This will fund a competitive grant program for sewer projects that will help protect or restore the water quality of waters in national parks located within Minnesota.
This project is for technical assistance during the Lake Winona Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) public notice and revisions to the document prior to sending to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for final approval.
MNHS staff created communication strategies and promotional materials for Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund history projects, program, and grants, including media kits for grant recipients and the creation of the annual report. Increasing public awareness of ACHF investments will ensure that students, teachers and the general public will use and benefit from them.
In FY17, MNHS will launch a new records search to make it easier for library patrons to access birth, death, veterans grave and state census records. The new search tool launched in beta in December 2016, and user feedback is being collected. Site enhancements will be made in the second half of the fiscal year.
Continue Recreation and Volunteer Specialist position initiated in 2014 to develop and implement recreation and volunteer programs. Engage 3,300 park visitors through 100 programs provided in the County.
Renewal of existing State Trail surfaces, parking areas, and trail wayside areas, improving accessibility, enhancing user safety and implementing current best management practices. MNDNR Parks and Trails Division has a identified approximately 85 miles of existing state trail in need of rehabilitation and upgrading. This program also focuses on the rehabilitation or replacement of existing state trail bridges, including structural engineering inspections of all trail bridges .
MNHS awarded seven research fellowships for the third year of the Legacy Research Fellowships program in FY16. Four scholars received $5,000 awards and three received $1,000 awards. The fellows used resources from the Gale Family Library to explore a wide range of Minnesota history topics including:
* A review of Minnesota's development and
Indian lands
* Visual arts in Minnesota
* Forts in Minnesota after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
* Minnesota reflections on World War I
The fourth class of scholars was selected in November 2016 and begin work in January 2017.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 71 easements were recorded on a total of 4,365 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. The easements were accomplished with local implementation done by SWCD, NRCS and FSA staff within the 54 county CREP area and leveraged federal funds for both landowner payments and cost share for conservation practice installation.
MNHS cares for more than 100,000 cubic feet of hard-copy government records and manuscript collections dating from the territorial period to the present. To access the vast majority of these holdings, researchers must currently visit the History Center or make other special arrangements. In FY16, MNHS began piloting small projects to develop and test workflow and to identify and plan equipment and space needs. In FY17, MNHS will add staff to begin responding to patron requests for manuscript and state archives digitization in advance of a full rollout of the scan-on-demand process next year.
The contractor will provide 4 day-long training sessions for the Scenario Analysis Manager (SAM) and 2 Processing Application Tool for HSPF (PATH) sessions. The SAM tool’s framework currently consists of a pre-processor (PATH) for interactively translating HSPF model application files, a Geographic Information System (GIS) for best management practice (BMP) site selection, a BMP database with pollutant removal efficiencies and associated costs, and scenario analysis, optimization, and reporting capabilities.
The contractor will collect and process the necessary files needed to develop a Processing Application Tool for HSPF (PATH) and Scenario Application Manager (SAM) project for 30 HUC 8 watersheds in Minnesota. SAM provides a graphical interface to the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model applications and expands the state’s investment in HSPF to a broader audience in support of the development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) reports.
The goal of this project is to develop forestry related best management practice (BMP) pollutant reduction/management efficiencies, costs, and management information applicable to Minnesota forests and incorporate these BMPs into the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model Scenario Application Manager (SAM) tool. By incorporating forestry BMPs into the existing SAM tool, forestry related management scenarios can be evaluated for potential impacts on surface waters and can inform the development of watershed restoration and protection strategies.
The goal of this work order is to collect and process the watershed specific files needed to create the Scenario Application Manager (SAM) project files to apply the SAM software in selected major watersheds in Minnesota where an Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) model has been developed. This work order will also involve technical support for the SAM users who are applying the SAM projects.
The contractor will provide 3 Scenario Analysis Manager (SAM) training sessions in the fall of 2016 for use with Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model applications.
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 with the assistance of the Board of Water and Soil Resources protects both public health and groundwater by assuring the proper sealing of unused wells.” Clean Water funds are being provided to home owners as a 50% cost-share assistance for sealing unused private drinking water wells.
The project is part of the Six Mile-Halsted Bay Subwatershed Plan, a planning partnership currently underway which aims to protect and improve natural resources within this priority subwatershed by working closely with partnering agencies to integrate capital investments and maximize public return on investment. This project will enhance two existing stormwater ponds to enhance treatment of phosphorus as well as incorporate treatment of the Church Lake outlet, a lake which routinely fails to meet state water quality standards and contributes to the water quality impairment of East Auburn.
This project seeks to inventory twenty registered feedlots identified as having an Unpermitted Liquid Manure Storage Area. Specifically, this inventory would include offering cost-share for soils investigations. These feedlots are located in three townships that have also been identified as having groundwater that is vulnerable to nutrient pollution, necessitating a need for nitrate testing per MN Department of Agriculture. These townships also house the vast majority of remaining unpermitted Liquid Manure Storage Areas in the County.
Working with the Somali Museum of Minnesota, MNHS is developing an exhibit that will help Minnesotans understand this recent immigrant community. The exhibit will showcase cultural traditions and material culture of Somalia, cover the immigrant experience in the journey to Minnesota and will review the accomplishments and cultural adaptations Somali people have made since making Minnesota home.
Minnesota Department of Health has been collaborating with cities and other community water suppliers since 1993 to develop and implement source water protection plans. Support from the Clean Water Legacy expands and accelerates the number of water suppliers that can be assisted each year in undertaking protection planning and implementation activities.
