Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
Jan. 16, 2001

FEEDLOT GRANT SELECTED FOR FUNDING: A project designed to implement a major
part of the BALMM feedlot strategy has been selected for full funding by the
MPCA, after having been reviewed along with 34 other grant applications in
the "implementation" category. The project, called the Targeted Feedlot
Runoff Reduction Project for the Lower Mississippi River Basin," will use
the $586,080 grant from the Clean Water Act Section 319 non-point source
program to help eight participating counties to implement new provisions of
state feedlot rules. The eight counties include Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue,
Houston, Olmsted, Rice, Wabasha and Winona. The grant thereby addresses an
important source of fecal coliform bacteria and excess nutrients in surface
and ground water within the basin.
The project focuses on the Open Lot Agreement as well as manure management
planning. The Open Lot Agreement, a new feature of state feedlot rules,
applies to registered feedlots of less than 300 animal units. Operators of
eligible feedlots who sign up for the Open Lot Agreement will have until
October 2005 to implement economical corrective measures that result in a
substantial reduction in runoff, and until October 2010 to come into full
compliance with feedlot runoff requirements.

The SE Minnesota Water Resources Board applied for the grant. It will be
used to fund part-time staff to work in each of the eight participating
counties to provide logistical and technical support to implement the Open
Lot Agreement and assist with manure management planning. It also funds two
full-time feedlot technicians for the 8-county area and provides individual
counties with funds to be used for contracting services to assist in feedlot
design. The SE Minnesota SWCD Technical Assistance Joint Powers Board will
receive funds to add two feedlot technicians to its current staff of two
feedlot engineers. University of Minnesota Extension will provide training
on manure management and related topics to the part-time assistants working
in the counties who are funded by the grant.

Like all other 319 projects that were selected for funding, this feedlot
grant has been submitted to the EPA for final approval, and is subject to a
final eligibility check for specific expenses. It will be several months
before funds are available.

KARST EXHIBIT UNVEILED: The Grand Opening of the new exhibit, "Karst-a
Special Landscape That Needs Special Care" was held on January 8 at Eagle
Bluff Environmental Center. Approximately 90 people attended the event and
heard Dr. Calvin Alexander's presentation, "Karst is a State of Mind",
viewed the exhibit produced by the Science Museum of Minnesota and saw
demonstrations of the karst learning trunks. Follow-up karst workshops
for educators will be held on the following dates:

 Hormel Nature Center, Austin
Tuesday, February 27, 2001
(respond by February 20)
contact 507-437-7519 or jchnatur@smig.net

 River Bend Nature Center, Faribault
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
(respond by March 7)
contact 507-332-7151 or blackmer@rbnc.org

 Whitewater State Park, Elba
Friday, April 20, 2001
(respond by April 10)
contact 507-932-3007 or dave.palmquist@dnr.state.mn.us

The exhibit is scheduled to appear at the following locations:

Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Lanesboro: Jan.
8 - Feb 25
Hormel Nature Center, Austin: February 27 - March 8
River Bend Nature Center, Faribault: March 12 - 25
(tentative)
Whitewater State Park, Elba: March 26 - May 30
Niagara Cave, Harmony: June 1 - July 31

To reserve the exhibit, contact Bea Hoffmann at 507-457-5223 or
bhoffmann@vax2.winona.msus.edu

RIVER-FRIENDLY FARMER WEBSITE: Learn all about the updated criteria of the
River-Friendly Farmer program, including a new, convenient application form
that can be completed online, at the University of Minnesota's new web site:
www.extension.umn.edu/specializations/cropsystems/AG737.html

WATER RESOURCES BOARD HOLDS ELECTIONS, VOTES TO COORDINATE SEVERAL BALMM
STRATEGIES: The Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board at its Jan. 8
meeting elected Dick Cummings, Mower County Commissioner, as chairman for
2001. Fillmore County Commissioner Duane Bakke was elected vice-chairman.
In addition, the WRB voted to maintain an active role in the BALMM and in
particular, provide coordination for the following BALMM Scoping Document
implementation strategies:
* Coordinate county inventory of quarries and lead a discussion of how
to better coordinate permitting processes among counties and state agencies
as stated in the "Mining Activities Management" strategy.
* Provide opportunities for education in urban and residential growth
as it relates to stormwater and other water quality issues;
* Further the goals in the Aquifer Protection Strategy through
continued implementation of Wellhead Protection technical work and
education, continued karst education, and mapping and identifying of
sensitive ground water areas.
In addition, the WRB agreed to coordinate implementation of the Targeted
Feedlot Runoff Reduction Project referred to above.

NEW MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIRECTOR FOR BOUNDARY COMMISSION
Steven Delapp, Chairman of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission,
announced today the appointment of Robin Jaeckle Grawe of Winona, Minnesota,
to the position of Mississippi Valley Director. The Commission is a
bi-state, 10-member advisory commission which makes recommendations to its
two states concerning the St. Croix and Mississippi River valleys along
their mutual boundary and assists the states in participating in federal
programs.

