balmm currents
Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
July 15, 2003
PAWLENTY TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON SE MINN CREP JULY 17: Governor Tim Pawlenty is holding a public meeting on the Southeast Minnesota Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) proposal Thursday, July 17 at 8:30 am at the J.C. Hormel Nature Center in Austin. ( From I-90, take 21st St NE north about ¼ mile to entrance on east side of street.) A series of brief presentations from sportsmen, farmers and urban representatives will follow an overview of the Southeast Minnesota CREP proposal by CREP coordinator Bev Nordby. An open mike will be available for others wishing to make brief comments.
CREP is a major element of the Clean Water Initiative that Governor Pawlenty outlined on June 24. "Last year's Farm Bill greatly enhanced the CREP program - and Minnesota can't afford to pass up this exceptional tool in our environmental protection efforts," he said. "We'll have an ambitious bonding proposal to tap into the CREP program - and get our second generation started - in time for the 2004 legislative session. Stay tuned."
"This is our opportunity to show the Governor what an outstanding application we have and the support that the Southeast has for the CREP program," says Bev Nordby, Mower SWCD Manager and SE Minnesota CREP Coordinator. Nordby urges those who have been involved in writing the CREP application and in supporting the program to attend the public meeting. "A large number of people will show support to the legislators and the Governor's office." Be there by 8:15 am
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
For Southeast Minnesota
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) combines the Federal Conservation Reserve Program with the state's Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve Program. Through CREP, the state offers to purchase voluntary easements of varying durations from farmers who put cultivated farmland into permanent vegetative cover. The United States Department of Agriculture provides approximately $4.00 in funding for every $1.00 the state puts into CREP.
Project Area - Lower Mississippi River Basin, SE Minnesota
* All or part of 17 counties
* 7,266 square miles
* 11,500 miles of streams (736 miles designated for trout)
* Land Use - 60 percent under cultivation
Natural Resource Issues Addressed
* Exceedances of water quality standards for fecal coliform, turbidity. High levels of nitrate nitrogen in ground water and surface water.
* Loss of hay and pasture, increased row crops lead to increased nitrate leaching and soil erosion.
* Flooding problems from steep terrain and high rainfall.
Project Description
* Multi-functional vegetated buffers in four landscape locations - highly erodible land, stream corridors, drained wetlands, and groundwater protection zones.
* Managed haying and grazing allowed to maintain cover.
Total Number of Acres to be Contracted
* Highly Erodible Land 40,230 acres
* Riparian Corridors 25,000 acres
* Wetland Restoration 20,000 acres
* Groundwater Protection: 10,500 acres
* Total CREP Acreage: 95,730 acres
* Cultivated Cropland: 2,800,000 acres
NEXT BALMM MEETING JULY 16: Things are moving fast - we'll spend our time at this month's BALMM meeting catching up, readjusting our sights, and planning how to forge ahead. Discussion of new 319 proposals, and how to rank them, will continue....We'll review Governor Pawlenty's goals for southeast Minnesota water quality and support for our CREP proposal.. Bea Hoffmann will update us on the Southeast Minnesota Wastewater Initiative, particularly a survey of citizens and public officials that will be used to create a marketing communication strategy (will there be billboards?)....Gretchen Sabel of MPCA will review new legislation on septic system compliance, possible pilot projects, and how counties could participate.....We'll review the Fecal Coliform TMDL Implementation Plan before it's finalized; and get the latest word on CREP.
DRAFT FECAL COLIFORM TMDL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT: The draft Southeast Minnesota Fecal Coliform TMDL Implementation Plan, with slight modifications since first being distributed in October 2002, is available for review and comment on the BALMM page of the Upper Mississippi River Stakeholder's Network web site:
http://www.umbsn.org/news/balmm_updates.shtml
Submit comments by August 15, 2003, to the address given at the end of balmm currents, to be considered for the final version which will be prepared by September 1, 2003.
Learn about Wisconsin's New Nonpoint Source Performance Standards...
WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS IMPLEMENTATION OF TMDLS: With EPA's approval of the Southeast Minnesota Regional Fecal Coliform TMDL last October, and Governor Pawlenty's charge to make southeast Minnesota streams swimmable in 10 years, it's time to get even more serious about how to achieve reductions of two-thirds or more in pollutant sources from livestock and human sources. And, with turbidity TMDLs around the corner, and Governor Pawlenty's charge to reduce soil erosion by 2 million tons and sediment delivered to streams by 30 percent, it's time to develop concrete plans for achieving serious reductions in these pollutants as well.
