The goal of this project is to complete a two-year data set for physical, bacterial, and water chemistry sampling for the Intensive Watershed Monitoring Plan to aid MPCA’s assessment of the aquatic health of the Mississippi Headwaters(HUC 07010101) Watershed.
This project will work with the MPCA to conduct watershed pollutant load monitoring at four sites in the Chippewa River watershed and one site in the neighboring Pomme de Terre River watershed . The Chippewa River Watershed Project (CRWP) team will also aid the MPCA in measuring and comparing regional differences and long-term trends in water quality. The goal is to collect quality data and complete load calculations for the five sites using the MPCA's established protocols.
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
Funds are to be used to protect, enhance and restore water quality in lakes, rivers and streams and to protect groundwater and drinking water. Activities include structural and vegetative practices to reduce runoff and retain water on the land, feedlot water quality projects, SSTS abatement grants for low income individuals, and stream bank, stream channel and shoreline protection projects. For the fiscal year 2012, BWSR awarded 12 local governments with funds.
This monitoring project includes lake and stream monitoring and encompasses all of Cass County, and surrounding counties. The project will obtain water quality data for streams; in 2009, lakeshed assessments indicated that many surface waters throughout the county were data deficient. This project will address the need for sufficient data on a county-wide basis and fulfill the State’s intensive watershed monitoring program goals by obtaining water quality data at targeted lake and stream sites.
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.
This project targets an older residential area that does not have permanent water quality practices. Storm water presently runs directly to the Mississippi River using out of date and under-sized infrastructure. Expanding upon a very successful pilot program for retro-fitting storm water treatment practices in residential neighborhoods, rain gardens will be strategically placed to maximize water quality benefits for each dollar spent. Each rain garden will have a pre-treatment device to help achieve the cost-effective long-term water quality goals of the City.
This project will develop a TMDL for all impaired lakes within the Crow Wing Watershed by furthering data collection in the watershed, analysis of data, allocation calculations, and introducing outreach and stakeholder participation activities.
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).
This project will collect a complete Trophic Site Index (TSI) data set for Crow Wing County lakes and a complete data set for streams and rivers for the Intensive Monitoring Program (IMP). Crow Wing County, Cass County, Wadena County, Morrison County and Hubbard County are partnering to ensure that all target lakes and rivers within the Crow Wing River watershed are monitored efficiently.
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 provide an important 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 Pine River watershed. The civic engagement plans will be incorporated into the long term plans for the major watershed project.
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 set water quality goals for the Minnesota portions of the watershed, recommend allocations for achieving total maximum daily loads where waters do not meet Minnesota state standards and are listed as impaired, and recommend management strategies for those Minnesota waters meeting state standards. This project also recognizes that as monitoring continues in the watershed, additional impairments may be identified.
Civic engagement is the primary goal of this project and will focus on 1) building knowledge about the watershed approach among Lake Superior-North watershed residents, 2) building a communication network to exchange knowledge, 3) building a sense of shared concern about watershed related issues through events, workshops, forums or other organized activities, and 4) building a trusted foundation for future water related work among a group of new collaborators.
This project will support the completion of a final draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) document for the Osakis, Smith and Faille Lakes TMDL and the submittal to EPA for final approval.
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.
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.
This project will allow for outreach programs to engage interested citizens in protecting 200 acres of riparian buffer in the headwaters of the watershed, accounting for 1860 tons of sediment prevented from reaching surface waters each year the practices remain in place. The desired outcome would include 30 or more participants in the program, and to develop a more extensive volunteer base.
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.
This project will maximize the utility and usefulness of three HSPF models that have been constructed and calibrated for hydrology. The contractor will identify and reduce parameterization errors in the following three HSPF models: 1) Buffalo River Watershed, 2 ) Thief River Watershed, 3) Bois de Sioux-Mustinka Watersheds. This will result, not only in a better hydrology calibration, but will also improve each of the models’ ability to more accurately estimate sediment and pollutant loads and concentrations.
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 Crow Wing River Watershed consists of approximately 1,959 square miles in the north to north central portion of the Upper Mississippi River Basin in Central Minnesota. The watershed encompasses all or parts of Becker, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Morrison, Otter Tail, Todd and Wadena Counties. The dominant land use within the watershed is forested (41%), agriculture (32%), grass, shrub and wetland make up 17%, water (7%) and urban (3%).
This project will construct, calibrate, and validate three HSPF watershed models. The consultant will produce HSPF models that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. The consultant will clearly demonstrate that these models generate predicted output time series for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The Hubbard County Community Partners Conservation Program will give community groups the resources necessary to build interest in, and awareness of, the water quality challenges facing their lakes and empower them to make positive improvements in the form of reduced stormwater runoff. Through the design of a collaborative effort, the Hubbard Soil and Water Conservation District and Local Water Plan Task Force will enable Hubbard County residents and lake home owners to work together to address the effects of development with stormwater runoff solutions.
This project will continue HSPF watershed model construction beyond the initial framework development. The consultant will add representation of point source discharges to the model. The consultant will also compile flow data for the purposes of calibration and validation. Finally, an initial hydrologic calibration will be performed and submitted for approval.
The goal of this project is to assess and leverage the capacity for the local community to engage in the process of watershed management in the Lake Superior Basin within Lake County and to adopt protection and restoration practices.
This project builds on the success of Cook Soil and Water Conservation District's (SWCD) 2012 Clean Water Assistance grant, to provide sub-grants to landowners and community partners in the Lake Superior Basin, to implement rain gardens (or bio-retention basins) to reduce the stormwater footprint on Lake Superior. It is projected that 4 to 5 rain gardens could be completed, providing stormwater treatment to approximately 18 to 30 acres in the Cook County.
Phase 4 of the Lake Winona Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project will finalize the draft Lake Winona TMDL, dated November 2009, by completing additional data analysis, lake quality modeling, updating the TMDL report, and supporting the public involvement process.
This project supports the planning, coordination and civic engagement/outreach components of the Leech Lake River Major Watershed project. Phase 1 will focus towards the development of project teams, identifying stakeholders, developing an initial civic engagement strategic plan and reviewing current and past watershed project data. Phase II of this project will focus on source assessment, running of watershed modeling scenarios, lake protection planning, stressor identification and the continuation of the Civic Engagement components of the project.
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 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 Willow Creek. St. Croix River: Tributary includes Valley Creek.
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 Phase 1 project will support project planning, coordination and civic engagement/outreach components of the Mississippi River (Headwaters) Major Watershed project. Phase 1 of this project will focus towards the development of project teams, identifying stakeholders, developing an initial civic engagement strategic plan and reviewing current and past watershed project data.
The goal of this project is complete a dataset necessary for assessment of 6 stream sites and 11 lakes within the Mississippi Headwaters Watershed to determine the overall health of its water resources, to identify impaired waters, and to identify those waters in need of additional protection to prevent future impairments.
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 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 project will finalize the Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model construction and complete the calibration/validation process. The consultant will produce an HSPF watershed model that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter TMDLs. The consultant will clearly demonstrate that this model generates predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen which are consistent with available sets of observed data.
