Scientists and other staff from the MPCA, DNR, U.S. Geological Survey and Olmsted County toured karst features in southeast Minnesota May 23 to learn the latest research and ways to protect water resources in this special landscape. Land use has a direct and sometimes immediate impact on streams and groundwater here.

In karst, only a thin layer of soil covers the porous limestone bedrock in many places, making it vulnerable to pollution. Water dissolves the limestone, creating sinkholes, springs and disappearing streams, along with caves and a complex drainage system underground. Contaminants on the surface can easily reach groundwater used for drinking through fractures in the bedrock and through water mixing above and below ground. This area is also popular for trout fishing, which is supported by cold-water streams.

Highlights of the tour include:

• Research continues to be important for adopting laws on well placement and protections, as well as permitting conditions for residential development, feedlots, and wastewater treatment plants. The tour stopped at Altura, where one of the city’s wastewater ponds collapsed into a series of sinkholes in the late 1970s. The city now uses a different treatment system that continually discharges treated wastewater instead of using a pond system to treat the water and then release it twice a year.
• Streams that disappear underground can transport pathogens to fish hatcheries in the region and other water resources. Because the streams sink underground, the water is cold and pathogens can survive long-term.
• Karst features can hold water underground for many months and even years. This means water here has an age, some of it being “young” and some of it being “vintage.” Recent USGS research shows that nitrogen and herbicide levels continue to rise in some waters, despite changes in ag practices and the herbicide being taken off the market years ago. In contrast, some waters in the same region show a decrease in nitrogen and herbicide levels. The difference might be the age of water. This research is important to measuring how fast conservation practices can impact water quality.

For more information about karst and related water protection efforts:

• DNR County Geologic Atlas Program
• Minnesota Geological Survey and search for “karst”
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and search for “karst”

Pioneer-Sarah Creek watershed polluted by phosphorus, bacteria

Lakes in the Pioneer-Sarah Creek watershed are contaminated by phosphorus, and several of the watershed’s streams have high levels of E. coli bacteria, according to recent MPCA reports. The pollution is severe enough to be harmful to aquatic insects and fish, inhibit recreational activities, and pose health risks to humans.

Phosphorus in the lakes comes from manure, cropland runoff, internal loading (agitation of phosphorus-laden lake sediments), and urban and rural runoff. E. coli in the streams is from livestock, wildlife, and human waste. Bacteria can reach water bodies from stormwater systems, manure-covered fields, malfunctioning septic systems, or feedlots.

The Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed, located in northwestern Hennepin County, includes the communities of Greenfield, Independence, Loretto, Maple Plain, Medina, and Minnetrista. The watershed’s diverse landscape is dominated by undeveloped and agricultural land uses.

The MPCA, the Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed Management Commission, and local partners are recommending many actions to restore and protect water bodies in the Pioneer-Sarah Creek Watershed. Actions include increasing buffers, reducing internal loading in lakes, improving manure and pasture management practices, improving urban stormwater management, and implementing livestock and agricultural best management practices.

The MPCA’s two reports on the watershed include:

• The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), which establishes the amount of each pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards, and allocates reductions to different sources of pollutants.
• The Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS), which identifies strategies for restoring and protecting water quality in the watershed.

The agency is seeking comments from the public on both reports through May 31. Submit comments in writing to Rachel Olmanson, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-4194, or rachel.olmanson@state.mn.us. She is available to answer questions at 651-757-2473.

Most waters in Rum River watershed in good shape, but some in trouble

A pair of studies are good news, bad news for the Rum River watershed in northern Minnesota that starts at Lake Mille Lacs. While most of the waters studied here are in good shape and need protection, some waters are in trouble. Six streams have high bacteria or low dissolved oxygen levels, meaning they may not be fishable and swimmable at times. Ten lakes, mostly in the southern half of the watershed, have high levels of phosphorus that cause algal blooms.

Also, data going back several years show that many pollutants in the river have decreased significantly, probably due to wastewater treatment improvements. However, nitrogen and chloride levels have increased, though levels still meet standards. Nitrogen can make water unsafe for drinking for humans and can be toxic to fish. Chloride is also toxic to fish and other aquatic life. In addition, the river’s nutrient levels are close to being high enough to fail the water quality standard.

The Rum River Watershed stretches from Lake Mille Lacs in the north to the confluence with the Mississippi River in the city of Anoka.  The watershed covers large portions of Aitkin, Mille Lacs, Isanti, and Anoka counties and covers smaller areas of Crow Wing, Morrison, Benton, Kanabec, Chisago, and Sherburne counties as well as portions of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Tribal land.

Water bodies in the northern part of the watershed, which is mostly forests and wetlands, are generally in great shape. As the Rum River flows south, the land is more developed and pollutant levels increase. This increase in pollutants with increase in development is a trend documented in the surrounding Upper Mississippi River basin.

The two reports by the MPCA and local partners include:

• The Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study, which establishes the amount of each pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards, and allocates reductions to different sources of pollutants.
• The Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS), which identifies strategies for restoring and protecting water quality in the watershed.

Some of the recommended strategies for this watershed include protecting existing forestland, creating buffers in existing agricultural and developed areas, restoring wetlands that have been altered, discouraging additional drainage, promoting agricultural practices to reduce livestock waste in lakes and streams, and ensuring septic systems are working as intended throughout the watershed.

