June 28, 2012

Hot time on Cottonwood; cool, clear on Redwood

The week of June 18 saw a lot of paddling activity on the Cottonwood and Redwood Rivers, hosted by the Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area. On Monday they took members of the Redwood County 4-H club down the Redwood River with eight youth and three adults. A total of 63 people paddled the Cottonwood River on a warm Tuesday, with several in a canoe on the river for the first time. On Thursday, 32 paddled the Redwood River in almost perfect weather and water level conditions.    There were many instances of grandparents, parents and children together sharing a passion for the river and the outdoors. Most participants were interested citizens. Others included DNR, MPCA, SWCD, and a local radio station (KLGR in Redwood Falls) doing remote broadcasts. RCRCA has been hosting paddling events for many years on the Cottonwood and Redwood Rivers. They own four canoes, and rented more from Gary Lenz of Granite Falls. The summer activities were funded in part with a Minnesota River Board FY12 Programs Grant.  River clean-up events scheduled River clean-ups are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 14  for the Redwood River and Thursday, Aug. 16 for the Cottonwood. The clean ups will be along all, or some portion of, our canoe trip routes.

DNR paddlers do preliminary Rosgen analysis on the Redwood River

In addition to helping guide paddlers on the Redwood River June 21, DNR Area Hydrologists Lucas Youngsma and Garry Bennett also used the trip to conduct a preliminary Rosgen stream channel classification on that river reach. This classification system identifies common patterns of channel morphology based on the stream valley, channel sinuosity, width to depth ratio, degree of channel entrenchment and the stream bed material. The classification system assists in understanding when river and streams depart from a stable system by changing from one classification to another, through this predictions can be made of what that future condition will likely become and what restoration options are most likely to work on those classification types. Specific objectives of the Rosgen stream classification include: Assess the stability or instability of various river reaches and understand the controlling variables accounting for these differences; Develop specific hydraulic and sediment relationships by stream type which can be applied to similar stream reaches in the watershed; Identify and prioritize restoration and protection strategies on a watershed and sub watershed scale; Develop some long term monitoring sites for evaluating future changes; Provide a consistent and continuous frame of reference for communicating stream morphology and conditions among a variety of disciplines.

Watershed news briefs

Hawk Creek staff back at full strength

Heidi Rauenhorst and Jordan Austin joined the Hawk Creek Watershed Project staff June 4, as coordinator and technician, respectively. A native of the Olivia area, Heidi previously worked for the DNR and Farm Service Agency. She earned a B.S. in biology at San Diego State University, and is working toward an M.S. in biology at Minnesota State-Mankato. A native of Wykoff in southeastern Minnesota, Jordan graduated from Southwest State with a B.S. in environmental science. In 2010 he worked as a summer intern with the Chippewa River Watershed Project. Mark Dunham is the summer intern doing monitoring. A graduate of Willmar High School, he will be a junior at Concordia-Moorhead majoring in biology. Legvold to speak July 12 at Belgrade The North Fork Crow River Watershed District has invited Northfield area farmer David Legvold to talk about his sustainable farming practices, 11 a.m., July 12 at the Belgrade VFW. Legvold farms 800 acres with corn, soybeans and beef cattle. He implements many conservation practices on his farm to protect long-term productivity. RSVP to 320-346-2869, or e-mail: nfcrwsd@tds.net.

                                                                       Good turn-out at Middle Fork 

                                                                       Crow River open house June 5

EPA approves TMDL report for Rice Lake The U.S. EPA recently approved the TMDL report for Rice Lake east of Paynesville in Stearns County. Rice Lake is a 1,651 acre lake within the lower region of the North Fork Crow River Watershed District (NFCRWD). The watershed district encompasses about 350 square miles and includes 48 miles of the North Fork Crow River. Land use in the watershed is primarily agricultural. The lake accepts drainage from Pope, Stearns, and Kandiyohi Counties. Rice Lake is impaired by excess nutrients. See the final report on the North Fork Crow River, Rice Lake project webpage.

Lac qui Parle district origins focus on flooding

Just below the protrusion of the western Minnesota border into South Dakota, the Lac qui Parle and Yellow Bank rivers drain a watershed of more than 1,700 square miles. Tumbling from the coteau – Buffalo Ridge – the water descends more than 1,000 feet to Lac qui Parle Lake and the Minnesota River.   In the early days of watershed management, flooding was the main concern. In 1971, the Lac qui Parle-Yellow Bank Watershed District was created to address flooding. Projects such as the state’s largest earthen dam near Canby have alleviated flooding problems, and created Del Clark Lake.

