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.
This project will provide condition monitoring and problem investigation monitoring at the following sites.
Mississippi River: Tributaries include Bassett Creek, Cannon River, Crow River, and Minnehaha Creek.
Minnesota River: Tributaries include Eagle Creek,Riley Creek, and Valley Creek tributary to the St. Croix River
The goal of this project is to develop and complete the Watershed Restoration and Protection (WRAP) process and report, while also enlarging and sustaining a public participation process that encourages local ownership of water quality problems and solutions (civic engagement).
In 2002, citizens began to notice severe algal blooms in Cedar Lake, a high value recreational lake with exceptional clarity and fisheries habitat. Clearwater River Watershed District (CRWD) began an intensive monitoring program in 2003 to identify nutrient sources and protect Cedar Lake. Through intensive lake and watershed monitoring, CRWD identified the major source of nutrients to the lake. Three nutrient impaired shallow lakes; Swartout, Albion and Henshaw Lakes, in the upper watershed and impaired wetlands discharge excess amounts of soluble phosphorus.
The Villa Park Wetland Restoration Project proposes sediment removal from 6 contiguous stormwater wetland treatment cells within the Villa Park Wetland system resulting in an additional 118lbs/yr of total phosphorus(TP) removal from water entering Lake McCarrons.
Pine Soil and Water Conservation District is partnering with the City of Sturgeon Lake to seal over 50% of the unused wells in the city limits. The City of Sturgeon Lake recently installed a municipal water supply system, and completed a Minnesota Department of Health approved Wellhead Protection Plan. Residents have connected to the new public water supply system and need to seal their unused wells.
These projects will improve water quality by reducing the sediment and phosphorus delivery to the Kettle and St. Croix River Watersheds and engage and educate municipalities and the public regarding the water quality benefits of shoreline buffers and rain gardens. Phosphorus and sediment delivery to the Kettle River from stormwater runoff at Robinson Park in the City of Sandstone will be reduced by the establishment of a native buffer and repair of the river bank by installing soil wraps implanted with deep rooted native species.
The project will include lake monitoring on three (3) lakes found in the Rum River watershed in southeastern Crow Wing County (CWC). The project will be conducted in an effort to gain sufficient data on these data-deficient lake sites. All of the proposed monitoring sites are target sites for 2013-2014. One of the goals of the CWC Local Comprehensive Water Plan (CWP) is to establish a countywide Comprehensive Monitoring Plan (CMP).
The Wright Soil and Water Conservation District has partnered with the Crow River Organization of Water (CROW) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service on this comprehensive sediment reduction project to focus on stabilizing five of the most active gully erosion sites on the Crow River. A LiDAR study and follow up field inspection identified 15 priority sites within the study area. This particular area was chosen due to the high level of turbidity and low dissolved oxygen within this stretch of the Crow River.
This project will complete a comprehensive study, following a rational, step-wise process of data analysis, response modeling and comparison to the water quality standards, followed by impairment diagnosis, modeling of improvement and protection options, and development of a WRAP Report and Implementation Plan for Sunfish lake, Thompson lake, Pickerel lake, and Rogers lake.
This project will complete a Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan for the Lower St. Croix River that provides quantitative pollutant load reduction estimates and a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to achieve water quality standards for all impairments within the watershed, and that are understood and adoptable by local units of government and other stakeholders.
This project includes project planning, coordination, stream reconnaissance, and begins the effort towards civic engagement/outreach components of the South Fork Crow River Watershed project. Phase I will focus towards the development of project teams, identifying stakeholders, developing an initial civic engagement strategic plan and conducting limited lake and stream monitoring.
This project will complete a pollutant source identification and subwatershed information report and support the development of a Draft Restoration and Protection Plan (RAPP). It will also support the devlopment of a Implementation Plan that will identify target areas for BMP implementation for bacteria reductions.
This project will develop and organize a first- stage civic infrastructure pilot in Kanabec County, within the membership of the PICKM (Pine, Isanti, Chisago, Kanabec, and Mille-Lacs) Alliance, and with other organizations in the St. Croix Basin. The work will be grounded in the need for sustainable citizen engagement in water quality management. Civic leaders participating in this project will build their own skills for organizing people and working in partnership with Kanabec County SWCD staff and the St. Croix Basin Team to achieve water quality goals.
The goal of this project is to develop a phosphorus TMDL for the six impaired lakes in the southwest portion of the Rice Creek Watershed District; Island Lake, Little Lake Johanna, Long Lake, East Moore Lake, Pike Lake and Lake Valentine.
