August 2013
The Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota (BALMM) will take a break from meetings this month, with the next one scheduled for Oct. 16. If you have ideas for presentations or newsletter articles, please contact Donna Rasmussen, BALMM chairperson, or Shaina Keseley, BALMM coordinator.
Through the efforts of the Mississippi Makeover project, a unique group of citizens, groups and technical experts came together to plan restoration for the river from Spring Lake in Pool 2 to Upper Lake Pepin and the Lower Vermillion River.
Starting in 2008, this group came together to study the river, envision its restoration, set targets to achieve, and formulate a plan. The Mississippi Makeover was an off-shoot of the Lake Pepin and Lower Vermillion River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies as water in Pool 3 violates the state’s water quality standard for turbidity. The makeover project included ideas such as building islands and lowering water levels temporarily to establish plant life and improve water quality. To measure results of the project, citizen and technical advisers selected several indicators, including water clarity, plant life, invertebrates, fish and waterfowl.
The Mississippi Makeover was funded by a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and led by the Dakota Soil and Water Conservation District, most notably by Laura Jester, a watershed conservationist with the SWCD. (The photo above shows Laura on a tour of islands in Pool 5 in 2010.) The second phase of the project ended with the grant on June 30.
This project highlighted the need for restoration through tours, events, speakers, training and publications.
For example, a recent boat tour of Pool 3 and North and Sturgeon Lakes showcased the need for more islands and larger aquatic plant beds in this area to provide habitat and respite from wind-churned waters. A total of 23 residents, state and local officials, and Audubon members gathered to hear from experts and view the restoration needs first-hand. The Hastings Star Gazette also reported on the tour, “Mending the Mississippi: River tour highlights plans for backwater restoration.”
Another recent outcome of the project was an interim report card showing progress toward the Mississippi Makeover Targets. The report card shows that some indicator metrics have recently improved. However, these may be temporary results of low water during the drought years. It will take additional years of data collection to track the trends of the indicators.
“One thing is certain, there is much more work needed here – to continue making progress toward the targets and keep the attention of decision makers and agencies focused on this area. While there are no plans for a third phase of the Mississippi Makeover Project, there are many other organizations with activities and advocacy surrounding the Mississippi River in this area … It has been a pleasure working with you on this project. Take care and keep up the great work on the Great River!” Jester said in her farewell email to project members.
|
The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) will be holding a competitive grant application round this fall using funds appropriated from the Clean Water Land and Legacy amendment during the 2013 legislative session. The Board will consider authorizing the grant program at its Aug. 29 meeting. If authorized, the grant application period will run from Sept. 3 through Oct. 4 with funds awarded at the Board’s January meeting.
Training materials on the application process and details of the request for proposals are being developed. Web-based trainings are planned for Aug. 21 and 22. Online registration for the training is now open.
Three funding categories from previous years will be requesting grant applications:
- Clean Water Assistance;
- Accelerated Implementation; and
- Community Partners Conservation Program.
BWSR is also working to incorporate the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s BMP Loan program and the Minnesota Department of Health’s Well Sealing program into the Clean Water Competitive Grants Program.
For more information on other open funding rounds, see the Waterfront Bulletin for August 2013.
|
If planning on applying for MPCA water monitoring grants later this year, be sure to register now with the state online system called “SWIFT.” The Request for Proposal (RFP) process will be switching to the SWIFT e-supplier portal for the 2014 Surface Water Assessment Grants (SWAG) and Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network Sampling Grants (WPLMN).
In order to view 2014 Request for Proposal (RFP) materials and apply for grant funds, applicants are required to have a SWIFT Vendor ID and Supplier Portal Account. Detailed registration directions are available on the SWIFT e-supplier portal. Applicants should be aware that it can take several days to receive a required Vendor ID from SWIFT and are encouraged to register now. For additional information regarding this application and process, please see this SWIFT message. If you need technical assistance for the SWIFT e-supplier portal, please contact the SWIFT helpdesk line: 651-201-8100, option 1.
