balmm currents
Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
January 14, 2002



SETTING THE AGENDA FOR 2002: That will be a main topic of discussion at the
next BALMM meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 9-12 at MPCA-Rochester. Discussion
of a potential Conservation Reserve Enhancement Project (CREP) will loom
large in this discussion, as will the implementation of new grants that may
be awarded for wastewater treatment for individual residences and unsewered
areas, and the promotion of rotational grazing. With the imminent
publication of new conservation tillage guidelines from the University of
Minnesota for the basin, stepped up action implementing the conservation
tillage strategy also is in the offing. Add to this an increased interest in
urban stormwater runoff problems and the need to develop strategies for
nutrient reduction next fall as part of the Hypoxia Action Strategy, and the
plate appears to be full to overflowing. Better than the alternative, as
they say...

BALMM BUFFER INITIATIVE MOVING AHEAD
The BALMM Landscape Buffer Initiative is shifting into overdrive with the
goal of submitting a grant application for the Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program (CREP) early this year. At a meeting in Preston early
last week, BALMM discussed its draft initiative with area legislators, BWSR
managers, Farm Service Agency staff and chair Elton Redalen, among others.
The BALMM buffer committee is working to shape a final proposal, while area
legislators are consulting with the Board of Water and Soil Resources, BALMM
representatives, and others to work out details.

Local political support is materializing quickly. For example, at its
January 14 meeting, the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board voted to
support the efforts of BALMM to submit a CREP application.

The proposal includes much more than riparian buffer strips - which is why
it's called a landscape buffer initiative. The draft Landscape Buffer
Initiative calls for the placement of multifunctional vegetated buffers in
four types of strategic locations on the landscape to reduce runoff, soil
erosion and water contamination while providing high quality wildlife
habitat and abatement of peak stream flows. These include:
* Highly Erodible Land: Use contour buffers and critical area
seedings to protect the region's most erosive fields and sensitive
cold-water trout streams and increase wildlife habitat, mainly in karst
topography to the east. According to the National Resources Inventory of
1997, an estimated 60,000 acres are eroding at four times the replacement
great (T) or more, and an additional 150,000 acres are eroding at 2T to 4T.
These are the acres that would benefit from contour grass strips and
critical area seedings of grass or trees.
* Buffers for Groundwater Protection: The Landscape Buffer Initiative
is developing acreage need estimates for buffers to protect sinkholes,
wellhead protection areas and focused groundwater recharge zones such as the
Decorah Shale outcroppings.
* Riparian Zones -- The initiative would promote 100-foot vegetated
buffers, especially in counties where the majority of stream miles are
unprotected. This includes five counties in the western basin. However,
land throughout the basin would potentially be eligible. This practice will
be promoted in combination with upland conservation practices for maximum
effectiveness.
* Wetland Restoration. The drainage, cultivation and development of
land have combined to greatly increase the speed of runoff and the peak
flows of streams following significant snow melt and rainfall events. The
restoration of wetlands in strategic locations can begin to reverse these
adverse effects. Opportunities are greatest in the western basin, while more
limited opportunities exist in the river valleys and elsewhere in the karst
region. The NRCS will be requested to evaluate how wetland restoration can
be targeted to maximize reductions in peak streams flows.

The initiative will include a request for additional technical assistance
required to implement these practices within a 5-7 year period. The BALMM
Landscape Buffer committee still is finalizing how many acres to request in
each of these categories. Details will be shared after the CREP proposal
has been finalized.

BMPs OFFER MULTIPLE BENEFITS, STUDY SHOWS: The results of a study of two
Minnesota watersheds over two years shows that substantial water quality and
economic benefits could result from the widespread adoption of basic
agricultural best management practices. The study, released in November
2001, involved several University of Minnesota departments in modeling the
Chippewa River watershed in the Minnesota River Basin and Wells Creek
watershed in southeastern Minnesota. The Minnesota DNR, Minnesota State
University, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Iowa State
University also were involved, while the Land Stewardship Project directed
the project.

U of M researchers used the ADAPT model to estimate how the widespread
adoption of three different land-use practice scenarios would affect water
quality.
* The "basic" scenario involved adoption of three types of BMPs:
conservation tillage, 100-foot buffers along streams, and using University
of Minnesota recommended nutrient applications on all farmland. This
scenario would reduce sediment delivered to streams by 31%, nitrogen by 37%,
lethal fish events by 57%, water runoff by 24%, and downstream cleanup costs
from sediment by 31%.
* The next scenario, "expanded community and economic diversity,"
included increased crop diversity and a shift to a five-year rotation. One
model shifted pasture lands to intensive rotational grazing, and introduces
wetland restoration in appropriate areas. In addition, 100-foot buffers
along streams are used. This scenario approximately doubles the magnitude of
pollutant reductions achieved with the prior scenario: sediment reduction is
56%, nitrogen reduction is 63%, lethal fish events decrease by 72%, water
runoff is reduced by 24%, and downstream cleanup costs from sediment are
decreased by 56%.
* The ultimate scenario is managed year-round cover. Common land uses
include management-intensive rotational grazing, cover cropping, and land
managed for hunting preserves. Prairie restorations and expanded 300-foot
riparian buffers also are used. The ADAPT model predicts that application of
this scenario would reduce sediment by 84%, nitrogen by 74%, lethal fish
events by 98%, water runoff by 35%, and downstream cleanup costs from
sediment by 84%.

