Projects and Initiatives

Yellow River of Iowa Watershed Initiative Slideshow Online
A recent National Park Service (NPS) slide presentation details both the beauty of this valuable watershed and the rationale for a watershed project there. Yellow River Intiative Presentation (31MB, .ppt; allow the file time to load). The NPS is leading an effort to begin a study of Iowa's Yellow River watershed, with hope for a more substantial watershed improvement project to follow. Several federal, state and local agencies met in Waukon, Iowa for a public meeting on March 26, 2003 to explain the project to the public. The Yellow is a richly diverse watershed with scenic woodlands and trout fisheries surrounded by both agricultural and park lands. The Upper Mississippi Basin Stakeholder Network is proud to host the Yellow River Watershed Initiative. Photo (courtesty of National Park Service) is of Red Bridge crossing the Yellow River at an abandoned county road near Postville.

Yellow River Watershed Initiative Webpage
Yellow River Internet Map Server

Southeast Minnesota Wastewater Initiative
The SE MN Wastewater Initiative has been funded for another 3 years! The news just came in that the MPCA has funded the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, an original partner with the Initiative, with CWA Section 319 dollars. The three year, $300,000 grant will focus on many of the objectives and activities that the current program carries out. The new project will pursue a continued emphasis on prioritizing and facilitating solutions to un-sewered community wastewater issues in the region. The targeted region has grown, now reaching a 13 county area, and there will likely be a number of changes, as this grant is NOT an exact continuation of the existing program. I am sure that planning for a successful "Wastewater 3" will begin soon. Thank you to all of you for helping to make the Initiative a success. The new program will look forward to working with all of you through 2008! Contact Gordon Cummings, Nick Haig, or the Cannon River Watershed staff for more information.

Gordon Cummings
Executive Director SE MN Wastewater Initiative
(507)646-8400
gordon@crwp.net

Nicholas Haig
Small Community Facilitator for Rice, Steele, Goodhue, Wabasha, and Le Sueur Counties (Existing Project)
Southeast Minnesota Wastewater Initiative
(507)333-3871
nhaig@co.rice.mn.us

Cannon River Watershed Partnership
Unsewered Communities Web Guide
Alternatives for Unsewered Communities (US EPA)
BALMM Partners Awarded New 319 Grants

Green Lands, Blue Waters: A Vision and Roadmap for the Next Generation of Agricultural Systems
The vision promoted by Steve Morse, Endowed Chair of Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota and founder of the Green Lands, Blue Waters Initiative, is one of expanded perennial agriculture systems. During the past 25 years in Minnesota , perennial plant systems like alfalfa hay and pasture have been systematically replaced by annual crops such as corn and beans. This dramatic change in the agricultural landscape has lead to increased sediment, nutrient, and contaminant runoff from many of these converted lands. The Green Lands, Blue Waters vision includes livestock as a key factor in dealing with water quality problems. When methods providing adequate perennial forage (alfalfa hay and pasture land) are used, the amount of runoff from these lands is greatly reduced and immense benefits to water quality can be realized. A critical part of the vision involves getting out of the mindset that we are limited to corn and bean production. Systems including rotational grazing, use of cover crops and energy crops for biomass production would not only help water quality, but also diversify the rural economy and improve human health. This initiative involves land grant universities, non-governmental organizations and government agencies in seven states, including Minnesota . Visit the Green Lands, Blue Waters website at www.greenlandsbluewaters.org.

Perennial Farming Systems could Significantly Improve Minnesota's Water Quality By George Boody, et al. -BioScience- January 2005
Livestock Can Play Big Role in Solving Minnesota’s Water Quality Problems -Land Stewardship Project News Release- 3/5/04
Effort aims to bring diversity back into agriculture By Janet Kubat Willette -Agri News- 3/16/04
Integrating Farm Systems -Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research Unit- USDA
Profitable Farms That Protect The Environment -The Minnesota Project
Whole Farm Planning -The Minnesota Project
Preserving as well as farming the land go hand in hand for Olingers By David Heiller -Argus News- 9/28/04

 

St Louis Post-Dispatch Special Report
"A Flood of Development 10 Years Later"
The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, after a months-long investigation, released (07/27/03) its findings on the phenomenon of multimillion dollar developments sweeping the floodplain inundated by the '93 flood; development in spite of federal recommendations to the contrary. Read the series online. The Post-Dispatch contracted with Saint Mary's University of MInnesota Department of Resource Analysis GeoSpatial Services for analysis of flood plain development since the Flood of 1993. Read about the Flood Plain Development Study. Saint Mary's GeoSpatial Services staff, Dr. Jim Hipple, Barry Drazkowski, Patrick Thorsell, Mara May, and Martha Roldan, all participated in the study of satellite imagery and census data.

Environmental Concerns Delay Project in St. Peters, Ill. By Elisa Crouch, St. Louis Post-Dispatch 3/18/04