For the next funding round, all proposals must be electronically submitted through the SWIFT e-supplier portal. Proposals received after the established deadlines will not be considered. Successful grant recipients will be notified and required to submit a detailed work plan and budget. Please note that the successful execution of these grants by the start of the monitoring season is dependent on adhering to this process and timeline. Additionally, grant recipients must use SWIFT to review and approve, through electronic signature, their final contract and work plan.
The MPCA is responsible for carrying out and overseeing the monitoring of Minnesota’s lakes and streams using Clean Water Legacy funds. The SWAG and WPLMN grants channel these funds to local organizations to assist with these activities. Additional information for both programs can be found at the MPCA’s Surface Water Financial Assistance webpage.
Reducing runoff from feedlots, reducing nitrate levels in streams, and bringing sewer systems into compliance are some of the projects across the state recently approved for funding by the MPCA.
The funding includes $2.27 million in federal Clean Water Act Section 319 funding for 10 projects in Minnesota. The funding consists of $275,000 for development and education, $555,512 for research, and $1.4 million for implementation efforts for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) projects, or reducing pollutants to a level that allow waters to meet state water quality standards. Contingent on the availability of federal funds, the projects will begin this fall and will continue for five years.
In the BALMM region, the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board will receive a $300,000 grant for Reducing Runoff from Southeast Minnesota Feedlots. This project is part of a larger regional effort to reduce fecal coliform bacteria levels in surface waters, with this being the fifth grant since 2007 to focus on feedlot fixes. This funding will help provide cost-share and technical assistance to several feedlots under 500 animal units to reduce their runoff to negligible levels. The photo above shows a feedlot fix from 2009 that prevents runoff from contaminating nearby resources.
The MPCA also approved $1.19 million in grants and nearly $3.5 million in loans for 16 Clean Water Partnership projects in the state, as funded by the Minnesota Legislature. Created by the Legislature in 1987, the Clean Water Partnership program provides financial and technical assistance to diagnose and address threats to water resources.
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 Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) recently released a draft revision of the Minnesota’s Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan (NFMP) for public comment. This plan is the state’s blueprint for prevention or minimization of the impacts of nitrogen fertilizer on groundwater.
In 2010, MDA began the revision process to reflect current activities, interagency water protection programs and implementation work, and to better align it with current water resource conditions and programs. MDA convened a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee and conducted a detailed analysis of issues related to nitrates in groundwater. The revisions were based primarily on input from the committee with consideration for past experiences with implementing the plan, input from related programs, increased knowledge about occurrences of elevated nitrate in groundwater, and advances in agricultural technology and management practices.
The plan includes components promoting prevention and developing appropriate responses to the detection of nitrogen fertilizer in groundwater. The strategies in the plan are based on voluntary Best Management Practices (BMPs). The Nitrogen Fertilizer BMPs were developed in 1990 and updated in 2007-08. They are available as University of Minnesota Extension publications.
Supporting information includes MDA nitrate monitoring reports and a presentation to the Minnesota Legislature on nitrates and groundwater (PDF: 2.66 MB / 24 pages).
A draft of the 2013 Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan is available for public review. MDA is requesting comments on the 2013 plan. Comments will be accepted through Nov. 1, 2013.
To assist the public in understanding these issues and the plan, MDA will be hosting a series of public listening sessions across the state during the month of September. The meetings are free and open to the public. In southeast Minnesota, a listening session is planned in Rochester:
-
Monday Sept. 23
6-8 p.m. Cascade Meadow Wetlands & Environmental Science Center 2900 19th St. NW, Rochester, MN 55901
One of the roles of the MPCA is to assess the condition of Minnesota’s groundwater. Clean groundwater is vital to the state of Minnesota. Groundwater supplies drinking water to about 75 percent of all Minnesotans and almost all of the water used to irrigate the state’s crops. The inflow of groundwater also is important to Minnesota’s streams, lakes and wetlands.