The primary focus of this project is the collection of lake core samples to aid in the completion of lake TMDLs for Dean, Malardi & Fountain lakes. This work will enable completing tasks included in the North Fork Crow River Watershed Restoration & Protection Project (WRPP). Additional data collection is needed to update lake response models. This new data will provide a cohesive and comprehensive data collection for Dean, Malardi and Fountain lakes.
This project will provide the MPCA, CCWD, and all other stakeholders the information and tools necessary to improve the water quality within Coon Creek Watershed District. The improvements will take place using targeted activities throughout the watershed to reduce the primary biological and chemical stressors. In turn, the reduction of these stressors will help to reduce overall loadings of sediment, turbidity, total phosphorus, and E. coli bacteria.
Implementation activities proposed as a part of this project include water quality monitoring, biotic surveys, sediment core sampling, mechanical treatment of curly-leaf pondweed (in accordance with regulations and permitting), an iron-enhanced sand filter, with a high capacity multi-stage outlet weir and 40,000 pounds of iron filings and stakeholder involvement in the design process and educational presentations.
This project will complete a TMDL equation and report and an implementation plan for Deer Creek. The TMDL report will describe turbidity impacts to aquatic life uses of Deer Creek, correlate turbidity to other pollutants (sediment, suspended solids, etc.), describe and quantify unique turbidity/sediment stressors which include groundwater influences, legacy impacts of the watershed and stream channel, significant in-stream and near stream sources (slumps, bank erosion, etc.) and upland contributions.
BWSR will administer funding to eligible County projects that provide funds and other assistance to low income property owners to upgrade or replace Noncompliant Septic Systems. BWSR will also manage annual reporting completed by each County.
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate three HSPF watershed models. The project will result in HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. The models are expected to generate predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate five Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed models. The outcome will be HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. These models will generate predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The goal of this project is to supplement and refine the Deer Creek Watershed TMDL Report and Implementation Plan project with detailed determinations of critical source areas and prioritization of the associated management practices, facilitated by additional meetings with local resource managers and validated with a field survey. Completed work will more fully inform the TMDL report and TMDL implementation plan on critical source areas of sediment and quantify those sources.
The Benton County Local Water Management Plan's first priority concern is feedlot and nutrient management. Our objective is to reduce or minimize the negative impact of animal manure and fertilizer on surface and ground water by increasing the adoption of feedlot, manure, fertilizer and pasture best management practices.
This project will establish a groundwater monitoring network in the 11 county metropolitan area. The network will provide information about aquifer characteristics and natural water trends by monitoring healthy aquifers (non-stressed systems). The project will also develop an automated system that captures groundwater level and water use data. This system will enhance evaluation of changes in aquifers that are stressed by pumping from existing wells.
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 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.
This project will define the major factors causing harm to fish and other river and stream life within the Nemadji watershed. Stressor identification is a formal and rigorous process to identify these factors, explain the linkages between the results of biological monitoring and water quality assessments, and organize this information into a structure of scientific evidence that supports the conclusions of the process. Stressor identification is a component of the Watershed Restoration and protection (WRAP) approach.
This project will support the review of all public comments submitted for the North Fork Crow River TMDL and make appropriate edits and changes to the draft TMDL based on MPCA guidance.
This project will complete a Watershed Restoration and Protection (WRAP) Plan that includes a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to achieve water quality standards for the listed pollutants, and that are understood and adoptable by local units of government and other stakeholders. This project will also provide an important water quality framework for civic and citizen engagement and communication, which will contribute to long-term public participation in surface water protection and restoration activities throughout the watershed.
The purpose of the project is to collect data to represent the ambient condition of the lakes and streams of the Rum River Watershed within Mille Lacs, Isanti and Sherburne Counties that is needed to determine if thresholds set to protect designeated uses, such as aquatic recreation and aquatic life, are being met .
This project will gather watershed data necessary for the development of a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy with parameter-specific targets that will maintain or improve water quality in the Rum River Watershed. Local Partners will lead various portions of this project and a hired onsultant will be subcontracted to write selected TMDL protection plans.
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 protects both public health and groundwater by assuring the proper sealing of unused wells.
Clean Water funds are being provided to well owners as a 50% cost-share assistance for sealing unused public water-supply wells.
This project will complete a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study for the impaired reaches of the Snake River Basin. The project includes development of a Generalized Watershed Loading Function (GWLF) model for nutrient sources and Total Suspended Sediment (TSS), a spreadsheet version of a BATHTUB model of lake response for four lakes, and a bacteria source assessment. Wenck will also provide all stream channel data as a spreadsheet and locational database.
This project will support the review of all public comments submitted for the Buffalo Creek TMDL and make appropriate edits and changes to the draft TMDL based on MPCA guidance.
