A series of public meetings are scheduled in September to hear about and discuss the June 19 Minnesota River Congress, leading up to a second congress scheduled for Oct. 30 in New Ulm. Congress organizers believe there’s a need for greater unity and communication among the many groups working to sustain the water and land in the Minnesota River Valley for agriculture and the overall economy. Regional meetings are planned for 7 p.m. at the following dates and hosts. Everyone is welcome to attend.

• Sept. 10, Clean Up the River Environment, Community Center, 550 1st St. SW, Montevideo.
• Sept. 11, Rural Advantage, Knights of Columbus Hall, 920 E. 10th St., Fairmont.
• Sept. 15, J.R. Brown Center, Henderson.
• Sept. 16, Friends of the Minnesota Valley, National Wildlife Refuge, Bloomington.
• Sept. 17, Lower Sioux Community, Jackpot Junction.

At the June 19 congress about 100 people shared a meal, and gathered in small groups to discuss ideas for the future of collaborative efforts to protect and improve land and water resources in the Minnesota River basin. Information and display tables set up by more than 20 organizations contributed greatly to the networking action. For more information contact Sparlin at 507-276-2280, yasure@lycos.com. A summary of the June 19 congress is posted on the Minnesota River Watershed Alliance webpage, www.watershedalliance.blogspot.com.

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All residents and landowners in the Shakopee Creek headwaters area in northwest Kandiyohi County are invited to a picnic and information meeting about land and water quality Aug. 21 at Kandiyohi County Park No. 7 on Games Lake. The picnic and informal discussion will be available 4:30 to 7 p.m., with a short overview presentation at 6 p.m. Families are welcome, and there is no cost to attend. The picnic menu includes Wick's hot dogs and potato salad. The voyageur canoe from Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center will be on hand for paddling excursions on Games Lake.

The Shakopee Creek area around Norway Lake is in the spotlight for trying out some new tools to protect and improve water quality throughout the entire Minnesota River Basin and beyond. Local residents have an important role in deciding what needs to be done, and how. Information and experience gathered will be used as examples for other watershed areas to follow.

Led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, local, state, and federal agencies are collaborating on better tools for conservation crews and land owners. They include the latest computer models of the landscape and water that will support more efficient and effective decision-making about water quality improvement projects. A similar Minnesota River Basin pilot project is under way in the Seven Mile Creek watershed near St. Peter.

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Water management and soil health are key to future gains in crop productivity in a changing global climate. Managing those effectively also benefit water quality. That's the bottom line from the fifth Soil and Water Management Field Day hosted July 23 by the U of M Southwest Research and Outreach Center. The event showcased research projects on the Brian Hicks farm south of Milroy in Redwood County. "We can't rely on genetics to increase yields," said Jeff Strock of SWROC. "We need more water in the soil profile." Controlled or managed drainage can bring as much as a 45 percent reduction in water and nitrogen losses, he said.

In the effort to combat climate change, agriculture can help by reducing the loss of nitrous oxide, a far more potent greenhouse gas. We need to manage soil and water together, to integrate the carbon, water and nitrogen cycles, said Jerry Hatfield of the USDA-ARS lab in Ames, IA. Presentation topics included: Carbon, nitrogen, water and climate change; drainage water management to meet production and water goals; greenhouse gases and agriculture; and results of a survey of farmers about climate change. 2014 field day proceedings are online at the SWROC Soil and Water Management and Conservation webpage. (Photo: Jeff Strock explains the subsurface irrigation project on the Hicks farm.)

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The latest Discovery Farm project in the state's far southwestern corner will sample any runoff from a field that raises crops, and then used for winter feeding cattle. The project was described at a field day July 15 at Bakken Farms, about 10 miles west of Luverne in Rock County, out where Peter Bakken's mailing address is from Garretson, SD. Any stormwater flow from a 25+ acre section of a 160-acre field (untiled), channeled through a grassed waterway, is directed to an outfall flume fitted with monitoring equipment. It measures weather conditions, takes photos and water samples that are tested for sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen. It recorded 17 inches of rain in May and June, but only 0.3 inches of outfall. The equipment is being maintained by Rock County SWCD staff.

After harvest about 160 beef cattle forage on the soybean field, but they tend to congregate in the portion being sampled, Bakken said. "I'm interested in seeing the water quality." He uses no-till and applies manure from a cattle feedlot. "I'm a firm believer in (crop) residue. No-till with residue 'sucks up water'," he says. Bakken also uses cover crops such as turnips, winter peas, and rapeseed. After several seasons, the data will help make any improvements needed, says Tim Radatz, research specialist with the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Center. "If you don't measure it, then you don't know what to do," he says. Now with 11 core farms in the Minnesota Discovery Farms program, there are no immediate plans for more. (Photo: From left: Tim Radatz, Arlyn Gehrke, and Pete Bakken describe the project.)

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Emma Volz new tech in Yellow Medicine Watershed District
Emma Volz started Aug. 4 as the new staff member with the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District. In 2003 she graduated with a BS in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2009 she earned a MS in Geography specializing in wetlands biogeography from South Dakota State University. Originally from the Twin Cities area, for the past seven years she has lived in Marshall. After earning her degrees, she worked for five years as a GIS specialist for Lincoln County Environmental Department.