Water quality becomes a major focus More recently, the watershed district is focusing on water quality. On June 4 the district hosted a public meeting to review a Total Maximum Daily Load draft report and implementation plan. About 30 landowners and water management professionals met in Madison to review the report and provide comments.   Instead of the conventional meeting format, much of the discussion occurred in small groups on several topics: Water quality standards, general implementation, cost-share programs, and content of the TMDL report. The report addresses 19 impairments among 11 reaches: Bacteria-11, turbidity-7, and low dissolved oxygen-1. Five comment letters were received during the official public comment period May 29-June 27. More information is available on the MPCA Lac qui Parle River webpage, and the watershed district webpage.

Farmer installs coil 'blind' intakes for water quality

Harvey Swenson has removed about three or four open tile intakes on his farm west of Clarkfield, and plans to close more. He described the work at the June 4 meeting of the Lac qui Parle-Yellow Bank Watershed District. In some cases, he is replacing them with large, subsurface coils of tile as a form of blind or buried intake. Replacing open tiles with subsurface intakes can reduce sediment and nutrient loss by up to 50 percent. While he may be eligible for cost-share, for now he is doing it at his own expense - from $200 to $400 each. "If we can clean up the water, it's worth it," Harvey says. Installation involves digging a large diameter hole around the intake, laying down a coil of tile connected to the drain tile opening formerly to the riser, and covering with soil. All intakes are located on GPS, and he owns a backhoe and plans to continue converting more to buried coils.

Heron Lake WD honored for Fulda Lakes project

Nearly 20 years after discussions began regarding the poor health of the Fulda Lakes, the Heron Lake Watershed District (HLWD) has earned a state award recognizing it for efforts to improve water quality and clarity. HLWD administrator Jan Voit and technician Ross Behrends accepted the Environmental Initiative Award in the Natural Resources Protection and Restoration category. Winners were announced in each of five categories at an awards dinner at the Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minnepolis. The award recognized the HLWD for the “grassroots effort to bring back the Fulda Lakes” through partnerships with multiple agencies, from the Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Fulda Fish and Game Club, Murray County, Bondin Township, the Heritage Society, City of Fulda, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and numerous watershed landowners.  In all, nearly $409,000 was spent by the HLWD and partnering agencies. That included purchase of farmland near the lake that was converted to native grasses, wetland restoration, pond cleanout, sediment pond creation, rock inlets, a grade stabilization project, incentives for conservation tillage and cost-share for shoreline restorations and rain gardens. - Worthington Daily Globe

Maleitzke named BWSR communications director

Share your experience with state’s water management programs

Several water projects among LCCMR finalists

EPA notes economic benefits of healthy watersheds

Holstein Association resolution addresses water quality

In the news

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Links

Watershed Projects Big Cobb River Watershed Project Chippewa River Watershed Project Crystal Loon Mills Clean Water Partnership Hawk Creek Watershed Project High Island Creek Clean Water Partnership Maple River Clean Water Partnership Rush River Watershed Project   Watershed Districts Buffalo Creek Watershed District Heron Lake Watershed District High Island Watershed District Lac qui Parle Yellow Bank Watershed District Lower Minnesota Watershed District Middle Fork Crow Watershed District Nine Mile Creek Watershed District North Fork Crow Watershed District Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District Sauk River Watershed District Yellow Medicine River Watershed District   Joint Powers Boards and Associations Area II-Minnesota River Basin Projects Brown-Nicollet-Cottonwood Water Quality Board Crow River Organization of Water Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance Pomme de Terre River Association Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area   Citizen/Organizations Coalition for a Clean Minnesota River CURE – Clean Up the River Environment EPA – Watershed Central Explore the MN River Valley Friends of the Minnesota Valley Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition Minnesota River Basin Data Center Minnesota River Board Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway Minnesota River Watershed Alliance Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force Minnesota Waters MPCA-Minnesota River Basin Prairie Country RC&D Three Rivers RC&D University of Minnesota Water Resources Center Water Resource Center-Minnesota State University-Mankato

Watershed Network News welcomes news from partners about funding opportunities, project updates and events. Email your news to forrest.peterson@state.mn.us.  Please note that the MPCA has switched to a new service, called GovDelivery. To ensure delivery of these messages, please add mpca@public.govdelivery.com to your address book or safe sender list. Please forward this to any other interested parties. Past issues are located on the Watershed Network publications webpage.