In a new groundwater report, MPCA primarily looked at monitoring data from 2007-2011 that included traditional pollutants known to adversely affect groundwater such as nitrate, chloride and volatile organic compounds (VOCs or chemicals that participate in forming ozone). The report also included some newly-recognized pollutants, such as medicines, insect repellents, and fire retardants. The effects of these new pollutants, which are often referred to as contaminants of emerging concern or CECs, onto human and aquatic life are not fully understood at this point.
Highlights from “The Condition of Minnesota’s Groundwater, 2007-2011” include:
-
Shallow groundwater in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA) is impacted by high chloride concentrations with 27 percent of the TCMA monitoring wells in the sand and gravel aquifers having concentrations that were greater than drinking water guidelines set by EPA. The map at right shows chloride concentrations in groundwater from sand and gravel aquifers across Minnesota.
- If chloride continues to increase in the groundwater, additional waters will likely violate drinking water and water-quality standards in the future.
-
Nitrate contamination generally has not changed over the last 15 years; however concentrations remain high in certain parts of the state.
-
The highest nitrate concentrations occurred in the aquifers in Central and Southwestern Minnesota.
- CECs were detected in about one-third of the sampled wells in 2010. The most-frequently detected chemicals were the fire retardant tris phosphate, the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, and bisphenol A and tributyl phosphate. No concentrations violated any applicable human-health guidance set by the state of Minnesota.
Monitoring is ongoing with additional wells being installed to increase the breadth of the monitoring network. This work will serve the state well into the future by detecting contamination problems that occur along with developing and tracking groundwater quality trends. To view the executive summary and full report on the condition of Minnesota’s groundwater, visit the MPCA’s Groundwater in Minnesota webpage.
The Southeast Minnesota Volunteer Nitrate Monitoring Network built upon efforts to develop and use a low-cost monitoring network as a sustainable means of obtaining long-term trend data for nitrate occurrence in private drinking water supply wells. From 2006-2009 the project team, including nine southeastern Minnesota counties and state agency staff, with funding from EPA’s Section 319 program, coordinated efforts to develop a low-cost groundwater monitoring network in Southeast Minnesota. The network relies on trained volunteers to sample their private drinking water supply wells and send the samples to their county representative for nitrate analysis.
Four rounds of nitrate monitoring were conducted during the previous grant period: February 2008, August 2008, February 2009 and August 2009. In 2010, a CWP grant was awarded to continue these efforts and an additional four rounds of monitoring was conducted in August of 2010, 2011 and 2012 with an optional spring 2013 round completed by six of the nine counties.
The Volunteer Nitrate Monitoring Network design was developed by hydrologists from the Minnesota Departments of Health (MDH) and Agriculture (MDA) in cooperation with county water resource managers. Through the Nitrate Well Testing program, many county staff have become trained in using the nitrate testing equipment and experienced in working with homeowners on water quality issues. Some counties have targeted sensitive areas for additional monitoring beyond the network, in an effort to get a better understanding of water quality in highly sensitive areas. With the data from this monitoring network, counties will have the means to:
- Determine the efficacy of their water quality programs;
- Identify emerging trends; and
- Target water management resources for program implementation.
Beginning in August 2013, the network will continue under Clean Water Fund money from MPCA’s Environmental Outcomes Division which houses the Groundwater Unit. The Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board will continue to be the project lead with partnership from MDH, MDA, MPCA, U.S. Geological Survey and Minnesota Geological Survey.
Sustaining and capturing the full potential of the network will be obtained through additional measurements of other analytes, such as major ions, trace metals, radionuclides, and pollutants. Data generated will be useful to agricultural chemical management, pollutant studies (such as TMDLs), drinking water quality projects (domestic well completion or source water protection projects), and others. Stabilizing and sustaining the network preserves it for future use as other important study questions arise, and the network serves as a model for similar studies in other areas of Minnesota and beyond.