These reductions are significantly greater than those predicted from
application of the same scenarios in the Chippewa River Watershed Study
Area. This could reflect a greater responsiveness, or greater potential for
restoration, in the Wells Creek Watershed, which is significantly less
altered and retains more landscape diversity than the Chippewa River
Watershed, points out Larry Gates of the Department of Natural Resources,
Rochester.

To view the entire Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Report, log onto
http://mail.smumn.edu:81/redirect?http://www.landstewardshipproject.org. For information on purchasing a paper copy
of the report, call 651-653-0618.

PROJECT NEMO MAKING THE ROUNDS: Rice County SWCD Supervisor Clarence
Anderson and several SWCD managers were so impressed by a presentation on
Project NEMO that they invited the presenter, Jay Michels, of the Minnesota
Erosion Control Association, to come to Rochester to do it over again for
local SWCDs. Jay was also invited to make the presentation to the Southeast
Minnesota Water Resources Board on Monday. It seems as though this "NEMO"
project is becoming a major way of implementing the BALMM strategy for Urban
Residential Land Management.

NEMO stands for Nonpoint Source Pollution Education for Municipal Officials.
The project is exploring the use of advanced technologies, such as GIS,
remote sensing and the Internet, to help municipal officials understand the
connection between land use and water quality.

The potential use of NEMO in southeastern Minnesota will be discussed at the
next BALMM meeting. For more information, contace Jay Michels at
651-351-0629 or email jmichels@skypoint.com.



URBAN STORMWATER - PHASE II COMING SOON: Barb Huberty of the City of
Rochester described opportunities for watershed-based collaboration in a
presentation on Stormwater Phase II requirements before the Southeast
Minnesota Water Resources Board today. She explained that National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permits for stormwater runoff soon will be
required for the following listed cities and counties in southeastern
Minnesota: Faribault and Northfield in Rice County, the City of Rochester,
Rochester Township and Cascade Township and Olmsted County, City of Winona
in Winona County, Austin in Mower County, the City of La Crescent and La
Crescent Township and Houston County. The permitting program will apply to
small cities and urbanizing areas, certain industries and construction sites
greater than one acre. Six minimum control measures of the permit include:
public education and outreach; public participation and involvement; illicit
discharge detection and elimination; construction of site runoff controls;
pest-construction site management; and pollution prevention and good
housekeeping. The Draft municipal general permit is being prepared by MPCA
and will be available in April 2002. Approval by EPA and issuance of final
general permits is scheduled to happen by December 2002. Permit applications
from listed cities and counties will be due Mar4ch 8, 2003. The Phase II
permiting process presents a unique opportunity to bridge urban and rural
watershed protection initiatives, balance jurisdictional accountability and
liability for permit compliance with the non-jurisdictional nature of
watershed protection, and to introduce the Southeast Minnesota Water
Resources Board regional water management approach to a new set of players,
said Huberty. Program requirements can be viewed at:
http://mail.smumn.edu:81/redirect?http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/swphase2.cfm?program_id=6


WORKSHOP PLANNED FOR FEEDLOT PROJECT: This Thursday, Jan. 17, a workshop
will be held at Peoples Cooperative in Rochester (Hwy 14 East) for those
implementing the 319 Targeted Feedlot Runoff Reduction Project, a BALMM
initiative. The workshop will focus mainly on implementing the Open Lot
Agreement. A session on marketing includes "Getting Your Foot in the Door"
and "Closing the Deal". Another session covers the mechanics of the Open Lot
Agreement - site evaluation, dealing with special protection areas, and the
phasing in of corrective measures. For more information, contact Bea
Hoffmann at 507- 457-5223.

NEXT BALMM MEETING: Wednesday, 9-12 am, Jan. 16, 2002, Rochester MPCA
office.

GREATER BLUFFLANDS FORUM: A forum involving interested parties from the
private and public sector, at the local, state, regional and federal levels,
will take place at the Midway Hotel in La Crosse this Thursday and Friday,
noon to noon. The purpose is to plan on ongoing discussion of environmental
issues common to the Greater Blufflands region, which includes the Driftless
Region plus headwaters area of the major Mississippi tributaries in
southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, northwest Illinois and southwest
Wisconsin.
In addition to providing a framework for sharing information and
establishing communication links, the Forum could help to develop and
communicate common goals for the region, and inform the many Upper
Mississippi River Basin planning processes that are getting underway by the
US Army Corps of Engineers (comprehensive basin planning), US Environmental
Protection Agency (hypoxia action plan implementation); and the US Fish &
Wildlife Service (comprehensive refuge planning). This would help to ensure
that the needs and opportunities of this region, the "heart of the Upper
Mississippi River Basin," are integrated into plans to protect and restore
the basin.

CANNON RIVER WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT 2002: The focus of this annual
conference, scheduled for Feb. 21, 8:30 to 4:00 pm, is "Wading Through the
Wetlands." Presentations and discussions will focus on Minnesota's Wetland
Conservation Act (WCA), including WCA's history and the perspective of
environmental engineers and the county staff who coordinate WCA. The day
will conclude with a look toward the future and the role of wetlands in
future development. For more information, contact Patrick Ganey at
507-645-7094.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The excellent is new forever." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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