October 2013
The Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota (BALMM) will meet Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) office in Rochester at 18 Wood Lake Drive S.E.
Agenda as follows:
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9 a.m. Watershed Health Assessment Framework: Overview and Demonstration – Beth Knudsen, Research Analyst, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources
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10 a.m. BREAK
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10:30 a.m. Discussion on WRAPS connection: MPCA to BWSR – Led by BALMM Chairperson Donna Rasmussen, Sheila Harmes of the Whitewater Watershed Project, and BWSR staff
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11:30 a.m. Showing of “Mysteries of the Driftless” from Untamed Science
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Noon: Adjourn
 Citizens and watershed professionals can access heath scores for Minnesota’s watersheds through the Watershed Health Assessment Framework (WHAF), provided by the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) with Clean Water Legacy funding.
With this framework, the DNR offers a comprehensive overview of the ecological health of the state’s 81 major watersheds. By applying a consistent statewide approach, the framework expands understanding of processes and interactions that create healthy and unhealthy responses in Minnesota's watersheds. Health scores are used to provide a baseline for exploring patterns and relationships in emerging health trends. The health scores consist of five components:
- Biology;
- Connectivity;
- Geomorphology;
- Hydrology; and
- Water quality.
For example, water quality scores in southeast Minnesota range from 50 for the Cannon River watershed to 70 for the Root River watershed, on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the least desirable result and 100 being the best existing condition. See the Health Score Cards for all 81 major watersheds on the DNR website.
Beth Knudsen, DNR research analyst, will provide more information about the framework at the Oct. 16 BALMM meeting.
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Since voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in 2008, the MPCA and other agencies have more funding for water quality. Making the agencies and others more accountable for that funding and its goal of clean water, several environmental groups successfully lobbied this past legislative session for a bill referred to as the Clean Water Accountability Act. Through the legislative process much of this bill became part of the Clean Water Legacy Act.
This new law aims to ensure that state reports are more specific in identifying all sources of pollution, that state agencies target funding where it can have the most benefit, and that the state reports to the public on its progress toward clean water goals.
This new law defines a fairly new approach by the MPCA called Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS). Over the past few years, the agency has worked to implement a watershed approach to protecting and restoring lakes and streams. Whereas previous studies (Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs) and accompanying implementation plans often focused on a limited number of impaired lakes and/or stream segments, studies now look watershed-wide and include protection considerations for unimpaired waters.
With the watershed approach, the MPCA can assess the state’s waters more efficiently, saving money and time. The MPCA is currently on track for monitoring all of the state’s 81 major watersheds by 2017 and completing TMDLs and WRAPSs for those watersheds within the next 10 years. The agency is also collecting more data, informing local plans and decisions, and producing a watershed plan that goes beyond the TMDLs to include timelines for actions.
Under the new law, WRAPS must include the following:
- A precise assessment of pollution sources and needed reductions, including those from nonpoint sources;
- Timelines and milestones for assessing progress;
- Strategies to put the money where it will have the best result; and
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A plan for effective monitoring.
The act also requires the state to develop the following:
- Biennial reporting by the MPCA of progress in achieving pollution reductions; and
- A nonpoint priority funding plan by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
At the BALMM meeting Oct. 16, BALMM Chairperson Donna Rasmussen will lead a discussion on how documents from the first four years of the MPCA’s watershed assessment will fit into local water plans.
What strange forces saved one isolated section along the Upper Mississippi River from the repeated crushing and scouring effects of glaciers during the last two million years? What pre-ice age throwbacks survived here in this unique geologic refuge that holds more Native America effigy mounds, petroglyph caves, strange geology features, and rare species than anywhere in the Midwest? These questions and more are answered in this captivating new documentary.
“Mysteries of the Driftless” is a documentary about a team of explorers and scientists kayaking down deeply cut tributary valleys, flying in ultralights, and climbing rocky bluffs to reveal answers to the mysteries within the driftless area. Their journey will expose both the science and threats behind three unique features of the zone - rare plants and animals, odd geological phenomenon, and striking remnants of a Native American pilgrimage like no other.
What these explorers reveal will not only give the audience a greater appreciation for the unique diversity of this “island of land” that escaped glacial scouring, but will inspire a greater appreciation for this amazing area. The goal is not to answer all the mysteries, but to document the exploratory process for the viewers. In the end, the film will ignite the curiosity of viewers to discover more about the area for themselves.
See the documentary at the Oct. 16 BALMM meeting.
 In the first of its kind between the United States and China, officials recently formalized a Sister Lakes Partnership between Lake Pepin in Minnesota and Liangzi Lake in Hubei Province. Initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the purpose of Sister Lakes is to share information and ideas. With U.S. cooperation, China is hoping to accelerate its efforts to control water pollution, a top priority along with controlling air pollution.
In particular, China is looking for help in developing regulations for protecting water resources, improving monitoring and assessment of its waters, and learning more about watershed and in-lake best management practices. The MPCA will play a prominent role in the Sister Lakes partnership as the agency leading the restoration effort for Lake Pepin.
"We’re excited about this partnership because of what it could mean scientifically and economically,” said MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine. “On the science side, we’ll be able to see if our best management practices can work in other places. We can also collaborate with the Chinese on better ways to address agricultural runoff, which is hurting water quality in both countries. Economically, it may open the door for Minnesota and other U.S. companies to market their technology for water quality monitoring and improvement to China.”
The program aims to strengthen watershed protection via communication, training, public participation, scientific research and demonstration projects. To learn more about the partnership, visit the MPCA website.
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 A group of 11 paddlers, including a videographer, recently embarked on “Paddle Forward,” a canoe expedition along the length of the Mississippi River from its headwaters in Itasca, Minn., to New Orleans, La.
As they make their way down the river, the expedition team will interview mayors, park rangers, paddling clubs, and other community members to learn about their relationship with the Mississippi River Watershed. The interviews will be used to create a video documentary called “Voices of the Mississippi River” that seeks to answer the question: How do individuals and communities interact with America’s Mighty Mississippi?
“Paddling America’s greatest river will be a window into the inner workings of our country, its challenges and accomplishments, and the natural resources we are lucky to have in our own backyards,” said Natalie Warren, founder of Wild River Academy, the parent organization of Paddle Forward/ The academy is a nonprofit organization based in the Twin Cities dedicated to watershed education and outdoor recreation.
In preparation for the trip, the group is connecting with schools to share curriculum focused on the journey. Teachers can sign their class up for free at the Paddle Forward website to gain access to their River Ambassadors Program, blog, weekly discussion questions, email updates, GPS tracking maps, and other curriculum options for their school, including a scrapbook competition.
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"Minnesota sets goals for fixing Gulf of Mexico dead zone" in the StarTribune
"Legendary DNR trout manager Mel Haugstad dies" in the StarTriune
“City of Winona may test state’s new frac sand team” and “State frac standards too lax?” in the Winona Daily News
“Guideline or law? Confusion over frac sand mining standards” on Minnesota Public Radio
“Minnesota agencies roll out silica sand website” on the MPCA website
“Data show positive trends in Mississippi River” in the Waconia Patriot
“Owners of 22,000 registered feedlots need to re-register by Jan. 1” on the MPCA website
"A river of birds migrates over the Mississippi" in the StarTribune
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