The Legislative-Citizen
Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) recently chose 110 funding
proposals for presentations. The commission originally received 273 proposals totaling
$191 million for funding beginning July 1, 2019. About $59 million will be
available.
On July 17-18, the commission is scheduled to make final
selections for funding. The selected
projects will go to the 2019 Minnesota Legislature as the official LCCMR
recommendations for spending from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust
Fund, derived from lottery and investment proceeds.
See the full
list of proposals selected for presentation on the LCCMR website.
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The 2018 Minnesota Legislature passed and Gov. Mark Dayton signed
a $1.46 billon bonding bill that included $133 million for water
infrastructure. The water portion fell short of the $167 million recommended by
the governor, Legislative Water Commission and Public Facilities Authority.
The bonding package includes $98 million from the Environment and
Natural Resources Trust Fund to pay for state debt service. This fund usually
funds research and restoration projects (see article above). This move faced
criticism from several entities that said it violated state law and bypassed
the commission that recommends how to spend the fund.
Dayton removed only one provision from
the bonding bill using his line-item veto power: $1 million for analyzing
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) water regulations, which Dayton
called "an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy."
Look to future Waterfront articles on the status of wild rice
legislation and regulatory certainty for wastewater treatment plants.
Good news for
Mississippi River-Headwaters watershed, but forest protection critical
The watershed that includes the iconic Mississippi River
Headwaters has very good overall water quality, and forest protection is
critical to preserve it, according to two MPCA draft reports. The agency is
seeking public comments on the reports through July 5.
This part of the Mississippi River is the healthiest of the
entire river length down to the Gulf of Mexico, according to a study of the
entire river in Minnesota. This wealth of water resources includes some of
Minnesota’s most famous lakes and streams. To preserve its current water
quality, forest protection is critical. The watershed is heavily forested with
many rare or declining plant and animal species dependent on the aquatic
resources and features the watershed provides.
The watershed is located in the northernmost portion of the
Upper Mississippi River Basin and covers 1,961 square miles. It includes the
Mississippi River headwaters in Itasca State Park and parts of six counties:
Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard and Itasca. It is rich in surface
water resources with about 685 river miles and more than 1,000 lakes.
According to TMDL report,
Little Turtle Lake and Lake Irving in Beltrami County do not meet the state’s
water quality standards due to excess amounts of phosphorus that can cause
algae. Phosphorus reductions required to attain water quality standards for
Little Turtle Lake and Lake Irving are 33% and 57%, respectively. Key
strategies to restore these lakes include reducing phosphorus sources, fixing
failing septic systems, and in-lake phosphorus treatment.
Resulting from a strong collaborative effort among the MPCA,
the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, local government partners and other
stakeholders, the WRAPS
report identified several focused priority areas for water quality
protection and restoration.
The two draft reports are available on the MPCA’s Mississippi
River-Headwaters Watershed webpage or at MPCA’s St. Paul office, 520 Lafayette
Road North. Written comments should be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on July 5 to Phil
Votruba, MPCA, 7678 College Road, Baxter, MN, 56425, or by email to,
phil.votruba@state.mn.us. For more information, contact Votruba at
218-316-3901, or toll-free at 800-657-3864.
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Good news, better
news for Lake Superior-North watershed
Nearly all lakes and streams evaluated in the Lake
Superior-North watershed meet water quality standards, according to two draft
MPCA studies. The MPCA studied 67 streams and 152 lakes in this northeast
corner of the state, and only one stream – the Flute Reed River-- failed to
support standards. The two reports are open for comment through July 19.
The Flute Reed River’s sediment levels are higher than
allowed under state standards and are impacting clear water and clean gravel
stream habitat for trout. The sediment impairs the trout’s ability to capture
food and lay eggs, potentially leading to a population decline. For humans, too
much sediment reduces the enjoyment for swimming and other aquatic recreation.
The Poplar River, previously listed as impaired due to
excessive sediment, is greatly improved after a decade of local landowners’
efforts to tackle stormwater runoff, erosion, and slumping bluffs. As a result,
the MPCA is proposing to remove its impaired status.
Four lakes – Deeryard, Poplar, Devil Track and Tom – are showing
worsening trends in clarity, but still meet state standards. The remaining
assessed water bodies meet all criteria for healthy conditions and are the
focus of protection efforts.
Open for comment are the Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and the Watershed
Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) report. They are companion
documents that quantify pollutant levels, identify pollution sources, propose
ways to return water quality to an acceptable level and describe protection
strategies to ensure continued high quality water resources.
