The Le Sueur River Watershed Network is sponsoring a family-friendly celebration for the Le Sueur River, 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Jack McGowan’s Farm near Mankato. The public is invited to this free event to learn about the river, what citizens can do to improve its water quality, and to share a meal with watershed neighbors. Events include a scavenger hunt and hands-on learning about the fish, mussels, and macroinvertebrates living in the river. Music will be led by Scott Sparlin and Patrick Moore of the Minnesota River Watershed Alliance; all are encouraged to bring music instruments for a jam session. A new video by Queenan Productions will be shown that documents how watershed residents and local staff are making a difference across the watershed. Since April 2012, citizens have been meeting to discuss ways to improve the water quality of the Le Sueur River Watershed. This 711,838-acre watershed in Blue Earth, Waseca, Steele, Le Sueur, Faribault and Freeborn counties is a major contributor of sediment and nutrients to the Minnesota River. The event is a celebration for the network of citizens who have been meeting and talking and developing strategies to solve problems and reduce pollution in the watershed. See the LeSueur River story video by Anne Queenan on the LeSueur River Watershed webpage.

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On a hot Tuesday, Aug. 27, 35 citizens crowded into the Amboy Cottage Cafe to discuss the future possibilities for organizing an ongoing entity to keep harnessing and advancing the citizen energy that has emerged over the past year in the LeSueur River Watershed. They divided into four small groups and rotated from one group to another to discuss the following questions:

1. What type of citizen organization do we want to create?
2. How does this citizen group relate with other existing efforts (e.g. GBERBA, SWCDs)?
3. How do we involve existing farm organizations?
4. What ideas do you have for celebratory kickoff event at McGowan’s Farm?

After lively and substantive discussions, the basic take-aways are that there is citizen energy to start a new watershed-based organization, and there are opportunities to work more closely with established agencies such as GBERBA and SWCDs. The Minnesota Agricultural Water Resource Center (MAWRC) is currently organizing multi-county groups of farmers that could eventually connect and collaborate with the citizen-led organization. It was decided to plan a celebration at McGowan’s Farm on Sept. 24, 4-7 p.m.

For more information contact Kim Musser kimberly.musser@mnsu.edu  507-389-5307.

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Recognizing that a significant portion of the Minnesota River basin lies outside Minnesota, a delegation from the Blueway nomination project headed upstream Aug. 26. They were warmly welcomed by hosts in Sisseton, SD, and toured what some consider the true source of the Minnesota River, a little network of creeks tumbling from the densely-wooded flanks of Buffalo Ridge west of Sisseton. Within the borders of Sica Hollow State Park, the rain and spring-fed streams form the Little Minnesota River. This accounts for about 90 percent of the inflow to Big Stone Lake, which is claimed to be the source of the Minnesota River.

The purpose of the delegation's visit was to engage support in South Dakota for the Minnesota River Blueway nomination. The visit opened with a lunch meeting at the Joseph Nicollet Tower Museum. The hosts learned about the Blueway project; the visitors learned about Dakota Indian history and the exploration of the area by Joseph Nicollet. 

A spiritual place

At Sica (pronounced 'See-cha') Hollow State Park, the group hiked the trails along the creeks, and heard more description of the area. "This is a spiritual place for the Dakota people," says Darlene Pipeboy, an educator and elder with the Sisseton-Wahpeton-Oyate Dakota community. "A combination of values brought the Dakota people here," she says. Woods, water, game, herbal medicines, the land, were all part of the native ecosystem. "Take care of nature, and nature will take care of you," Darlene says.

After a short stop at the historic Stavig House Museum in Sisseton, the delegation moved to the Sisseton City Hall for an open house gathering and potluck. Local guests and visitors heard a short overview of the Blueway project, and stayed for food and informal conversation with the visitors from Minnesota.

During a pause in the Blueway program at the federal level, the Minnesota Blueway project continues to develop support, particularly among state and federal elected officials from all four states claiming portions of the Minnesota River basin. Organizers remain optimistic that eventually the Minnesota River will become the second in the U.S. to be recognized as a national Blueway. For more information about the project visit the website at www.minnesotariverblueway.com. 

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On Sept. 18 a group of eleven young adults, including a videographer, will embark on “Paddle Forward,” a canoe expedition down the Mississippi River from its headwaters at Lake Itasca to New Orleans. The team will interview mayors, park rangers, paddling clubs, and other community members to learn about their relationship with the Mississippi River Watershed. The interviews will be used to create a video documentary called Voices of the Mississippi River that seeks to answer the question: How do individuals and communities interact with America’s Mighty Mississippi? Wild River Academy, the parent organization of Paddle Forward, is a nonprofit organization based in the Twin Cities dedicated to watershed education and outdoor recreation. The Paddle Forward group includes Wild River Academy cofounders Natalie Warren, Anna Johnson and Nick Ryan as well as Martha Brummitt, Erika Gotcher, John Hartzheim, Eric Immler, Sami Pfeffer, Liz Just, Sarah Schaefer, and Lee Vue. The group is raising money for the project hope to premiere the documentary in Spring 2014.

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The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force holds public meetings throughout the Mississippi River Basin to inform the public of the progress toward moving forward on Gulf hypoxia. The next public meeting will be in Minneapolis on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m. at The Depot Renaissance Hotel, 225 Third Ave. S. in Minneapolis. MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine will give the welcome at the meeting, with Assistant MPCA Commissioner Rebecca Flood giving an overview on Minnesota’s state nutrient reduction strategy at 1:45 p.m. Other topics include:

• Size of the hypoxic zone;
• Applying social and economic science to state nutrient strategies;
• Role of foundations in nutrient reduction; and
• Cover crops.

Registration for the public meeting is available online.

The Task Force includes federal and state agencies and Native American tribes. Federal agencies include those with responsibilities over activities in the Mississippi River and its basin, and in the Gulf of Mexico. The role of the Task Force is to provide executive level direction and support for coordinating the actions of participating organizations working on nutrient management within the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed.

In Minnesota, nine state agencies are working to create a statewide strategy to reduce nutrients in Minnesota waters. A recent study led by the MPCA found that 158 million pounds of nitrate leave Minnesota in the Mississippi River per year on average, contributing to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico (see story below).

Being held concurrently with the Task Force meeting, CenUSA Bioenergy will hold a workshop on “Enhancing Mississippi Watershed Ecosystems with Perennial Bioenergy Crops” Sept. 23-25 in Minneapolis. CenUSA is a project based at Iowa State University with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Visit the workshop website for details and online registration. 

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