Hauger leaving MPCA for Office of Pipeline Safety

Joe Hauger is leaving the MPCA Marshall office for a job with the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety, which is part of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. He will be an “engineering specialist” inspecting small pipeline operators for compliance with pipeline safety requirements and possibly doing some accident investigation and incident support, in a 16-county region in southwest Minnesota. Joe joined the MPCA staff March 9, 2005. Most recently, he was a watershed project manager working the Chippewa and Pomme de Terre watersheds. He leaves Sept. 5 to start his new job Sept. 10.

North Fork Crow WD seeks administrator/drainage inspector

The North Fork Crow River Watershed District in Brooten has an opening for a full-time District Administrator. The District is responsible for water quality and quantity management in a 348-square-mile area. For more information and a full job description visit www.nfcrwd.org or call 612-865-9189. Administrator Josh Reed is leaving to start a brewery and taproom in New London, Goat Ridge Brewing Co. He hopes to open in November or December. 

Wright County seeks volunteers for marketing and data collection

Wright County Natural Resource Agencies (Crow River Organization of Water, Natural Resource Conservation Services and Soil & Water Conservation District) is looking for volunteers to help with marketing, public relations and data collection. Marketing work can include:  Writing news releases, developing factsheets or newsletters, connecting with media outlets, developing and promoting educational events and updating facebook and websites. Data collection can include: Surveying, aerial photo review, water sampling, field checks, GPS recording, and site visit documentation. If interested, please send letter of interest detailing work experience to Katie Evans, Wright NRCS: 311 Brighton Ave Ste C, Buffalo, MN  55313 or email: katie.evans@mn.usda.gov.

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A series of field day events have been demonstrating the installation of engineered side inlets in fields adjacent to drainage ditches in low areas prone to ditch bank failure. About 50 people attended the side inlet tour Aug. 20 hosted by the Hawk Creek Watershed Project. A short program prior to the tour included technical overviews from Tim Gillette, BWSR conservation drainage engineer; Gary Sands, U of M Extension engineer; and Loren Engelby, Kandiyohi County drainage manager. Renville County commissioner and farmer Randy Kramer provided a farmer's perspective on managing drainage.

Where field contours channel surface water in large amounts that can break through ditch banks, the various side inlet designs prevent this while metering drainage for water quality and production goals. Photo: From left, Tim Gillette, engineer Cris Skonard of Bollig, Inc., and Loren Engelby discuss the side inlet recently installed adjacent to a ditch in Chippewa County. The orange Hickenbottom riser and yellow emergency spillway are hooked to a culvert through the nearby ditch bank. This will prevent water from rushing over the top of the ditch bank and creating a gully from the field to the ditch.

Side inlet field day Aug. 28 in Nicollet County

The next side inlet field day is Aug. 28, hosted by the Nicollet SWCD, 8 a.m.-noon, lunch included, at Oshawa Township Hall, 38711 Hwy. 99, St Peter (Approximately 4 miles west of Hwy. 169 on Hwy. 99). RSVP to Karen Galles, Seven Mile Creek Watershed Coordinator, 507/931-2550 ext. 117, Karen.Galles@nicolletswcd.org. 

Click here for an Agri-News article about the July 24 side inlet field day in Mower County

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As if part of the event planning, a six-inch rain pummeled the fields of the Lloyd Schrunk farm north of Canby a few days before a water management and cover crop field day Aug. 13. About 100 people attending the field day, the large majority farmers, learned about cover crops, managed drainage, soil health, sub-irrigation, and even the health of bees. The overall message: It's time to start using the tools to manage water and build soil health for the dual goals of optimum production and environmental protection.

A sea of bright green, young sunflowers surrounded the muddy depression at the site of the tile water control structure. The project demonstrates "responsible drainage so the water doesn't hit the stream all at once," says Jodi DeJongh-Huges of University Extension. With 10 years of experience in drainage water management, Redwood County farmer Brian Hicks said farmers need to focus on the environmental as well as the production benefits of reducing nutrient and soil loss. Yellow Medicine County farmer Doug Albin said his drainage management research projects such as saturated buffers can help make progress. During a panel discussion, Rep. Collin Peterson said the water quality goals are not regulations, but farmers need to be installing projects to work toward the goals. Panelist DeLon Clarksean, a certified crop adviser from Canby, said all of the challenging issues reminded him of the FFA creed: (First stanza) 'I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds - achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.' Full creed. Event sponsors included: Stu Frazuer Tiling, Yellow Medicine SWCD, Schrunk's Implement, and Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

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MPCA watershed webpage

Watershed Projects

Big Cobb River Watershed Project
Maple River Clean Water Partnership
Rush River Watershed Project
Seven Mile Creek 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
Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District
Sauk River Watershed District
Yellow Medicine River Watershed District

Joint Powers Boards and Associations

Area II-Minnesota River Basin Projects
Chippewa River Watershed Project
Hawk Creek Watershed Project
Crow River Organization of Water
Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance
Minnesota River Board
Pomme de Terre River Association
Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area
Red River Water Management Board

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
Great River Greening
Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition
Minnesota River Basin Data Center
Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway
Minnesota River Watershed Alliance
Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force
Minnesota Waters
MPCA-Minnesota River Basin
Three Rivers RC&D
University of Minnesota Water Resources Center
Water Resource Center-Minnesota State-Mankato

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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.

Forrest Peterson
Information Officer
MPCA-Willmar office
320-441-6972