Stormwater Manual News

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Welcome to the spring Stormwater Manual News. The purpose of this biannual newsletter is to update you on the newest information in the manual, provide tips on using the manual, provide interesting stories from the stormwater community, and more. This edition contains articles about:

Looking for ways to pay for your stormwater projects?

Photo of money

Check out the Stormwater funding page in our Stormwater manual. You can find information on funding sources and opportunities for stormwater projects, as well as a list of currently and previously funded projects. 

Did you miss MPCA’s funding workshop on February 3, 2016? You can find presentations and workshop materials on the Stormwater Funding page, as well. Learn about the different kinds of funding available for your projects!

This summer, the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) will be releasing a Request for Proposal for Clean Water Fund projects. Have your ideas ready for projects and check BWSR’s website for more information. Examples of stormwater projects approved for funding include:

  • Birch Lake Stormwater Retrofits in Sherburne County, including  ($70,005)
  • Northwood Lake Stormwater project in the Basset Creek watershed that will include rainwater gardens, underground stormwater collection and re-use, a structural pretreatment device and a wet ponding basin ($400,000)
  • A spent lime filtration system in Maplewood, ($300,000)
  • A detention basin and a stormwater retrofit analysis I Itasca County ($141,000)
  • A water re-use system in King Park in Lakeville ($78,500)
  • Provide improvement to the City of Bloomington’s anti-icing/brine making capabilities to reduce the amount of salt used. ($50,000)

State Revolving Fund/Point Source Implementation grants: Grants and loans are available to local units of government for stormwater projects that meet wasteload reductions and reduce total phosphorus.  Principal forgiveness funds may be granted to projects that address green infrastructure.  The principal forgiveness amount is limited to 25 percent of the eligible project cost. 

Clean Water Partnership loan: This program is now open year-round.  Several stormwater projects have been funded with Clean Water Partnership dollars.  The fund has approximately $11 million available.  Funds can be used for nonpoint source pollution projects for protection or restoration of Minnesota’s water bodies.

Stormwater utility fees:  Many cities in Minnesota have implemented a stormwater utility fee and use those funds to pay for stormwater projects. Examples include North St. Paul, Waconia, St. Cloud, Moorhead, and Buffalo.  Try googling “Stormwater Utility Fees in Minnesota” and include the name of the city of interest to find out more. 

There are many Watershed Districts, Watershed Management Organizations and Soil and Water Conservation districts that offer funding for stormwater projects.

For more information about stormwater funding, contact Anne Gelbmann at the MPCA, Stormwater program at anne.gelbmann@state.mn.us


What’s new in the manual?

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  1. Stormwater infiltration in Wellhead Protection Areas. This page includes revised guidance on infiltration in Drinking Water Supply Management Areas. This new guidance, developed jointly by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, replaces earlier guidance on stormwater infiltration developed by the Minnesota Department of Health.
  2. Liners for stormwater management. Previously the manual had scattered and inconsistent information on liners. We utilized information from other states to develop this page. Note that we refer readers to supporting information primarily developed in Wisconsin. An extensive reference list is included.
  3. Road salt, smart salting and winter maintenance. We are in the process of updating information on road salt, smart salting, and winter maintenance. Visit the main page on this topic to see what pages have been updated or added (shown in blue text) and pages that are anticipated being updated or added (red text). Note the Winter Maintenance Assessment tool (WMAt) is now available.
  4. Two pages on stormwater models and modeling have been updated: Introduction to stormwater modeling and Available stormwater models and selecting a model
  5. Alleviating compaction from construction activities
  6. Information for determining stormwater management impacts for solar projects- this page presents methodology and guidelines for addressing potential stormwater impacts for photovoltaic solar farm projects. The methodology is based on a long-term, 35-year continuous simulation XP-SWMM model developed in support of the Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) project and includes a simple calculator for estimating stormwater impacts.



What’s in the works?

We anticipate adding the following information to the manual over the next six months. Click here to see work plans for some of these.

  1. The section on infiltration basin/infiltration trench will be updated, including new information on underground infiltration systems.
  2. The section on pretreatment will be updated and expanded.
  3. The section on stormwater re-use and rainwater harvesting will be updated and expanded and will include case studies.
  4. A new section will be developed for construction stormwater. This includes beginning the process of migrating information in Chapter 6 of the Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual (i.e. the Blue Book) to the Minnesota Stormwater Manual.
  5. The Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) calculator will be updated.
  6. Guidance on infiltrating stormwater at sites with potential or known contamination.

A success story: Burandt Lake in Carver County

Burandt Lake

Carver County is leading a partnership that includes the Carver County Soil and Water Conservation District, Carver County Water Management Organization (WMO), City of Waconia and the Waconia School District to implement a major water reuse project that should remove the lake from the impaired water list. The reuse system is a three phased project that will retain and reuse an estimated 1.25 million gallons of stormwater off eight acres to irrigate the Waconia High School football field and adjacent ball fields. The reuse project fits in directly with efforts to increase the use of this kind of stormwater reuse in the county. Carver County WMO rules already encourage these kinds of practices. The project also lines up nicely with the recently adopted Carver County Groundwater Plan which includes using stormwater runoff to help preserve the groundwater supply.

The first phase included the installation of one storage tank, a cell that pretreats runoff, and a pipe network for future expansion. Phase 2 of the project received $200,000 from the Clean Water Fund money. This stage included the installation of three storage tanks. Two additional storage tanks will be installed in the final phase. The stormwater runoff reduction achieved through this project is complemented by a significant reduction in nutrient runoff. Prior to this project, total phosphorus runoff to Burandt Lake was almost 62 pounds a year. When all three phases of this project are complete, the total phosphorus runoff should decrease to approximately 14 pounds a year.  For more information, go to BWRS’s April news story on Working toward delisting in Carver County.