balmm currents
Basin
October 13, 2004
NEXT BALMM MEETING: Wednesday,
October 20, 9-12 am at the
PERENNIAL QUESTION GETS ‘COVERED’ AT BALMM:
At the August BALMM meeting, Steve Morse and Don Wyse, University of Minnesota,
opened our eyes to new vistas in perenniality – a
newly invented word that stops spellcheck cold, but
helps us communicate shorthand about the many possible ways to keep land
covered with vegetation. At the next BALMM meeting Oct. 20, we put a special
focus on cover crops, a new variety called kura clover (what does it
BALMM PARTNERS PREPARE FOUR NEW PROJECT PROPOSALS:
Three
fecal coliform reduction projects for surface water,
plus a groundwater monitoring project, make up this year’s set of new proposals
for federal EPA funding under the 319 program. These projects, which will be
discussed at the Oct. 20 BALMM meeting, are summarized as follows:
This proposal entitled “Building
(Local) Capacity for Community Solutions to Wastewater Problems” is part of a
basin-wide response to the findings of the Regional Total Maximum Daily Load
(TMDL) Study of Fecal Coliform Bacteria Impairments
in the Lower Mississippi River Basin in Minnesota (MPCA, 2002). This TMDL identified excessive levels of
fecal coliform bacteria in the streams of the
The proposed project will
consolidate and build on the achievements of previous efforts by developing
ongoing local capacity to effectively manage rural sewage treatment. If funded, this proposal will support the
hiring of two facilitators who will be responsible for education and technical
assistance. These facilitators, along
with
First, the project will work with unsewered communities to conduct an initial needs
assessment. This helps communities
determine local regulations, geographic conditions, lot sizes, status of
current ISTS, well locations and depths, and potential individual or cluster
onsite solutions. The assessment is
necessary in order to establish which direction the community will proceed
with: publicly funded community collection and treatment, privately funded
replacement of ISTS, or a combination of both.
Then, based on the findings of the
initial needs assessment, project facilitators will help communities overcome
initial hurdles by providing small cost-share grants to complete necessary
inventories and feasibility studies.
These studies are necessary to initiate the upgrade process and are
often a barrier for communities that are aware of significant wastewater issues
but do not have staff or resources to begin such a detailed process. They also allow a community to consider a
variety of creative approaches to solving its treatment problems. Once these hurdles are overcome, communities
will be in a position to compete for more substantial funding to design and
construct the treatment system that best suits their community.
Requested funding for the project
would implement the following objectives:
The project will be carried out by a partnership of
six counties in the
Prairie Creek Watershed Improvement Project (Submitted by
the Cannon River Watershed Partnership) The
Prairie Creek watershed includes an area of approximately 50,952 acres; the
majority of its acreage (70%) lies in
Two diagnostic studies have
addressed the fecal coliform impairment in the
Prairie Creek watershed: Regional Total
Maximum Daily Load of Fecal Coliform Bacteria
Impairments in the Lower Mississippi River Basin in Minnesota (completed by
the MPCA in 2002), and Prairie Creek
Minnesota Total Maximum Daily Load (drafted by Tetra Tech EM, Inc. in
2002). Both of these studies suggested
that livestock manure – particularly that applied to cropland – is a primary
source of pathogen loading to Prairie Creek: “Factors involving the
broadcasting of manure onto land with moderate to steeper slopes in closer
proximity to drainage channels are important to bacterial loading in this
watershed (MPCA Regional TMDL, page 90).”
Both documents suggest manure management and buffer strips as primary
means of addressing Prairie Creek’s fecal coliform
impairment: “…techniques include extended storage and composting of manure,
incorporation of surface-applied manure, and field buffers (MPCA Regional TMDL,
page 91).” Thus, these two reports provide
the diagnostic basis for this proposed project, which would address the entire
Prairie Creek watershed. Additionally,
the Watershed Restoration Action
Strategy: Fecal Coliform Bacteria Impairment in
the Lower Mississippi River Basin of Southeast Minnesota was used as a guidance
document for these suggested implementation strategies, as the regional
approach to implementation is well underway with numerous complementary
collaborations.
Local efforts to install
conservation measures are moving in the right direction. However, limitations in staff time and
resources available to address this impairment limit the effectiveness of some
programs. Accordingly, this project will
accelerate current efforts to reduce pathogen loading to Prairie Creek. Staff time dedicated specifically to this
watershed, and some new, personalized approaches, will result in an effort that
will complement the work of Rice and Goodhue County Soil and Water Conservation
Districts (SWCDs) and ultimately achieve greater
participation in critical conservation programs.