Grawe will be responsible for staffing the Commission's Mississippi River
Regional Committee, for organizing public meetings, for representing the
Commission on a variety of public and private partnerships, and for working
with elected and appointed government officials to carry out the work
program of the Commission.

The proposed work program for 2001 includes facilitating public involvement
in a variety of programs and proposals, including the Endangered Species Act
consultation on mussel jeopardy, habitat rehabilitation and pool management,
Lock & Dam 3 upgrades, Pools 5 & 8 drawdowns, the Upper Mississippi Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan, and the Upper Mississippi-Illinois Waterway
Navigation Study.

Grawe was a Commissioner from 1992 until last August, appointed by Gov. Arne
Carlson. She served twice as Chair of the Commission and three times as
Chair of the Mississippi River Regional Committee. As a Commissioner, her
primary concerns were keeping river communities informed of river issues,
encouraging broad-based public input into river matters, and raising
awareness of the persistent problem of sediment build-up in the Upper
Mississippi River.

A graduate of Carleton College with an MA from Winona State University,
Grawe for several years taught part-time in the English department at WSU.
She has also served as an editor and a consultant in writing, critical
thinking, and humor.

To make the Commission more accessible to citizens along the Mississippi,
Grawe will be working out of Winona, Minnesota, in coordination with the
Commission's Hudson, Wisconsin office. For further information contact
Executive Director, Buck Malick at (715) 386-9444 or Robin Grawe at
507-454-2066.

STORMWATER BMP INFORMATION: To get BMP information by Tom Schueler, go to
the Center for Watershed Protection's web site at http://www.cwp.org and the
Metropolitan Washington
(DC) Council of Government's list of publications at
http://www.mwcog.org/publist.html#WATER%20RESOURCES. You will find
publications by Schueler and others at the Stormwater Manager's Resource
Center at http://www.stormwatercenter.net/.

The state of Maryland is a leader in stormwater management - get more info
on their program at
http://www.mde.state.md.us/environment/wma/stormwatermanual/.

Don't forget to tap into the USEPA - you can start at
http://www.epa.gov/owm/sw/bmps/ to find EPA documents and links to other
info sources, such as the National Stormwater BMP Database at
http://www.bmpdatabase.org/.

NUTRIENT CRITERIA--In the January 9 Federal Register, EPA announced the
availability of Ecoregional Nutrient Criteria Documents for lakes and
reservoirs in 8 ecoregions, for rivers and streams in 8 ecoregions, and for
wetlands in one ecoregion. Each document presents recommended criteria for
causal parameters (total phosphorus and total nitrogen) and response
variables (chlorophyll a and some form of turbidity). EPA expects that
states and tribes will use these ecoregional nutrient criteria as a starting
point to identify more precise numeric levels for nutrients needed to
protect aquatic life and recreational or other uses on a site-specific or
subregion-specific basis. EPA anticipates that more precise numerical
levels will be developed on a smaller geographic scale than the ecoregional
values presented in the nutrient water quality criteria documents. States
and tribes may also develop criteria using other scientifically defensible
methods and appropriate water quality data or simply adopt EPA's recommended
water quality criteria in their water quality standards in the absence of
any better data. States and tribes are expected to complete a plan for
developing and adopting nutrient criteria by the end of 2001 and to adopt or
revise numeric nutrient criteria into state and tribal water quality
standards by 2004. The Federal Register notice indicates that the
Ecoregional Nutrient Criteria documents are available at
http://www.epa.gov/ost/standards/nutrient.html. However, as of this Update
publication, they do not yet appear to be posted. - from UMRBA Update.


STUDENT RESEARCHERS AVAILABLE TO HELP MINNESOTA
COMMUNITIES: The Community Assistantship Program (CAP) matches communities
in Greater Minnesota with talented students who can provide the research
assistance they need. Here's how it works: Community groups or
organizations define a research issue, submit an application, and if
accepted, are matched with a qualified student to carry out the research.
The community group directs the student to make sure the work fulfills their
needs and interests, and in most cases, the CAP Program and its partners
cover the costs of the student. FEBRUARY 1, 2001 is the DEADLINE for groups
to apply for a student for SUMMER 2001 (June - August) or FALL 2001.
The CAP Application form is available on the web at
http://www1.umn.edu/cura/CAPApplication.html or by contacting Jan
Joannides, CAP Coordinator, at 612/251-7304 e-mail: joann001@umn.edu.
the application. Deadline is Feb. 1, 2001 for summer projects or July 1 for
fall projects.

SOIL PHOSPHORUS PROJECT: National Soil Phosphorus Benchmark Project (NSPBP)
NRCS, USDA's Agricultural Research Service, and Cooperative
State Research, Education, and Extension Service, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, a number of universities, and other researchers have
formed the NSPBP in order to coordinate efforts and seek solutions to
phosphorus runoff
problems. The objectives of the project include determining threshold soil
phosphorus levels for benchmark soils, developing a phosphorus index to
identify and rank site vulnerability to phosphorus loss at field and
watershed
scales that is easily implemented over the range of landscape settings of
the U.S., and integrating the phosphorus threshold and index information
into a
comprehensive nutrient management planning software package.
Field sites located on manured benchmark soils will be used to assess these
runoff losses. Laboratory studies of suitable methods for characterizing
these phosphorus losses and ways of relating this research to soil surveys,
as well
as other data are underway at the NRCS National Soil Survey Center.
Information from these studies will be used to support field needs in
support of comprehensive nutrient management planning. Contact Charles
Lander, NRCS Ecological Sciences Division, at 202-690-0249 or
<charles.lander@usda.gov>;
Dewayne Mays, NRCS National Soil Survey Center, at 402-437-
5138 or <Dewayne.Mays@usda.gov>; and Jerry Lemunyon, NRCS
South Central Region, at 817-509-321 or
<jlemunyo@ftw.nrcs.usda.gov>.