As the map above shows, the network extends through nine counties in southeast Minnesota: Houston, Fillmore, Mower, Winona, Olmsted, Dodge, Rice, Goodhue and Wabasha.
|
Several cold-water trout streams in southeast Minnesota are in good condition and in need of protection strategies to ensure their biological health continues, according to a recent MPCA report. These streams are located in the Mississippi River-Lake Pepin watershed, which encompasses 205,747 acres that drain to streams that discharge directly to the Mississippi or Lake Pepin.
This watershed is popular for trout fishing and other recreation.
The MPCA conducted intensive water monitoring in this area and recently released a report that identifies conditions stressing streams as well as healthy streams in need of protection. The report focuses on the biological health of waters, studying the fish and macroinvertebrate populations to see if they meet the expectations for numbers and varieties.
While most of the streams in this watershed were in good condition, the MPCA did identify some concerns:
- Gilbert Creek, a designated trout stream near Lake City, is stressed by lack of habitat for fish. The lower reaches of Gilbert Creek are lacking coarse substrates, deep pools, and cover for fish. Deposition of sediment in the streambed has covered rocks and other habitat. The MPCA recommends working with the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources which manages this stream for trout.
- Several streams have bacteria (E. coli) levels that violate state water quality standards. While high levels of bacteria do not impact fish and invertebrates, they do affect aquatic recreation such as swimming. High levels of bacteria can suggest other pollutants are also present, which can have an affect on stream biology (fish and invertebrates).
See the complete report, “Mississippi River – Lake Pepin Tributaries Biotic Stressor Identification,” on the MPCA website.
Funded by Clean Water Legacy Amendment dollars, this stressor identification is part of the MPCA’s plan to assess the health of Minnesota’s 81 major watersheds.
|
The MPCA has released results of its study, “Nitrogen in Surface Waters,” which shows elevated nitrate levels particularly in southern parts of the state.
Concern about nitrate has grown in recent years because studies show that nitrate in surface water is toxic to fish and the aquatic life food chain and potentially harmful to humans in drinking water.
The comprehensive study was conducted to better understand the effect nitrates are having in Minnesota’s surface waters and to identify the nitrate sources and potential reduction strategies. The study shows that primary source of the nitrates (70 percent) is cropland agriculture.
"I believe Minnesota farmers are committed to conservation, stewardship and water quality protection,” MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine said, “but collectively, too much nitrate is ending up in streams and rivers. We have to do better.”
Several Minnesota streams violate standards established to protect potential drinking water sources. Minnesota also contributes to the oxygen-depleted zone in the Gulf of Mexico. That “dead zone” is currently the size of Massachusetts.
The MPCA looked at the extent of nitrate pollution using monitoring results from more than 50,000 stream samples from across Minnesota. In the north, nitrate levels are relatively low; whereas in the southern part of the state, especially south-central Minnesota, nitrate levels are either high or very high.
The University of Minnesota worked with the MPCA to examine how the nitrates are getting into our surface waters. Results showed that more than 70 percent is coming from cropland, and the remaining 30 percent is from other regulated and unregulated sources, such as wastewater treatment plants, forests, the atmosphere, septic systems, and urban runoff.
In the Minnesota River, Missouri River, Cedar River, and Lower Mississippi River basins, cropland accounts for an estimated 89 to 95 percent of the nitrate load. The amount reaching surface waters from cropland varies widely, depending on the crop, tile drainage practices, cropland management, soils, climate, geology, and other factors. Scientists also believe crops that do not have deeper rooting systems to actively remove nitrate during the spring and fall months allow nitrate to leach through the soil and into groundwater. Another contributor in much of south-central Minnesota and increasingly in other areas of the state are agricultural drainage lines that are installed just a few feet below ground, allowing nitrate-rich water to be intercepted and conveyed into ditches and streams.
