Prior to European settlement more than 18 million acres of prairie covered Minnesota. Today less than 1% of that native prairie remains, and about half of those remaining acres are in private landownership without any formal protection currently in place. Through this appropriation the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will work with private landowners of high quality native prairie sites to protect remaining native prairie using a variety of tools. Approximately 200 acres are expected to be permanently protected through Native Prairie Bank conservation easements.
This project combines the use of automated soil moisture probes for irrigation scheduling with diverse cover crop planting to reduce or eliminate leaching of nitrogen and other nutrients on cropland with an early season harvested crop in the rotation. The more efficient use of irrigation waters provides a secondary benefit: less withdrawal from the aquifers that provide recharge for the Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifer.
The goal of this project is to add dual endpoints to the turbidity section of the North Fork Crow TMDL so that it addresses the proposed TSS standards.
Partner Organizations: St. Olaf College, Northfield Historical Society, and Carleton College
St. Olaf College will partner with the Northfield Historical Society and Carleton College to develop a mobile app and website, NorthfieldHistorical, as a nexus for the cultural heritage of Northfield.
To hire a qualified consultant to develop a Historic Structure Report that will help with the restoration of Norway Lutheran Church, St. Paul, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
This Oak Glen Creek stormwater pond expansion and enhancement using an iron enhanced sand filter (IESF) is a partnership between the Anoka Conservation District (ACD) and a private company to protect a downstream corridor stabilization and improve the quality of stormwater discharged to the Mississippi River. Very little stormwater infrastructure currently exists in the 573 acre Oak Glen Creek subwatershed, and it discharges 147,519 pounds of sediment and 353 pounds of phosphorus to the Mississippi River annually.