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.
The DNR is working with local communities and an interagency team to define, prioritize, and establish groundwater management areas in Minnesota. Groundwater management areas will have increased data collection and monitoring that allow the state and local communities to understand water supplies, uses, limitations, and threats to natural resources that depend on groundwater. This information will support detailed aquifer protection plans that ensure equitable and sustainable groundwater and drinking water use for the future.
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.
The Buffalo River Watershed Pilot Project is one of two pilots in Minnesota designed to develop a watershed approach for managing Minnesota’s surface waters. The goal of this project is to develop a plan that will guide surface water quality management throughout the watershed.
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.
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 three major watersheds: the Crow River/North Fork Crow River, the South Fork Crow River, and the Sauk River.
This project will complete the development of two watershed HSPF models for the Mustinka River and Bois de Sioux River watersheds. These calibrated and validated executable models will simulate hydrology at the 12-digit HUC subbasin scale.
This project will finalize HSPF watershed model construction and complete the calibration/validation process for the following three watersheds: North Fork Crow River, South Fork Crow River, and Sauk 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.
This project will complete spatial and temporal revisions of 6 Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models, the recalibration and validation of 7 watershed HSPF models, and the revision of the drainage network and point source representation of the Pomme de Terre HSPF model.
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.
This project will develop an Implementation Plan for restoring Lake St. Croix and impaired waters within the contributing watershed, and protect waters currently attaining water quality standards.
This project will complete a Acetochlor Impairment Response Report. This report will combine and coordinate information relating to actions being done in direct response to the acetochlor water quality impairments with those being done and support MDA’s on-going responsibility to assure pesticides are used in a manner that does not cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.
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 will use the Spatially Referenced Regression On Watersheds (SPARROW) model as a means of assessing and characterizing the nitrogen loading situation in Minnesota. These results will be used along with other nitrogen loading characterization efforts conducted by others, so that a more complete characterization can be conducted. The results of this effort will be useful as Minnesota works to establish state-specific goals and strategies to address its contribution to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia.
This project will apply the Sunrise River watershed computer model generated under previous projects to selected scenarios of land-cover and land-management changes. The watershed model calibrated to conditions in the late 1990s will form the initial baseline against which all other model runs will be contrasted. Scenarios to be run will include changes in future land cover, agricultural practices, urban practices, and natural resource management.
This project will develop a surficial geology shapefile (map) for part of the State of Minnesota, by modifying and joining smaller existing, but separate, surficial geology maps. The resulting internally consistent geographic information system (GIS) layer will be used to support the hydrologic parameterization of Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) watershed models.
This project delineates and maps watersheds (drainage areas) of lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands for the state of Minnesota and provides watershed maps in digital form for use in geographic information systems. These maps become the basis for clean water planning and implementation efforts.
The DNR's Regional Clean Water Specialists and Area Hydrologists work with other state agencies and local partners to help identify the causes of pollution problems and determine the best strategies for fixing them. A statewide coordinator works with the DNR and external partners to ensure funds are spent in the most effective and efficient manner to meet the State's clean water goals.
The DNR provides technical support to watershed managers and landowners regarding drainage issues. Drainage experts are using a state of the art computer model to look at cumulative impacts of drainage and land-use practices and determine the benefits of site-specific best management practice. This work is with multiple partners and at multiple scales.