To make progress in reducing nitrate from agricultural lands, farmers are encouraged to better optimize their use of fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizer efficiency has improved during the past two decades. Further refinements in fertilizer rates and application timing can be expected to reduce nitrogen loads by roughly 13 percent statewide, according to the study. Additional and potentially more costly practices are also needed to achieve the overall statewide nitrate-reduction goal of 30 percent or more to meet downstream needs.
Several ongoing efforts are already working to reduce nitrates in surface waters, including the State-level Nutrient Reduction Strategy, the Minnesota Agriculture Water Quality Certification Program, and research for perennial biomass energy crops.
Nitrogen is essential for all living plants and animals and is one of the most widely distributed elements in nature. Nitrate, a form of nitrogen, is commonly found in ground and surface waters throughout the country. Human activities can increase nitrate levels in lakes, streams and groundwater. Typically, nitrate levels are quite low in undisturbed landscapes.
The full “Nitrogen in Surface Waters” report is available online. The report also made the news and advocacy websites, including the StarTribune, Austin Daily Herald and Land Stewardship Project.
|
The MPCA is accepting comments through Aug. 26 on proposed amendments to state rules regulating animal feedlots.
The MPCA proposes to amend these rules to address law changes made by the Minnesota Legislature in the 2011 special session. The MPCA is also taking this opportunity to remove obsolete rule requirements, address other law changes adopted since Chapter 7020 was revised in 2000, and provide clarification to certain existing rules in Chapters 7020, 7001 and 7002.
The MPCA regulates the collection, transportation, storage, processing and utilization of manure and process wastewaters associated with the operation of animal feedlots. Since the 1970s, the MPCA has regulated feedlots primarily through permits, including National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, State Disposal System (SDS) permits, and construction short form and interim permits, the latter two also issued by counties under delegation from the MPCA.
The proposed amendments include:
- incorporation of new statutory language eliminating the need to hold an NPDES permit except as required by federal law, while maintaining the requirement for larger feedlots to hold an SDS permit;
- incorporating other new statutory requirements enacted since the feedlot rules were last revised, including new statutory pasture definitions and 10-year terms for SDS permits;
- clarification of administrative requirements for permits, including the processes for issuance or denial of permits by delegated counties and modification of permits; and
- removal of obsolete language, such as provisions governing older forms of permits, and expired transitional requirements, such as the “open lot agreement.”
To review the proposed rule amendments and the Statement of Need and Reasonableness, together with the official public notice, which explains how interested persons can comment on the proposed amendments, go to the MPCA’s Public Notices webpage. Other rule documents are on the agency’s Feedlot Rulemaking webpage.
At this year’s State Fair Aug. 22-Sept. 13, take the plunge at the Eco Experience and learn all about the lakes, rivers, drinking water, and groundwater that make our state great Minnesota.
New this year, a 200-square-foot map will feature a satellite view of the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, with imagery so detailed that metro visitors will be able to find their own houses and locate places in the watershed where residents are working to improve water quality.
Also at Eco Experience:
- A Minnesota Department of Health exhibit will explain why public drinking water in Minnesota is safe and healthy, and how people with private wells can ensure the quality of their water supply.
- Young artists selected as finalists in the H2O for Life competition will have their winning posters on display. Budding water scientists will have a chance to try their hand at testing clarity of water from Lake Phalen and see Minnesota water bugs, some of which are more than 3 inches long.
- Salt is a problem for Minnesota lakes. Road salt keeps drivers safe, but it washes into lakes where it’s toxic to living things and cannot be removed. Learn how to use de-icing salt the right way so it keeps pavement clear with a minimal amount of waste.
- Native plants, rain gardens, and shoreline stabilization have become popular landscaping elements. Visitors can learn how to get started from a rain garden expert at the Blue Thumb gardening station. This exhibit will be staffed with knowledgeable landscapers, water educators, and nursery specialists who can answer questions about how to use plants to protect water quality.
|
|