For people who have been wrestling with non point source pollution (NPS) either statewide or in basins or watersheds, trying (again and again) different combinations of education, incentives, and regulation, the advent of TMDLs raises the possibility of creating a more effective context for implementing NPS solutions. However, since we are early in the process of TMDL implemention, it is not yet clear how states, local governments and non profits can work together to incorporate TMDLs effectively to work towards NPS elimination. The purpose of this conference is to explore this question. This conference will present the experience of states, organizations, and individuals who have already actively probed this question through a project, study or by implementing a TMDL. Attendees will gain not only a broad knowledge of the state of TMDL implemention, but also will become empowered with tools they might use to implement TMDLs for their own watershed management plans. Presentations include:
o Wisconsin's Nonpoint Source Performance Standards
o Human Dimension of the TMDL Process
o Implementing Minnesota's Feedlot Rules for Fecal Coliform TMDLs
The cost of attending this 1 1/2 day conference is $45 if you register before August 9; it is $55 after that day. This includes breakfast, lunch for both days, morning and afternoon breaks, and a small reception the evening of August 19 including finger food and jazz entertainment. It does not include dinner.
There will be an extra fee of $10 charged for the field trip on Monday, August 18. This includes lunch and a snack on the bus.
For more information, visit the following web site:
<http://www.csg.org/CSG/Policy/environment/working+at+the+watershed+level/minnesota+conference.htm>
SMALL GROUP NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PLANNING WORKSHOPS:
Funds are available for watershed groups, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, County Feedlot Officers, Extension staff, producer groups and others to organize "hands-on" nutrient and manure plan-writing workshops in their areas for crop and livestock farmers. UM Regional Extension staff, with local partners, lead the workshops where small groups of producers use information from two or three of their own fields to prepare plans. At the completion of the three-hour session, producers understand how these plans are prepared and are able to complete the plan for their entire farm. Eighteen such workshops have been held so far this year with excellent comments. The workshops are a good opportunity even for those producers who wish to employ a crop consultant to finish the plan: an understanding of how application rates are determined is useful for anyone applying manure and fertilizer. This opportunity will be of special interest to livestock producers with operations between 300 and 1,000 animal units, since they are required under state feedlot rules to have a plan on file or have manure applied by a certified operator by January 2005. Kevin Blanchet and Jodi DeJong-Hughes of UM Extension are the project coordinators and workshop presenters. Kevin works with eastern counties, (Kevin.Blanchet@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US <mailto:Kevin.Blanchet@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>), and Jodi with western counties (dejon003@umn.edu <mailto:dejon003@umn.edu>). Contact them soon for more information, including a local organizers packet and brochures.
MONSANTO HOSTS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FIELD DAY JULY 29: The maker of Roundup and other agricultural herbicides, Monsanto, is hosting a Center of Excellence Field Day at the Monsanto Agronomy Center in Mapleton, Minnesota from 10 am to 3 pm July 29. Tour stops include: Update on making conservation tillage work, Corn Rootworm Hybrid Technology, specialty corn marketing opportunities, MACRM Core Conservation Alliances, New conservation programs in the farm bill, and planter demonstrations with John Deere, Case-IH and Kinze equipment. For more information, call Tom Larson at 507-327-8775.
CANNON RIVER FESTIVAL COMING AUG. 2: The Cannon River Watershed Partnership is hosting its second Cannon River Festival in Bridge Square, in downtown Northfield, August 2, 2003. Organizations are invited to staff informational exhibits at the event at no cost ($10 or $20 charged for table and chairs for non-profits and other types of organizations, respectively). The event, which drew more than 400 visitors last year, will be held from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with exhibit setup time at 9:00. Please reserve exhibit space no later than July 21. For more information, contact Joey Robinson at 507-645-7094.
BEARS REPEATING: "We've got two tangible goals for this area (southeast Minnesota). First, rivers in this area, such as the Cannon, Zumbro, Whitewater, Straight, Cedar, Vermillion and Root Rivers - in addition to more than 100 trout streams - should be swimmable within ten years. Second, cropland soil erosion will be reduced by at least two million tons per year and sediment delivered to streams will be cut by 30 percent in the next decade." -- Governor Tim Pawlenty, June 24, 2003
Send comments and items for future editions to:
balmm currents editor: Norman Senjem, MPCA
Phone: 507/280-3592
Fax: 507/280-5513
norman.senjem@pca.state.mn.us