The lakes and streams in southwest Minnesota made headlines this spring after the MPCA reported that few of the lakes and streams there were fully meeting swimmable and fishable standards. Behind the headlines are hundreds of projects on the front lines of restoring and protecting water quality. Local partners like watershed groups and SWCDs usually carry out these projects.

Every year the MPCA publishes a report on projects funded by the Clean Water Section 319 and Clean Water Partnership programs. The 2014 report was recently posted on the agency website. Project examples include:

• With the goal to reduce bacteria in the Rock River in southwest Minnesota, the Rock County SWCD worked with producers to calibrate manure application equipment, implement manure management plans, and attend educational events.
• In southeast Minnesota, several counties continued their efforts to help small feedlots reduce their runoff – and bacteria in it. The most recent project resulted in technical assistance to more than 25 producers, along with financial and technical help to fix runoff problems at 40 feedlots.
• In the metro area, the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission studied whether porous pavement would reduce stormwater pollution while holding up to city traffic in Robbinsdale. The results indicated that porous asphalt may be a useful de-icing substitute for road salt. In addition, the porous asphalt withstood three winters of snowplowing and freeze-thaw cycles with minimal impact. If built over a sand layer, the porous pavement section resulted in 100-percent removal of pollutants and runoff volume.

For more information, visit the Watershed Achievements Report webpage. 

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The Minnesota River Congress organization team met May 12 and affirmed the primary objectives of a basin-wide organization, and continued making plans for a fourth congress July 23. Attendees of the third congress (April 16) ranked 10 purposes for the organization. The leading roles identified are: A voice for the Minnesota River valley on public policy; advocate and coordinate; communications; and civic engagement. Six secondary roles include: Support local implementation; open process for action; education and outreach; promote recreation; support innovation and initiatives; and grant writer or fiscal agent.

The main purpose of the fourth congress will be to adopt an organizational structure. The proposed chart is composed of a governing board and administrative committee. The proposed governing board would include representation from the 13 major watersheds in the basin, and from various sectors. The July 23 congress would also offer a process for presenting resolutions and policy recommendations from watersheds and organizations.

In other action May 12, the organization team: Voted to seek involvement in legislation reportedly being introduced calling for a Minnesota River Commission; will invite Gov. Mark Dayton and authors of the Minnesota River Commission bill to the July 23 congress; will seek proclamation of a “Spirit of Water Day,” similar to Earth Day.

The congress is open to everyone interested in the economic, social, and natural resource vitality of the basin, encompassing nearly 11 million acres, more than 700,000 people, and thousands of farms and industries. Organizers believe there’s a need for a citizen-led entity that is inviting and all inclusive for the many different groups active in the Minnesota River Valley, including agriculture, industry, natural resources, recreation, economic development, tourism, all levels of government, faith communities, first nations, and watershed organizations. For more information, contact Scott Sparlin, 507-276-2280, yasure@lycos.com; or Ted Suss, (507) 828-3377, tedsuss@gmail.com.

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The Cannon River Watershed Partnership will hold a kickoff meeting June 9 for developing its Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS). The meeting, which runs from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the South Central College in Faribault, will include:

• The latest scientific findings by the MPCA.
• Historical and current water quality problems in the watershed.
• Developing a road map to addressing water quality issues

The Cannon River Watershed drains 1,460 square miles in southeastern Minnesota. It spans nine counties: Steele, Rice, Goodhue, Dakota, Le Sueur, and Waseca with small portions of Scott, Blue Earth, and Freeborn counties. The vast majority of land is used for agriculture. Cities in the watershed include Northfield, Owatonna and Faribault. The watershed’s lakes and streams are popular for recreation, including boating and trout fishing. As a tributary to the Mississippi, the Cannon’s water quality also affects downstream communities.

Like many southern Minnesota watersheds, the Cannon suffers from high levels of nutrients that cause algal blooms, soil and other sediment that cloud the water, and bacteria that may make the water unsafe for swimming. Nitrate levels are also a concern for trout streams and groundwater. Bright spots in the watershed include five lakes and 12 stream sections that fully support swimmable and fishable standards. 

For more information, visit the Cannon River Watershed Partnership website and MPCA watershed webpage. Photo at top right: Shields Lake, headwater of the Cannon River.

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State nutrient reduction strategies and activities were on the agenda of the Mississippi River-Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force meeting May 20 in Columbus, Ohio. Twelve states in the Mississippi River basin have developed or are developing strategies with tailored methods for reducing nutrients in their state.

A nutrient stewardship panel included Michigan’s Green Agri-Business designation program, the Ohio AgriBusiness Association nutrient stewardship certification program, and Ohio’s nutrient applicator certification and training program. Partner activity highlights included: the Nature Conservancy nutrient loading strategy, Cedar Rapids Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and Dupont Pioneer sustainable agriculture systems.

The Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force was established in 1997 to reduce and control hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. It developed an action plan in 2008 and an annual operating plan in 2009 as a national strategy and roadmap to reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and improve water quality in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin. Representing Minnesota on the task force and coordinating committee are MPCA assistant commissioner Rebecca Flood and Wayne Anderson.

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About 50 women farm land owners attended Women Caring for the Land workshops to network and learn about soil conservation from experts at three field days, May 20-22 in Cold Spring, Melrose, and Buffalo. They learned ways to assess and improve the health of soils through cover crops, no-till and strip-till, and other conservation practices, and learned about resources and assistance in reaching conservation goals. According to a study in Iowa, nearly half of its farmland is owned by women. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 2012, 14 percent of the nation's 2.1 million farms had a female principal operator.

On a farm near Melrose, U of M Extension soil expert Jodi DeJong-Hughes hopped down into a soil pit to show healthy and degraded characteristics of soil. “Every soil pit I jump into it’s a very different story,” she says. Healthy soil has high organic matter and teems with microbes. “Tilling soil is like opening a big wound.”

Women Caring for the Land is facilitated by the Women, Food and Agriculture Network and Renewing the Countryside, and hosted by Stearns County SWCD, Buffalo NRCS, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, U of MN Extension, and Sustainable Farming Association. The workshops were made possible with support from USDA North Central region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and the McKnight Foundation. Photo: Jodi DeJong-Hughes holds out a clump of healthy soil in Stearns County.

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Monitoring crews from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) are beginning the eighth year of a ten-year effort to assess the condition of rivers, streams, and lakes in Minnesota.  This work is being funded by the Clean Water Fund from the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2008. 

This summer, monitoring teams will work in the Vermilion River, Cloquet River, Mississippi River-Grand Rapids, Roseau River, Lac Qui Parle River and Minnesota River Headwaters watersheds, and five small watersheds bordering the Mississippi River and Iowa in southeast Minnesota. The monitoring units will also work with Canadian researchers to conduct a survey of the Red River of the North mainstem, from its source at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail Rivers in western Minnesota to its confluence with Lake Winnipeg in Canada. 

In addition to the watershed work, the monitoring crews will conduct a biological and habitat survey of 150 randomly-selected rivers and streams across Minnesota. This survey is part of a national survey of rivers and streams. The data collected from Minnesota will contribute to the national effort and at the same time provide critical information to help track long term changes in the condition of rivers and streams within Minnesota.

To see monitoring teams in action, you can watch short videos on fish sampling and invertebrate sampling on the MPCA’s biological monitoring web page. For more information about these monitoring program activities, visit the MPCA’s water quality condition monitoring web page.

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