources, in keeping with the federal Clean Water Act. The MPCA is using the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) for this development. The BCG is a conceptual model that describes changes in aquatic ecosystems on a gradient of increasing anthropogenic stress.

Statewide
Recipient
Rhithron Associates
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$155,860
Fund Source

The purpose of this project is to provide stream and large river macro invertebrate sample processing and identification for the Minnesota Pollution Control agency (MPCA) Biological Monitoring Unit.

The final product will consist of; data submitted electronically to the MPCA, project reference specification, return of all identified specimens, and an external and internal QA/QC report.

Statewide
Recipient
United States Geological Survey
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$43,178
Fund Source

This project will assess the efficiency of membrane bioreactor treatment to remove contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater, disinfect wastewater, and produce less toxic waste stream to fish. The study will analyze and interpret 40 effluent samples.

Statewide
Recipient
Faribault County SWCD
2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$267,400
Fund Source

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.

Blue Earth
Faribault
Freeborn
Waseca
Recipient
Blue Earth County SWCD
2018 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$29,929
Fund Source

The Blue Earth SWCD will be monitoring 7 stream sites located in the Le Sueur River Watershed.  The stream sites will be monitored at the road crossing locations via bridge, culvert or shore.  Onsite conditions will be recorded, water sample readings will be taken for Secchi tube, specific conductance, temperature, pH, DO, and photos taken.  

Blue Earth
Waseca
Recipient
LimnoTech
2020 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$27,606
Fund Source

This project is to refresh the Cannon River Watershed Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model. The previous model was developed for the time period of 1995-2012. This phase will extend the model to include data through 2019. All time series data will be updated through 2019, land classification zones will be restructured, hydrology calibration will be updated as needed, and final reporting including technical memo and model package.

Dakota
Goodhue
Le Sueur
Rice
Steele
Waseca
Recipient
Cannon River Watershed Partnership
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$47,973
Fund Source

The goal of this project is to use a science-based and participatory approach to understanding and promoting conservation practices in the agricultural community.

Blue Earth
Dakota
Dodge
Freeborn
Goodhue
Le Sueur
Rice
Scott
Steele
Waseca
Recipient
LimnoTech
2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$134,427
Fund Source
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate an HSPF watershed model for the Cannon River Watershed.
Dakota
Goodhue
Le Sueur
Rice
Steele
Waseca
Recipient
Zumbro Watershed Partnership, Inc.
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$106,580
Fund Source

Complete section 3 of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) document for the Cannon and Zumbro Watersheds and provide input to sections 1 and 2.

Dakota
Dodge
Goodhue
Le Sueur
Olmsted
Rice
Steele
Wabasha
Waseca
Recipient
Barr Engineering Company
2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$94,999
2021 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$43,785
Fund Source

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.

Statewide
Recipient
Bolton & Menk, Inc.
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$17,907
2023 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$171,226
Fund Source

Fortin Consulting will develop a strategy to identify, prioritize, educate, and provide assistance to appropriate local businesses or industries within three communities experiencing elevated chloride in surface waters or in wastewater discharge to upgrade, optimize, or replace their existing water softening systems to a system that will decrease salt use and reduce chloride pollution entering local water resources.

Statewide
Recipient
Tetra Tech
2022 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$190,033
Fund Source

This project will result in the development of tools and resources to develop community specific chloride reduction/minimization plans and a better understanding of the sources (and relative contributions) of chloride at a community-scale level or geographic area.

Statewide
Recipient
Axys Analytical Services, Ltd.
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$140,535
Fund Source

This study will test groundwater and drain tile waters at concentrated animal feedlot opperations (CAFOs) to evaluate the presence of intibiotics and hormones. Samples will be collected from monitoring wells, tile drain sumps, and tile line discharges.

Water samples will be sent to Axys Analytical Services as they are colleced from each monitoring site. A total of 18 samples will be generated in the field by pumping ultrapure water through the sampling system.

Statewide
Recipient
Mod & Company, LLC
2021 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$27,015
Fund Source

This project is to assist the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in developing a robust inter-agency communications action plan and strategy for the Clean Water Fund. The goal of the project is to provide specific recommendations of how to best communicate to key stakeholders and the general public about statewide outcomes and outputs of clean water projects funded by dedicated sales tax revenue.

Statewide
Recipient
Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD)
2011 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$1,500
Fund Source

This project will provide Soil and Water Conservation Districts the opportunity to nominate an individual, business, company, municipality or organization for their concern, cooperation and/or implementation of conservation practices in a community environment. This award recognizes nominees that have excelled in a variety of categories which include: storm water management; land use conservation planning and implementation, and leadership relating to community conservation practices.

Statewide
Recipient
Tetra Tech Inc
2024 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$13,445
Fund Source

This project will consist of a literature and data review and compilation of E. coli information from available sources including but not limited to EQuIS database, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS), One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P), Source Water Plans (MDH), Microbial Source Tracking (MST) data provided by the MPCA, and other relevant sources for bacteria data. 

Statewide
Recipient
Tetra Tech
2019 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$53,190
Fund Source

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.

Statewide
Recipient
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$155,000
Fund Source

This project will provide notification of the potential for coal tar contamination, establish a storm water pond inventory schedule, and develop best management practices for treating and cleaning up contaminated sediments. The sampling design includes 15 stormwater ponds, 5 each from residential, commercial, and industrial land use areas. Municipalities in the metro area with MS4 permits of stormwater ponds will be contacted to nominate candidate sites for this study. GPS coordinates will be taken at all sampling sites.

Statewide
Recipient
University of Minnesota Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA)
2015 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$145,000
2014 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$145,000
Fund Source

The goal of this project is to develop a core team of wastewater professionals and academics engaged in understanding and solving wastewater-related problems in Minnesota, with national relevance. The team will promote the use of new technology, designs and practices to address existing and emerging wastewater treatement challenges, including the treatement of wastewater for reuse and the emergence of new and unregulated contaminants.

Statewide
Recipient
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
2010 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$146,602
Fund Source

USGS will complete the following activities in support of the SCSU project Assessing the Contribution of Microhabitat Differences on Biological Effects in Bluegill Sunfish in Sullivan Lake, MN-Continuation of MN Lakes Study 2010-2011. Geospatial analysis of maps, aerial photography, satellite imagery, GIS data, and field mapping (topography, bathymetry, vegetation, habitat); Bulk characterization of the physical and chemical features of the littoral zone, inflows, and outflows.

Statewide