A wide array of stakeholders and local partners recommend
several restoration and protection actions in the more-developed areas within
the watershed. These include culvert inventories and replacement, septic system
assessments, replacements and improved management, stream access improvements,
streambank and lakeshore buffer improvements, and natural stream channel
restoration and stabilizations.
The two draft reports are available on the MPCA’s Lake
Superior - North watershed webpage or at MPCA’s Duluth office, 525 Lake
Avenue South, Suite 400. Written comments should be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on
July 19to Karen Evens, MPCA, 525 Lake Avenue South, Suite 400, Duluth, MN
55802, or by email to karen.evens@state.mn.us. For more information, contact
Evens at 218-302-6644.
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Thief River watershed:
Expanded practices needed to reduce pollution
Two studies by the MPCA and local watershed partners
recommend expanded practices to reduce pollution in the Thief River and its
tributaries. The draft study reports are available for comment through July 25
at 4:30 p.m.
Much of the land within the watershed is privately owned or
publicly managed by federal, state and local agencies for wildlife management
and flood water storage. Voluntary best management practices by landowners can
reduce pollution and improve water quality for aquatic life and recreation like
fish and swimming.
Research linked the watershed’s water pollution with land
alterations and/or runoff:
- More than 90%of the watershed’s stream sections
have been straightened or channelized to promote drainage.
- Straightening streams impairs habitat, water
quality, and fish and aquatic insect communities.
- A portion of the Mud River is impaired for swimming
due to excessive bacteria.
- The Mud and Moose rivers show low dissolved
oxygen levels, which are harmful to fish and aquatic insects.
- The Thief River, between Agassiz Wildlife Refuge
and Thief River Falls, has sediment levels that can make the water too cloudy
to sustain fish.
The draft Thief
River Watershed TMDL study quantifies the pollutant levels, identifies
pollution sources, and proposes source goals to return water quality to an
acceptable level. In contrast, the WRAPS
report identifies impaired water bodies and those in need of protection,
and identifies actions needed to achieve and maintain water quality.
The two draft reports are available on the MPCA's Thief River
Watershed webpage or at MPCA’s Detroit Lakes office, 714 Lake Avenue, Suite
220. Written comments
should be submitted by
4:30 p.m. on July 25 to
Denise Oakes,
MPCA, 714 Lake Avenue, Suite 220, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501,
or by email to denise.oakes@state.mn.us. She is also available to answer
questions by phone, 218-846-8119. More information is available also from Corey
Hanson, watershed water quality coordinator for the Red Lake Watershed
District, at 218-681-5800 or corey.hanson@redlakewatershed.org.
How to comment
Written comments must include a statement of your interest
in the draft TMDL or WRAPS report, a statement of the action you wish the MPCA
to take, including specific references to sections of the draft TMDL or WRAPS
reports you believe should be changed, and, specific reasons supporting your
position.
After receiving public comments, the MPCA will revise the
draft reports and submit them to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for
finalization. The reports will form the basis for projects and watershed
implementation strategies that will follow.
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Likely larger
than anything your children have ever built, a giant Lego topographic model of
a watershed now lives at Whitewater State Park. The scale model of the
Whitewater Watershed in southeast Minnesota measures about 20 square feet and
contains more than 26,000 Lego bricks, many of which were donated to the
project. The model shows the topography of the region and is color-coded for
land use.
The project was
led by Allison Bender, a Minnesota GreenCorps member who's worked at Whitewater
State Park for the past year. (Photo: Allison Bender at right, the project lead, with Winona State University's Dylan Blumentritt, who led the mapping efforts for the project, and the completed model.)
Nearly
40 volunteers helped construct the watershed model. Before the building began,
many others donated and sorted bricks and helped spread the word about the
project. Area Soil and Water Conservation Districts partnered in sponsorship.
Volunteers mapped the watershed, converted those maps into a digital
“legotized” model, and used that model to generate pictorial instructions for
392 small mosaic sections that volunteers constructed. One volunteer made a
custom table for the model, another helped order used bricks online.
The model will
help teach people about watersheds and how to the protect the water that flows
in them.
When it's not
traveling, the model will be housed at Whitewater State Park. Visit the park or
stop by the Winona and Olmsted County Stormwater Conservation District booths
at their respective county fairs this July to see the model in person.
Check out the
video program showing how the model was built on the Friends
of Whitewater State Park Facebook page.
Minnesota
GreenCorps is an MPCA program
that places members with non-profit and government organizations, and focuses
on a range of environmental goals.
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