The agency is seeking comments from the public on both reports through May 31. Comments may be submitted to Bonnie Finnerty, MPCA, 7678 College Road, Baxter, MN, 56425, or by email to bonnie.finnerty@state.mn.us. She is available to answer questions at 218-316-3897.

Prescription for healthier Hawk Creek: Buffers, stormwater controls, changes in ag practices

The MPCA, Hawk Creek Watershed Project and local groups are recommending a number of actions to restore and protect water bodies in the Hawk Creek Watershed and surrounding tributaries directly flowing into the Minnesota River.

The Hawk Creek Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reports are available for public comment through June 21.

The watershed is located in southwestern Minnesota in major portions of Kandiyohi, Renville, and Chippewa counties. Hawk Creek is a major tributary of the Minnesota River, entering about 8 miles southeast of Granite Falls.

Generally, most streams and lakes in the watershed fail to support swimming or fishing. Stream bank erosion and stormwater runoff create a negative effect on water quality. Runoff from agricultural activities carries excess phosphorus, sediment and bacteria into water bodies. These pollutants degrade water quality and are harmful to fish and other aquatic life.

The TMDL report quantifies the pollutant levels, identifies pollution sources, and proposes ways to return water quality to an acceptable level.

The WRAPS report identifies impaired water bodies and those in need of protection, and identifies the actions needed to achieve and maintain water quality. For example, planting buffers along shoreland, stabilized stream banks, and stormwater control projects will help improve water quality. Agricultural practices called for include greater use of cover crops, minimum or no tillage, temporary storage of water, and greater crop diversity.

Comments on the reports should be submitted in writing by 4:30 p.m., June 21, 2017, to Michael Weckwerth, MPCA, 504 Fairgrounds Road, Marshall, Minnesota 56258, or sent by email to michael.weckwerth@state.mn.us. He is available to answer questions at 507-476-4267.

State and local water quality scientists will be checking the health of the Redwood and Cottonwood river watersheds in southwest Minnesota this spring and summer.

The MPCA, Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR), and Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area (RCRCA) staff will be collecting samples and data to determine the health of local rivers, streams, and lakes.  The intensive monitoring approach includes examining the populations of fish and other aquatic life in the rivers.

Funded by the voter-approved Clean Water Legacy Act, the MPCA and partners use a "watershed approach" to restore and protect Minnesota's rivers, lakes, and wetlands.

The watershed approach focuses on a watershed's condition as the starting point for water quality assessment, planning, implementation, and measurement of results. The MPCA plans to assess the conditions and trends of Minnesota’s waters in a 10-year cycle.

During the cycle, the state's 80 major watersheds are studied to assess water quality, set goals for improvement, plan improvement projects, take actions designed to restore or protect water quality, and measure results. When a watershed's cycle is completed, a new cycle of evaluation, prioritization, and targeting goals begins.

• City of Albertville
• City of Bayport
• Blue Earth County
• Buffalo-Red River Watershed District
• City of Eagle Lake
• City of Hanover
• City of Isanti
• City of Lake City
• Mankato Township
• Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater
• Minnesota State University – Mankato
• City of Morris
• City of Oak Park Heights
• City of Rogers
• City of Skyline
• South Bend Township
• City of St. Augusta
• City of St. Francis
• VA Medical Center – St. Cloud
• City of Wyoming

Landowners have a new option to protect their environmentally sensitive cropland with the introduction of the Minnesota Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (MN CREP). This program kicked off May 15 and will accept applications until funding is exhausted.

MN CREP is a voluntary state-federal program designed to improve water quality and habitat conservation. It will protect and restore up to 60,000 acres of marginal cropland across 54 southern and western Minnesota counties, using buffer strips, wetland restoration and drinking water wellhead protection.

Native plantings on those acres will filter water, prevent erosion and provide critical habitat for countless grassland species including badgers, meadowlarks and monarch butterflies.

“This is a milestone in conservation for Minnesota,” according to John Jaschke, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). “It targets the most critical acres and will provide water quality and habitat benefits for generations.”

The program is funded with approximately $350 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and $150 million needed from state sources including: Clean Water Fund, Outdoor Heritage Fund, Capital Investment (bonding), and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. MN CREP is administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and BWSR, but involves numerous partners including Minnesota Department of Agriculture, DNR, Department of Health and MPCA as well as local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff. MN CREP is also supported by a coalition of more than 70 state and national organizations and groups.

“Minnesota is at a crossroads in conservation,” said Jaschke. “The state is facing serious water quality challenges and we’re losing hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland through expiring CRP. MN CREP isn’t the whole answer, but it plays an important role in addressing both of these issues.”

Landowners wanting to learn more about MN CREP can contact their local FSA/Natural Resources Conservation Service/SWCD office.

The MPCA’s Feedlot Update newsletter is changing to a new name: Agriculture Stewardship - Land, Water, Livestock. A continuation of the Feedlot Update newsletter, it will offer wider news coverage of ag and water quality issues. Going forward, the Feedlot Update newsletter name will remain in use on a quarterly or as-needed basis. Launched in 2002, the newsletter currently goes to 2,331 recipients among livestock and crop producers, organizations, and agency staff. You can log into our newsletter subscription service to see all MPCA newsletters, and choose which ones you would like to receive, or review your current selections. We welcome your ideas and feedback. Thanks for your interest! Contact: Forrest Peterson, 320-441-6972, forrest.peterson@state.mn.us.