Gov's Supplemental Budget Request for Water: Clean Water Council Update

Minnesota Clean Water Council sent this bulletin at 01/27/2022 07:00 AM CST

Governor's Supplemental Budget Includes Investments in Clean Water Programs

Governor Walz has released a supplemental budget request for FY22-23. The latest budget forecast showed a substantial surplus in the state's General Fund. The supplemental budget proposal can be seen online. The Legislature will consider this and other budget proposals during the upcoming session.

Proposals connected to clean water and drinking water programs are listed below, along with page references for the link above.

Acronyms: MN Department of Health (MDH); MN Department of Agriculture (MDA); Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR); MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA); MN Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Fund SWCDs from General Fund: Replace Clean Water Fund used to support capacity for Soil and Water Conservation Districts ($22 million for FY22-23)(p. 18)
Lead Service Line Inventory (MDH)($4.029 in FY22-23, $4.169 million in FY24-25) (p. 37)
Reinstate the Water Supply Systems and Wastewater Treatment Facilities Advisory Council (MDH)(no cost)(p. 40)
Technical Assistance and Grant Funding for Wastewater Treatment Systems (MPCA)($2.175 million in FY22-23)(p. 62)
PFAS Community Grants (MPCA)($2 million in FY22-23)(p. 62)
PFAS Baseline Conditions Study (MPCA)($500,000 in FY22-23)(p. 63)
Expand Smart Salting Training by allowing MPCA to charge a fee (generating $1.188 million in FY24-25)(p. 64)
Minnesota DNR Drought Response—Water Efficiency Grants ($3 million in FY22-23)(p. 66)
Adaptation Action Grants and Water Storage (BWSR)($15 million in FY22-23 and $334,000 in FY24-25)(p. 68)
Healthy Soil Program (BWSR) to plant cover crops, enroll conservation tillage, purchase equipment, purchase seed and amendments, or implement other field-scale conservation practices ($17 million in FY22-23, $9 million in FY24-25)(p. 68)
Forever Green Initiative (MDA) for four pilot programs to establish supply chains for perennial crops ($3 million in FY-22-23)(p. 73)
Agricultural Best Management Practices Eligibility Expansion (MDA) in include surface water intake projects ($8 million in FY22-23)(p. 74)
Healthy Soil Program (MDA) to plant cover crops, enroll conservation tillage, purchase equipment, purchase seed and amendments, or implement other field-scale conservation practices ($10 million in FY22-23, $2 million in FY24-25) (p. 75)

Upcoming Meetings & Project Updates

Upcoming Meetings

Full Council: The next meeting is Monday, February 28th. The December 20th meeting was cancelled. The packet from the January 24th meeting (topics: Manganese Response Plan, 2022 Performance Report, officer elections, Water Gremlin update) has been posted at our web site.

Policy Committee: The next meeting is Friday, January 28th. (Topics: finalize pharmaceutical policy statement, soil health discussion, reviewing list of potential policy topics.) The December meeting was cancelled. The presentations from the November 19th meeting (topics: soil health conversation, pharmaceutical policy statement) have been posted at our web site.

Budget & Outcomes Committee: The next meeting is Friday, February 4th. The packet from the January 7th meeting (topics: Clean Water Fund Performance Report; Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Lakewide Action and Management Plans-LAMP; draft LiDAR report) has been posted.

Meetings at MPCA have WebEx capability for on-line viewing. Contact us for details. NOTE: WebEx recordings are moving to a new server. We will only have on-demand access to archived WebEx recordings for the previous six months.

Updates on Projects Supported by the Clean Water Fund

Vermilion River Watershed WRAPS Approved: The MPCA has approved the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) for the Vermilion River Watershed.

Hennepin County Groundwater Atlas Complete: The Minnesota DNR completed the atlas using partial funding from the Clean Water Fund and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

What Is Kernza? | Martha Stewart: Your Guide to Kernza: A Super Grain That's Good for You and the Planet was recently published about the perennial intermediate wheatgrass.

Walz Promotes Water Quality Certification at Ag Expo | mankatofreepress.com: The Governor highlighted the value of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) at Ag Expo in Mankato.