balmm currents   

Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota

September 16, 2002

 

 

 

NEXT BALMM MEETING - Sept. 18, 9-12 am, Rochester MPCA. Agenda includes: Nitrate-Nitrogen Probability Mapping; Nitrogen Use on Southeast Minnesota Dairy Farms; Fecal Coliform TMDL 319 implementation project proposals; Karst Campaign Update; and Basin Summit Planning.

 

RICE COUNTY RESOLVES TO CUT EROSION: (from August 8  Agri-News) Taking a page out of the BALMM Basin Plan Scoping Document  (page 98), locally elected leaders in Rice County recently passed a resolution encouraging "soybean producers to eliminate the unnecessary fall tillage of soybean stubble in Rice County." The Rice County Board of Commissioners, Rice Soil and Water Conservation District Board, The Rice County Farm Service Agency County Office Committee and the Rice County Extension Committee all voted to pass the resolution to show public support for curtailing a practice that often is agronomically unnecessary and environmentally harmful. Tom Coffman, district conservationist with the NRCS in Rice County, was quoted in a recent Agri-News article on the resolution.  He noted that soybean acreage has soared 35 percent in the county over the past five years, displacing pastures, hay and small grains as livestock numbers have decreased. It is estimated that 50 percent of soybean acreage is tilled in the fall, according to the annual Rice County Tillage Transect Survey. Tillage buries soybean residue, leaving the soil subject to erosion, which has been severe in recent years. 

 

Clarence Anderson is Rice County SWCD supervisor and director of Area 7 SWCDs, which covers an 11-county area of Southeast Minnesota. Anderson is suggesting that each SWCD in the area consider passing resolutions encouraging farmers to avoid fall tillage of soybean stubble. The idea originally came from Winnishiek County in Northeast Iowa, where a county ordinance was used as a platform for a concerted campaign to reduce fall tillage of soybean stubble, which was identified as the leading cause of soil erosion.  Radio and newspaper publicity in late summer combined with producer visits in the winter to conduct "tillage surveys" have been effective in reducing the practice, according to Winnishiek County officials.  "No fall tillage of soybean stubble" also is on a list of proposed activities being considered by the Conservation team of the Karst Campaign.

 

NITRATE-NITROGEN MAPPING TOPS BALMM AGENDA: Minnesota Department of Health hydrologist Sheila Growe will give a presentation on Nitrate-Nitrogen Probability Mapping at the next BALMM meeting on September 18, 9 a.m., at MPCA in Rochester.  Such a project has been conducted in the Upper Mississippi River basin, and one is getting started in Winona County. The potential exists to create nitrate probability maps for all of southeastern Minnesota, says Growe.

 

For nitrate probability mapping, GIS layers are developed using the County Well Index to help evaluate the likelihood that an aquifer will be isolated from contaminants by the intrinsic physical attributes of the geologic setting. These layers are combined with other existing data base layers that indicate potential nitrate inputs and surface permeability.  If available, water quality information also can be incorporated into the nitrate probability map.  This knowledge, in a Geographic Information System, can be used to rank vulnerable areas to aid land use planning and zoning, promote well head protection, design a groundwater conceptual model, identify areas for water quality testing, and target water quality education programs. For more information, contact Sheila Growe at 651-215-0768.

 

WASTEWATER SPECIALISTS HIRED: Both of the top choices for Wastewater Specialist (to work with unsewered communities) have accepted the positions and will start work in September, reports Bea Hoffmann, Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board. Nicholas Haig begins September 16 and will work out of the Rice County Planning office. He will be responsible for the following counties:  Le Sueur, Rice, Goodhue, Wabasha, and Steele.

 

Chris Ingebretsen will begin September 30 and will work out of Fillmore County (SWCD or zoning).  He will be responsible for: Dodge, Olmsted, Winona, Mower, Fillmore, and Houston.

 

The Wastewater Educator position is expected to be filled shortly. This person will work closely with Ken Olson of University Extension to work with counties and townships to conduct workshops on septic system operation and maintenance, and to stimulate interest in identifying and repairing septic systems classified as Imminent Public Health Threats.

 

All three positions are funded by a Section 319 grant awarded to the Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board. The grant will fund these positions for a three-year period.

 

 

BASIN SUMMIT BEING PLANNED: A "Lower Mississippi River Basin Summit" is planned for Monday, November 18 at the Heintz Center.  Elected officials at the state, county and township levels are the key audience.

The agenda is being planned to help make existing and new representatives aware of the basin's needs and specific projects that will need legislative support. This includes the Southeast Minnesota CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Project), which will need Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) funding to match federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide long-term easements.  Another area in need of increased resources is implementation of the Open Lot Agreement for feedlots of 300 animal units or less.  The need for increased technical and financial assistance to plan and implement feedlot fixes is currently being evaluated.  A third major area requiring increased resources is wastewater treatment by individual residences and currently under-sewered communities. The 319 project now getting underway will generate increased demand for technical and financial assistance in the near future.  The draft agenda will be reviewed at the next BALMM meeting on September 18. For more information, contact the basin coordinator (see contact information at end of e-mail.)

