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The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is taking applications from local governments through Sept. 26 for grants to protect and improve water quality in their communities. Funded by Legacy Amendment, the agency expects to have $17.65 million total available for five categories of grants.
Local government units are eligible to receive grant funds if they are working under a current (as defined in BWSR grants policy) water management plan that has been state approved and locally adopted by Oct. 1, 2014.
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Partner organizations such as non-profits, watershed groups, school districts or lake associations must work in conjunction with eligible applicants:
- Counties;
- Watershed districts;
- Watershed management organizations;
- Soil and water conservation districts;
- Cities; and
- Local government joint power boards.
The complete Request for Proposals is available online.
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MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine recently approved funding for 10 Clean Water Partnership (CWP) proposals throughout Minnesota. These projects will begin this fall and will continue for three years. The funding totals $1.26 million in grants and nearly $2.4 million in loans for projects that reduce nonpoint source pollution in Minnesota’s lakes, rivers and streams. Funding is provided by the Minnesota Legislature and the Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment.
The projects range from $75,000 to Carver County for a "Lake Waconia Stormwater Best Management Project Enhancement" to $1 million in loan funds and $10,000 in grant funds to the City of Winnebago for the "Blue Earth River Green Infrastructure Project" in the Minnesota River Basin.
Other recipients include:
- Buffalo Creek Watershed District, $10,000 grant and $294,540 loan for the "Buffalo Creek - Marsh Water Project"
- Fairbault County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), $300,000 grant for the "Greater Blue Earth Nonpoint Reduction Initiative"
- Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District, $128,522 grant for "Lower Prior Lake Protection Project Implementation"
- Renville County, $10,000 grant and $950,000 loan for the "Middle Minnesota Watershed SSTS Loan Project"
- Sauk River Watershed District, $268,000 grant and $150,000 loan for "Middle Sauk River Targeted Reduction and Outreach"
- Aitkin County SWCD, $76,200 grant for "Mille Lacs Lake Protection - Stormwater Control"
- City of Annandale, $135,000 grant for "Pleasant Lake Stormwater Quality Improvements"
- Hawk Creek Watershed Project, $242,587 grant for "Renville County Minnesota River-Mankato Watershed Protection"
Also recently, the MPCA recommended $2.39 million in federal Clean Water Act Section 319 funding for 13 projects in Minnesota. Contingent on the availability of federal funds, these projects will begin this fall and will continue for five years. The projects include $847,000 for development and education, $290,000 for research, and $1.3 million for implementation efforts.
The funding ranges from $45,000 to the Clearwater River Watershed District for its "Clearwater River Watershed Alternative Tile Intake" to $300,000 each to the Cedar River Watershed District for "Effectiveness of Targeted Dobbins Creek BMPs" and the City of Rochester for "Zumbro River: Ultra-Urban Vol/TSS/FeC Reduction effort."
Other recipients include:
- Cannon River Watershed Partnership, $57,620 for "Building a Culture of Citizen Engagement"
- Aitkin County SWCD, $86,100 for "Big Sandy and Minnewawa Lakes Phosphorus Reduction"
- Faribault SWCD, $234,234 for "Blue Earth River Dissolved Oxygen: Managing Flows and Nutrients"
- Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, $60,000 for "eLINK Support 2015"
- Hawk Creek Watershed Project. $237,585 for "Hawk Creek Watershed Dissolved Oxygen Restoration Project"
- Fortin Consulting, Inc., $129,176 for "MPCA Level 2 Winter Maintenance Training"
- Sauk River Watershed District, $286,652 for "Osakis Lake Nutrient Reduction - Crooked Lake"
- Pomme de Terre River Association, $275,000 for "Pomme de Terre WRAPS Implementation Project"
- Red River Basin Commission, $290,000 for "Red River Basin Reservoir Nutrient Load Reduction"
- Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission, $93,500 for "Shingle Creek DO Reaeration Improvements"
The next CWP and Section 319 funding rounds are scheduled to open this winter. Check the MPCA website for updates.
For more information, contact Peter Fastner at peter.fastner@state.mn.us or 651-757-2349.
The MPCA is asking for your data to help assess the condition of our lakes and streams and build a national database of water quality.
 The agency is specifically interested in the following priority watersheds because MPCA staff will be determining whether these water bodies meet state water quality standards in early 2015:
- Two Rivers
- Snake River
- Lake Superior – North
- Rum River
- Mississippi River – Headwaters
- Minnesota River – Mankato
- Watonwan River
The agency is also looking for:
- Data on the Mississippi River from the headwaters to St. Anthony Falls.
