Monitoring locations for this RFP are located within the following watersheds:

• Mississippi River – Brainerd
• Mississippi River – Sartell
• St. Croix River – Upper
• Kettle River
• Otter Tail River

Additional information for this program can be found at the MPCA’s SWAG webpage.

The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources is now accepting grant applications for metro projects that qualify for the Conservation Partners Legacy program. $1.6 million is available for conservation projects in the 7-county metro area or cities with a population of 50,000 people or greater. This includes the counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington, and the cities of Duluth, Rochester, and St. Cloud. Projects must be on public lands/waters or on lands permanently protected by a conservation easement.

The CPL program funds projects that restore, enhance, or protect forests, wetlands, prairies, or habitat for fish, game and wildlife in Minnesota. Grant requests may range from $5,000 to $400,000 with a maximum total project cost of $575,000. Nonprofit organizations and government entities are eligible to apply, and a 10% match of non-state funds is required. Applications are available online and are due Jan. 29 at 4 p.m.

For more information, check out the Request for Proposal or visit the DNR website. Questions? Please email lscplgrants.dnr@state.mn.us. 

It’s more good news than bad for the Pine River watershed in central Minnesota, according to intensive water monitoring and stressor identification by the MPCA and local partners. Issues like low dissolved oxygen, excess sediment, and elevated nutrients seem to be isolated to a handful of tributaries.

From its source at Pine Mountain Lake in Cass County (about a half mile west of Backus), the Pine River flows southeast to its confluence with the Mississippi River, 10 miles north of Brainerd. The Pine River watershed begins in Cass County and flows into Crow Wing County, covering 779 square miles and draining about 498,560 acres.

The watershed includes the Whitefish Chain of Lakes that runs through the center from west to east. The northern half of the watershed is predominately forest and wetland with scattered agricultural lands. The southwestern portion of the watershed is opposite, with predominately forests, agricultural lands, scattered wetlands, and small lakes.

Water bodies showing signs of stress to fish and other aquatic life include:

• Arvig Creek with low dissolved oxygen levels
• South Fork Pine River with excess sediment and suspended solids
• Wilson Creek that shows the most notable levels of increased nitrogen and phosphorus

Continued health of this watershed is aided by passionate work by grassroots groups like the Pine River Watershed Alliance and lake associations throughout the Whitefish Chain of Lakes.

The Pine River watershed biotic stressor identification report and a two-page summary are available on its MPCA watershed webpage.

High bacteria levels and increased sediment are the main stressors to fish and other aquatic life in the Redeye River watershed, according to intensive water monitoring and stressor identification by the MPCA and local partners.

The Redeye River watershed covers nearly 900 square miles in the northern part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin in central Minnesota. The watershed includes all or parts of Becker, Otter Tail, Todd, and Wadena counties.

The Redeye River begins at Wolf Lake and joins the Leaf River, before draining into the Crow Wing River near Staples. The river provides drinking water for households and industries, habitat for aquatic life, riparian corridors for wildlife and recreational opportunities like fishing, swimming, and canoeing. Nearly half the watershed’s land use is agricultural, 30% is forested, 15% is wetlands, and about 4% is developed communities and industries.

Of the waters that fail to fully support aquatic life or recreation, the main source of impairments are due to high bacteria levels and increased sediment. Primary resource concerns are soil erosion by wind and water, surface and ground water management, and changing land use patterns. Increased development, wetland removal, and agriculture have all likely contributed to increased sediment and bacteria to lakes and streams, leading to reduced populations of sensitive aquatic species.

Water bodies with identified impairments and subsequent biologic stressors include South Bluff Creek, Wing River, Union Creek, and tributaries to East Leaf Lake and the Leaf River.

Local partners like the Wadena County SWCD and Otter Tail County coalition of lake associations have helped the stressor identification work by MPCA staff.

The Redeye River watershed stressor identification report and a two-page summary are available on the MPCA’s Redeye River watershed webpage.

The 2015 Watershed Achievement Report highlights the multiple projects and efforts to protect and restore waters throughout Minnesota. Highlights in the 2015 report include:

• Minnesota’s statewide buffer initiative to filter runoff flowing to lakes and rivers.
• Intensive water monitoring started or completed in 69 of the state’s 80 major watershed, providing extensive data for identifying stressors to aquatic life and developing strategies to restore and protect waters.
• Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies are underway for nearly all major watersheds.
• Projects throughout Minnesota center on better filtering of stormwater, facilitating behavior change that benefits water quality, designing ditches to slow and filter runoff, assisting feedlots with reducing pollutants, installing sewer systems, and much more.

The MPCA submits this report on Clean Water Act Section 319, Clean Water Partnership, and Clean Water fund projects in Minnesota to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency every year.

After almost four years of processing 400-plus comments and several requests for contested case hearings, the MPCA has finished revisions to the South Metro Mississippi Total Maximum Daily (TMDL) report and submitted it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for final approval. The report addresses the total suspended solids impairment in the river from St. Paul to Lake Pepin. (Photo: Plume of sediment entering the Mississippi from the Minnesota River.)

During the 2012 public comment period, the agency received requests for contested case hearings from the following entities:

• City of Minneapolis;
• Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition / League of Minnesota Cities and several other member cities or entities;
• Minnesota Soybean Growers Assoc., Brown County Corn and Soybean Growers, and several individual producers; and
• Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance.

After discussions and other communication with MPCA staff, the city of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition / League of Minnesota Cities (and most of the member cities / entities) and the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance withdrew their hearing requests. After much review and discussion, the MPCA denied the other hearing requests.

The revised TMDL report is available on the South Metro Mississippi webpage. Revisions include updates to research, TMDL reports for contributing watersheds, list of regulated wastewater and stormwater entities, and implementation strategies.

Notable changes include removing the across-the-board 25% reduction for all municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) regardless of location and removing the baseline year. The need for a reduction is now based on an MS4’s location within the drainage area and other factors. For details, see the Response to Comments document on the project webpage.

The majority of sediment in this stretch of the Mississippi originates in the Greater Blue Earth River and Minnesota River. The agency is working on revisions to TMDL reports for those river systems. The revisions address changes in water quality standards.