 

WATERSHED INITIATIVE GRANTS---EPA is asking Governors and tribal leaders to nominate watersheds for President Bush's $21 million Watershed Initiative Grant Program.  According to EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, the program "recognizes the important role that states and local communities have in helping to achieve our common goals, by giving them the power to do what works."  Congress has yet to take final action on the President's funding request, but EPA has outlined the process it will use to consider proposals, assuming the program is funded.  A total of 20 watersheds will receive funding ranging from $300,000 to $1.3 million.  The selection criteria will favor watersheds with projects that promise environmental improvements in the near term, show broad stakeholder involvement, employ unique or innovative approaches, are compatible with state and federal programs, and have strong local involvement.  Governors and tribal leaders will each be permitted to submit two proposals, plus an unlimited number of interstate and inter-tribal nominations.  The deadline for nominations is November 21. Further information is available at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/headline_082202.htm.  From UMRBA Update, September 6, 2002.

 

DRIFTLESS AREA INITIATIVE FOCUSES ON DAIRY: The Driftless Area Initiative, an informal collaboration among those interested in natural resource management in SE Minnesota, SW Wisconsin, NW Illinois and NE Iowa, is devoting much of its Nov. 6-7 meeting to a discussion of the dairy sector. This is because of the pivotal role that ruminant livestock play in affecting agricultural land use in the Driftless Area. Speakers from the University of Wisconsin, USDA-NRCS, the Southeast Minnesota Ag Alliance, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, and the Minnesota Dairy Initiative Southeast Region are among those who will join the discussion about dairy trends and economic/environmental impacts of various types of dairy operations on Nov. 6, starting at 10 am, at the New Holland Town Hall just north of La Crosse. The morning of the second day will be devoted to developing a Driftless Area Initiative strategy concerning dairy, forage and land use, evaluate research opportunities for the Initiative, and finalize the group's Mission, Vision and Values statements.  For more information, contact  Judy Martinson at 563-864-7112, or email judy.martinson@ia.usda.gov

 

 

 

 

 

 

WANTED: COORDINATOR FOR NUTRIENT INSURANCE PROGRAM: Nutrient Insurance policies will be offered as a pilot project through USDA-Risk Management for the 2003 cropping season. Nutrient insurance is a risk management tool that could potentially assist farmers in reducing nitrogen and phosphorus costs through the adoption of university fertilizer recommendations and associated BMPs.

 

This position will work in the main corn producing counties of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa with the primary focus on groundwater sensitive regions of each state. The coordinator will be responsible

for: 1) Organizing training, locating speakers, sponsors, and hosts; 2) Building partnerships; and 3) Delivery of educational programs related to Nutrient Insurance. Audiences will include farmers, crop retailers, crop consultants, state and federal agency staff, insurance agents, and community water suppliers.

 

This is a one-year position made possible through an agreement with USDA-Risk Management Agency and will run from October, 2002 through September, 2003. This will be a 0.8 FTE position with full-time requirements from October through May and flexible part-time hours for the remaining portion of the project. Location will be flexible with potential office facilities at the Hiawatha Valley (Rochester, MN), Southwest Badger (Platteville, WI), or Northeast Iowa (Postville, IA) Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) offices. The successful candidate will have the option to work primarily out of the home office.

 

For more information, please contact Ms. Diana Strain, Hiawatha Valley RC&D, at (507) 281-1959 (extension 4) or Bruce Montgomery, MN Department of Agriculture, at (651) 297-7178. Applications must be postmarked no later than September 14, 2002.

 

WATERSHED SCIENCE COURSE BEING DEVELOPED: The Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) is currently developing a new semester program on sustainability at the interface between the urban environment, the Mississippi River and the surrounding agricultural land.  It will be piloted in Fall 2003 and the HECUA is currently in the process of developing the courses and getting them approved at member institutions.  Staff are available to work on the social science and internship components of the program, but HECUA is looking for someone for a paid consulting position to develop an interdisciplinary watershed science course. The course is described as follows:

Watershed Science (4 credits) taught by a science professor with guest lecturers; a policy-focused interdisciplinary watershed science class would meet science requirement for Gen Ed (science distribution requirement within a liberal arts program), with focus on a few case studies drawn from the rural watershed field excursion module and the urban model on industry and pollution.  Could cover a mix of ecology, biology, chemistry, geology, hydrology, limnology, at discretion and specialization of instructor.

 

Please contact Joe Underhill-Cady at cady@augsburg.edu or 612-330-1312, to discuss possibilities in this regard or know of qualified individuals who might consult with us.

 

STAKEHOLDER NETWORK MOVES BALMM DOCUMENTS ON WEB SITE:

BALMM material has been moved to the following location in the new Watershed Programs section of the web site maintained by the Upper Mississippi Basin Stakeholder Network. The new location is:

http://www.umbsn.org/news/balmm_updates.shtml

 

For more information on the web site, contact John Gabbert at

jgabbert@smumn.edu, or call 507-457-6603

 

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

 

 

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