GRANTS AVAILABLE THROUGH DNR: The Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources is now accepting applications for the Conservation
Partners and Community Environmental Partners Grant Programs. Conservation
Partners grants of up to $20,000 will be made to encourage the enhancement
of fish, wildlife, and native plant habitats and surveys of fish and
wildlife directly related to specific habitat improvement projects.
Environmental Partners Grants of up to $20,000 will be made to encourage
environmental service projects and environmental education activities
through public and private partnerships. Both grant programs require a
dollar for dollar non-state match.

Grant applications are due by March 31, 2001. These programs are
administered by the six DNR regions. Fact sheets, regional contact
information, and application forms can be downloaded from:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/omb/financial_assistance/habitat.html


CANNON RIVER WATERSHED PARTNERSHIP SEEKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: The Cannon
River Watershed Partnership is seeking a full-time Executive Director,
offering a salary of $38,000 - $42,000 / year. Close date for applications
is Wednesday, January 31, 2001. The Executive Director will be responsible
for providing leadership and supervision for all activities of the Cannon
River Watershed Partnership. He/she will represent the CRWP membership on
environmental issues within the watershed as well as the region. He/she
will also be responsible for the development, funding, and implementation of
programs of the organization. Specific tasks include fundraising,
management, and administration.
To apply (or to request more information) send cover letter, resume, and
references via mail, fax, or e-mail to: PO Box 501, Faribault, MN 55021.
Phone 507-332-0488 Fax: 507-332-0513
email: crwp@means.net


COMING EVENTS:
BALMM Monthly Meeting: Jan 17, 9-12, MPCA-Rochester. Agenda includes
continued discussion of strategy implementation priorities for 2001 and
agency leadership roles with respect to strategies.

Environmental Education Workshop: January 29, 2001, 9:00 - 12:00
MPCA Office. Have you ever wondered if your environmental education (EE)
program is fair, accurate, action-oriented, instructionally sound, and
useable? This workshop will introduce you to the Environmental
Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence, a tool that you can
use to evaluate your EE program. The guidelines, published by the
North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE).
are a set of recommendations to evaluate, develop and select
environmental education materials, including programs, curriculums,
presentations, etc. The guidelines aim to help non-formal EE providers
produce high quality programs and provide a tool to evaluate the wide
array of available environmental education materials. Come prepared
with your own program, presentation, demonstration, curriculum,
and/or lesson to learn and practice using this tool.
RSVP is necessary so appropriate materials will be ordered and available
Please respond by January 25, as space will be limited. A confirmation
will be emailed to you. Feel free to forward this invitation to anyone
who may be interested. Please RSVP to Melanie Miland 507-285-7151 or
Su Beran 507-692-2020.

Watershed Workshop, Feb. 28 - Mar. 1, University Center-Rochester. Called
"Water Quality in the Lower Mississippi River Basin," this workshop will
help attendees develop a broader technical understanding of water quality
including physical, chemical and biological parameters. It will also provide
a regional forum for discussion, debate, and critique of water quality and
watershed improvement efforts occurring in the Lower Mississippi River
Basin. Just respond to this e-mail to request registration information.

Low-Impact Development Workshop, March 14-15, Royal Cliff Conference Center,
Eagan, MN. Features Neil Weinstein of the Low Impact Development
Center <http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/>
Sponsored by: Minnesota Erosion Control Association, Minnesota Land Trust,
Dakota County SWCD and Friends of the Mississippi River
Funded by: LCMR and Metropolitan Council
Sessions include: Managing growth in a water-rich region;
The Big Picture: The Mississippi River and local land-use planning;
Conservation site design: Meeting multiple objectives;
Designing and modeling low impact development systems;
Addressing the policy implications of low impact development.

ABOUT BALMM: A locally led alliance of land and water resource agencies has
formed in order to coordinate efforts to protect and improve water quality
in the Lower Mississippi River Basin. The Basin Alliance for the Lower
Mississippi in Minnesota (BALMM) covers both the Lower Mississippi and Cedar
River Basins, and includes a wide range of local, state and federal resource
agencies. Those involved in forming the alliance include Soil and Water
Conservation District managers, county water planners and regional staff of
the Board of Soil and Water Resources, Pollution Control Agency, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, Department of Natural Resources,
Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission, the Southeastern Minnesota
Water Resources Board, the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, and others.
BALMM meetings are open to all interested individuals and organizations. See
"Coming Events" for details.

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