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E. coli data for these large rivers: Minnesota, Rainy, Red, St. Croix, and Mississippi.
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E. coli data for Lake Superior public beaches.
- Toxics data -- nitrates, pesticides, trace metals, and mercury – for streams throughout Minnesota.
If you have data from outside a priority watershed or one of these areas, the MPCA will also accept it. The agency will use additional data to:
- Help plan for future monitoring efforts including what to monitor for and where to monitor.
- Identify pollutant “stressors” that are causing or contributing to problems or threats to fishing, swimming, and recreational uses.
- Evaluate the success of ongoing activities to protect and restore water quality.
Deadline: Submit project, lab, and field data now through Nov. 3, 2014.
Deadline: By Dec.15, 2014 you will need to review the data entered.
Find out more on the MPCA's surface water data website.
Your role in collecting these data is important to Minnesota’s effort to identify impaired waters, as well as those waters in need of additional protection.
For more information on submitting data:
- Nancy Flandrick, 651-757-2361 (St. Paul, Rochester, and Mankato Regional Offices)
- Jean Garvin, 651-757-2378 (Willmar, Marshall, and Detroit Lakes Regional Offices)
- Lynda Nelson, 651-757-2601 (Duluth and Brainerd Regional Offices)
For more information about how the MPCA uses your data to assess lakes and streams see the MPCA’s water quality assessment website.
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A draft report about water pollution in portions of the Pomme de Terre River watershed in west-central Minnesota is open for public review and comment through Sept. 17.
The report, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study, focuses on pollution resulting from excess nutrients, E. coli bacteria, turbidity (reduced light penetration of water due to suspended solids), and low dissolved oxygen. A TMDL establishes the maximum amount of a pollutant a water body can receive on a daily basis and still meet water-quality standards.
The Pomme de Terre River watershed covers 559,968 acres in the northwestern part of the Minnesota River basin. It drains portions of six counties: Otter Tail, Grant, Douglas, Big Stone, Swift and Stevens.
After reviewing the comments it receives, the MPCA may revise the draft TMDL report before submitting it to the EPA for approval. As part of the TMDL, a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies plan has been developed to determine the specific work needed to restore the impaired waters.
Written comments on the draft report must include:
- A statement of your interest in the draft TMDL report;
- A statement of the action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to sections of the draft TMDL that you believe should be changed; and
- Specific reasons supporting your position.
Written comments should be mailed to Scott MacLean, MPCA, 12 Civic Center Plaza, Mankato, MN 56001, or sent by e-mail to scott.maclean@state.mn.us. They must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 17.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved the TMDL report addressing 20 lakes impaired by nutrients in the Upper Minnehaha Creek watershed. The report also addresses bacteria in Paint Creek . These waterbodies and the land area that drains to them are located in Hennepin and Carver counties.
Also recently, the EPA approved the TMDL reports addressing the Upper Cannon Lakes, including nutrient impairments in Lake Volney and the Jefferson-German chain of lakes. Located in Le Sueur County, these lakes are popular with local residents, visitors and summer cabin dwellers for recreation.
The MPCA will now work with local partners on plans to reduce nutrients in these water bodies and restore them to water quality standards.
The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization will present “Live from the Storm Drain: Monitoring Stormwater Pollution in Minneapolis” at the Sept. 26 Mississippi River Forum. The forum will run from 8-11 a.m., starting at the organization’s office at 2522 Marshall St. N.E., Minneapolis, and then continuing with a tour of a stormwater outfall.
Please note that the organization’s parking lot has limited parking, in order to reduce runoff, so be prepared to park on the street. Tour participants will car-pool to the stormwater outfall. Access to the site requires walking on uneven surfaces and hillsides, and the tour will take place rain or shine.
There is no fee for the forum, which includes a light breakfast, but an RSVP to Lark Weller (651-293-8442) of the National Park Service is required. Also contact Weller if you have mobility concerns about the tour.
 The inaugural Minnesota State Water Trails Summit will be held Sept. 29-30 in St. Cloud. This event will focus on how communities, businesses and paddlers can increase outdoor recreation tourism, foster economic development and enhance quality of life. Registration will be start at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at the River’s Edge Convention Center. From 1-5 p.m. participants can tour the Mississippi River State Water Trail by canoe or van. A networking hour and dinner will follow. The next day will include a welcome by Tom Landwehr, commissioner of the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources; a keynote by Natalie Warren, founder of the Wilder River Academy; speaker panel facilitated by Patrick Moore, civic engagement consultant; and several breakout sessions. The registration fee is $125 for the full summit or $70 for one day.
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