Proposal. Cannon River Watershed
Partnership (CRWP), Rice and Goodhue County SWCDs
will work to reduce fecal coliform concentrations in
the Prairie Creek watershed by 40% by 2012.
Within this 3-year project period, fecal coliform
bacteria will be reduced by up to 20% in priority areas. This collaborative
effort will approach the reduction of pathogen pollution by the following
means: (1) increased participation in continuous CRP (buffer strips and farmed
wetlands), (2) more and better manure management, (3) more and better residue
management. Additionally, we are
proposing to hybridize this implementation effort with an investigation of the
turbidity impairment in the watershed; this problem likely shares the same delivery
mechanisms as those of the pathogen problem – thus, further understanding of
its nature would be useful in addressing both impairments.
Program Element Summary:
Rice and Goodhue Soil and
Water Conservation Districts (primary, existing efforts):
·
Continue to promote, administer and
provide technical assistance for existing conservation programs.
Cannon River Watershed
Partnership (complementary, new efforts):
·
Develop a comprehensive GIS for the
entire watershed, including digitization of conservation practices.
·
Complete and digitize a survey of stream
characteristics and the immediate riparian area.
·
Develop individualized information
packets for landowners in the watershed, that include letters of encouragement
from LGUs and air photos of property with CRP
eligible lands and financial options highlighted (this personalized
encouragement to participate in CRP has been highly successful in
·
Conduct outreach with landowners and
elected officials regarding agricultural best management practices (including
residue and manure management) using both mass media and targeted approaches.
·
Promote use of CRWP’s
manure trailer scales in manure management planning.
·
Examine the stream’s turbidity impairment
and potential relationships between pathogen delivery/presence and sediment
loading and/or resuspension.
Perform follow-up monitoring
of fecal coliform bacteria; promote CSMP
participation in the watershed
South Branch
Whitewater Watershed - Bacteria Reduction Project
(Submitted by the
Whitewater Watershed Project)
The South Branch of the
Whitewater River Watershed is located in Winona and Olmsted counties, in
70% of the urban population
of the Whitewater Watershed is in the South Branch, and includes the rapidly
growing cities of
The lower third of the South
Branch of the
The South Branch of the
Through this bacteria
reduction project, the project will utilize education, technical assistance and
financial assistance to reduce bacteria levels in the South Branch of the
We will implement our goals
and objectives within the South Branch subwatershed
utilizing existing partnerships and financial resources available in the watershed,
coupled with additional resources, as outlined in this proposal, in a targeted
effort to reduce coliform bacteria levels in the
river system. Work on this project will
be prepared to begin in June 2005.
Volunteer Nitrate Monitoring Network in Targeted Areas
– a Pilot Project
319 Demonstration Project (submitted by the
This proposal entitled,
“Volunteer Nitrate Monitoring Network in Targeted Areas – a Pilot Project” is
designed to be a nine-county effort to develop and test the concept of a
cost-effective, locally driven, and sustainable means of obtaining long-term
trend data for nitrate occurrence in private drinking water supplies. In each
county, approximately 50 - 150 homeowners will be selected to participate in a
monitoring design developed by hydrologists from the MN Departments of Health
(MDH) and Agriculture (MDA) in cooperation with county water resource
managers. Homeowners will be an integral
part of the proposed project design and will be trained to sample for nitrates
and ship their water samples to specified county locations. The concept would build upon the existing
framework of the highly successful Nitrate Well Testing Program that has been
funded by 319 funds since 1999. Through the Nitrate Well Testing program, many
county cooperators have become trained in using the nitrate testing equipment
and experienced in working with homeowners on water quality issues. County
staff will conduct the nitrate analysis using this existing instrumentation.
In southeastern
Although nitrates are a
proven health risk,
Furthermore, this proposed
regional project would give the ground water-vulnerable counties of
southeastern
This proposed project
includes five major elements:
1)
Based on analysis of existing data, MDH,
MDA, and county staff will design a scientifically defensible ground water
monitoring network for each county;
2)
Each county will hire a County Well
Network Coordinator to establish a long-term nitrate sampling network;
3)
The Network Coordinator will visit each
potential home to conduct a brief site inspection, administer a homeowner
survey of drinking water attitudes and practices, and train the homeowner on
the proper way to collect, preserve and ship the water samples;
4)
Based on homeowner and staff feedback,
evaluate the feasibility of this innovative approach for nitrate data
collection and its applicability to other areas of the state; and
5)
Prepare county staff for transition to
maintaining a low-cost well monitoring network with existing county resources.
This project will be carried
out by a partnership of nine member counties of the SE MN Water Resources Board
in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota
Department of Health.
BEARS REPEATING: "Out of that raging debate, with
leadership, comes consensus" -- Ross Perot, Oct 15, 1992 presidential
debate
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