balmm currents
Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
November 15, 2002
NEXT BALMM MEETING - November 20, 9-12 am, Rochester MPCA.
Highlights of the next BALMM meeting include: an update on the University of
Minnesota's Karst Campaign, including a discussion of which items are likely
to receive emphasis and funding; an update on the implementation of the
Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Nitrogen BMP Insurance Project; Opportunities
for Collaboration with the Land Stewardship Project, from Caroline van Schaik;
Farm Bill opportunities for BALMM, a discussion led by Lora Friest, the new
SWCD Manager from Fillmore County (formerly coordinator of Upper Iowa Watershed
project, Postville, Ia); and a followup discussion from next Monday's Water
Quality Issues Orientation for Elected Officials.
WATER QUALITY ISSUES ORIENTATION SET FOR MONDAY, NOV. 18: It's a BALMM first - the "Water Quality Issues Orientation for Elected Officials in Southeast Minnesota." BALMM has been in business about three years. Much has been accomplished, more is in the works. But not everybody knows who we are and what we do - and what we need to accomplish our near term goals. In particular, we're in the final stages of polishing our CREP application for 99,500 acres in Southeast Minnesota, by far our most ambitious project to date. We're ramping up efforts to address fecal coliform sources such as feedlots, poorly functioning septic systems, and unsewered areas. It's time we made a serious, deliberate attempt to explain to elected officials how BALMM works, the objectives we are working to achieve, and the resources needed to achieve them. So we're inviting elected officials from all levels - township, county/SWCD, state and federal representatives - to spend November 18 getting oriented to BALMM, the potential and threats to water resources in the area, budget constraints facing state agencies (all this in the morning), and then choosing from among several concurrent workshops that provide an orientation to feedlots, septic systems, stormwater, wellhead protection and other state/county programs that we work through to make progress in land use and waste treatment. It's at the Heintz Center in Rochester, starting at 10:00 am, following the monthly meeting of the SE Minnesota Water Resources Board.
<<Water Quality Issues Orientation for Elected Officials>>
BRIETZKE HIRED FOR BMP INSURANCE PROJECT: Paul Brietzke was recently hired to
lead the educational efforts associated with a grant from the USDA Risk Management
Agency. For the past 6 years, Paul has been an independent agronomist specializing
in developing nutrient management plans for dairy farmers in southeast Minnesota.
He also served as an Outreach Coordinator for the Whitewater River Watershed
Project.
During the past summer, Minnesota Department of Agriculture staff authored and successfully obtained the grant to launch an educational campaign on Nutrient Insurance in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. This innovative insurance program has potential to assist farmers in adopting more conservative nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer rates by minimizing many of the financial risks incurred during the learning process. These three states, along with Pennsylvania, will serve as pilot states for the next 3-4 years. Grant funds and the coordinator position will be administered by the Hiawatha Valley Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) which is located in Rochester.
Paul will work closely with an Advisory Board represented by
a large number of cooperators including the following:
*
Four state agricultural agencies (Iowa Department of Natural Resources, WI DNR,
WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and the MN Department
of Agriculture);
*
National Crop Insurance Services (Overland, Kansas);
*
Agricultural Conservation Innovation Center (Charleston, South Carolina);
*
Agren, Inc (Carroll, IA) and Agflex (Madison, WI);
*
Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota;
*
Discovery Farms and the University of Wisconsin;
*
Minnesota Corn Growers Association; and
*
USDA National Soil Tilth Laboratories.
The next Advisory Board Meeting will be held in La Crosse, WI on November 4. We are currently organizing numerous presentations at various winter agricultural conferences across the three states.
Paul can be reached by e-mail at paul@fflax.net. We look forward to having Paul present at an upcoming Water Quality Seminar this winter so MDA staff can learn more about this unique program. For more information on the Nutrient Insurance program, please call Bruce Montgomery (7-7178) or Brian Williams (507-665-6806).
BALMM DOCUMENTS POSTED ON MPCA WEB SITE: The BALMM Basin Plan Scoping Document and 4-page flyer can be viewed at the following MPCA web site:
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/index.html
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Things are more like they are now than they ever were before." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952
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