New Smart Salting Training; Certified Farm Event; CECs: Clean Water Council Update

Minnesota Clean Water Council sent this bulletin at 02/17/2022 10:56 AM CST

New Smart Salting Training for Local Leaders

Readers may be familiar with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) Smart Salting training that certifies individuals and organizations in more water-friendly methods of applying chloride de-icer.

Now the MPCA is offering a new training for local leaders.

Minnesota GreenStep Cities and We Are Water MN are partnering with the MPCA to offer a free, virtual 90-minute Smart Salting for Local Leaders workshop. The workshop is geared towards local decision makers such as city council members and board members who want to learn about the impacts of chloride and find out specific action steps for policy changes that reduce salt pollution in their communities.

The training is on Thursday, February 24th from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.

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Upcoming Meetings & Project Updates

Upcoming Meetings

Full Council: The next meeting is Monday, February 28th. (Topics: Citizen lake and stream monitoring; Lake Stewards; MN Water Stewards; pilot private well owner events; pharmaceutical policy statement.) 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, February 25th. The December meeting was cancelled. The presentations from the January 28th meeting (topics: finalize pharmaceutical policy statement, soil health discussion, reviewing list of potential policy topics) have been posted at our web site.

Budget & Outcomes Committee: The next meeting is Friday, March 4th. The packet from the February 4th meeting (topics: New federal money for drinking water; private well protection funding; drainage discussion) 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

Celebrate Minnesota Agriculture's Legacy of Protecting Our Water: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is hosting an event at the State Capitol to mark progress on the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP). On Tuesday, February 22, hear from distinguished leaders of Minnesota agricultural organizations and the legislature who are MAWQCP certified. They and every one of the more than 1,170 producers who are Water Quality Certified demonstrate every day that, quite simply, leaders lead. This event is being held in partnership with We Are Water MN, a traveling exhibit that celebrates Minnesotans’ relationships with water. We Are Water MN is on display at the MN State Capitol through February 27, 2022.

Other Relevant Water News

Rochester Parks and Rec to use ceramic egg method to manage goose population: Rochester is using a novel idea to reduce the amount of bacteria ending up in local waters.

Ag Urban Partnership Video: The proceedings of the Third Annual Ag-Urban Partnership Forum are now available online.

Drinking Water Protection: Waterline: Spring 2022 - EH: Minnesota Department of Health: The Minnesota Department of Health's latest quarterly drinking water protection newsletter is out.

Scientists seek funding to look for toxic tire chemical in Minnesota waters | MPR News: The presence of 6-PPD in Washington State has harmed coho salmon.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern Update

The Minnesota Department of Health's Health Risk Assessment Unit has updated the Drinking Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Initiative's Nominated Contaminants Status and Information table. This table at the link summarizes information on all contaminants that have been nominated to the CEC Initiative as of December 31, 2021 as well as the status of each nominated contaminant.