Soil and Water Conservation District Guidebook
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This document is made available electronically by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library as part of an ongoing digital archiving project. http://www.leg.state.mn.us/lrl/lrl.asp SWCD Guidebook Table of Contents About the SWCD Itasca ....................... 62 West Polk ............... 124 Guidebook .................. 2 Jackson ................... 64 Pope ....................... 126 Aitkin ......................... 4 Kanabec .................. 66 Ramsey .................. 128 Anoka ........................ 6 Kandiyohi ................. 68 Red Lake ................ 130 Becker ....................... 8 Kittson ..................... 70 Redwood ................ 132 Beltrami .................... 10 Koochiching ............. 72 Renville ................... 134 Benton ...................... 12 Lac qui Parle ............ 74 Rice ........................ 136 Big Stone .................. 14 Lake ......................... 76 Rock ....................... 138 Blue Earth ................. 16 Lake of the Woods .... 78 Root River ............... 140 Brown ....................... 18 Le Sueur .................. 80 Roseau ................... 142 Carlton ...................... 20 Lincoln ..................... 82 North Saint Louis .... 150 Carver ..................... 22 Lyon ......................... 84 South Saint Louis .... 152 Cass ........................ 24 Mahnomen ............... 86 Scott ....................... 144 Chippewa ................ 26 Marshall ................... 88 Sherburne ............... 146 Chisago ................... 28 Martin ...................... 90 Sibley ...................... 148 Clay ......................... 30 McLeod .................... 92 Stearns ................... 154 Clearwater ............... 32 Meeker .................... 94 Steele ..................... 156 Cook ........................ 34 Mille Lacs ................ 96 Stevens .................. 158 Cottonwood ............. 36 Morrison .................. 98 Swift ........................ 160 Crow Wing ............... 38 Mower .................... 100 Todd ....................... 162 Dakota ..................... 40 Murray ................... 102 Traverse ................. 164 Dodge ...................... 42 Nicollet ................... 104 Wabasha ................ 166 Douglas ................... 44 Nobles ................... 106 Wadena .................. 168 Faribault .................. 46 Norman .................. 108 Waseca .................. 170 Fillmore .................... 48 Olmsted ................. 110 Washington ............. 172 Freeborn .................. 50 East Otter Tail ........ 112 Watonwan ............... 174 Goodhue .................. 52 West Otter Tail ....... 114 Wilkin ...................... 176 Grant ....................... 54 Pennington ............ 116 Winona ................... 178 Hennepin ................. 56 Pine ....................... 118 Wright ..................... 180 Hubbard .................... 58 Pipestone .............. 120 Yellow Medicine ...... 182 Isanti ........................ 60 East Polk ............... 122 1 About The Soil and Water Conservation District Guidebook Published February 2010 The Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) and Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD) have prepared this guidebook to partly comply with requirements in Minnesota Statutes 103C.401. Each SWCD has provided content to BWSR on the following subjects: • Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns • Board of Supervisors Contact Information • Recent Projects / Accomplishments and • Future Projects • 2008 Total Revenue For more information, a directory with links to each SWCD website is available on the MASWCD website: www.maswcd.org Cover photos Clockwise from top: Shelterbelt (Watonwan SWCD), streambank stabilization (Pennington SWCD), multi-purpose trail at demonstration forest (Lake SWCD), and retrofit stormwater management practices (Washington SWCD). 2 About Soil and Water Conservation Districts The following summary of SWCDs is from the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (www.maswcd.org): Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) are political subdivisions of the State established under Minnesota Statute 103C. Each SWCD is governed by a board of elected supervisors. There are 90 SWCDs in Minnesota, providing 100% coverage of the state. There is at least one SWCD in each of the 87 counties, and a few of the larger counties have more than one: East and West Otter Tail SWCDs; East and West Polk SWCDs; and North and South St. Louis SWCDs. The first SWCD in Minnesota was created in 1938 to encourage landowners to conserve soil and water resources. Statewide, 75% of Minnesota lands are in private ownership. In agricultural regions, the number is quite often 95%. SWCDs fill the crucial niche of providing land and water conservation services to owners of private lands. Managing private lands in a way that promotes a sound economy and sustains and enhances natural resources is key to Minnesota’s environmental health. Private landowners trust SWCDs to provide needed technology, funding and educational services because they are established in each community, governed by local leaders and focused on conservation of local soil and water resources. SWCDs work to reduce non-point source pollution to make Minnesota’s lakes and rivers fishable and swimmable. Non-point source (NPS) pollution is a term for polluted runoff. Water washing over the land, whether from rain, car washing, or the watering of crops or lawns, picks up an array of contaminants, including oil and sand from roadways, agricultural chemicals from farmland, and nutrients and toxic materials from urban and suburban areas. This runoff finds its way into our waterways, either directly or through storm drain collection systems. The term non-point is used to distinguish this type of diffuse pollution from point source pollution, which comes from specific sources, such as sewage treatment plants or industrial facilities. Landowners across Minnesota count on SWCD technical assistance with conservation practices that protect the quality of Minnesota’s greatest treasure - our natural resources. 3 Aitkin Conservation District 130 Southgate Drive Aitkin, MN 56431 Recent Projects PHONE: (218) 927-6565 FAX: (218) 927-6014 In 2009 we completed our project obligations for several grants including the Big Sandy www.aitkincountyswcd.org Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Diagnostic Study. This project takes a SWCD Board Meetings: comprehensive look at land use, lake nutrients, Third Tuesday of month at 10 a.m. stream flows and nutrients. We will soon be moving into the implementation phase of the TMDL. Our district serves as fiscal agent for this project and several others. Farm Island Lake Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns . Surface water management . Land use and development . Ground water quality . Fish and Wildlife habitat The photo above shows a recently completed . Education shoreland re-vegetation project with several landowners that share a small harbor on Farm Island Lake. IMPACK6 Technical Service Area 2009 Revenue staff from Mora designed and helped install a native shoreland planting to stop erosion and Total $253,793 provide wildlife habitat. 4 Aitkin Conservation District Water Planning Future Projects In 2009 we completed the fourth generation County Water Plan. We expanded the plan by Shallow Lake / Wild Rice including a large lakes assessment that is a Protection model for future lake and watershed management. The updated plan is on our An extremely rare (worldwide) resource exists SWCD website for ease of viewing. in abundance in Aitkin County. Wild Rice lakes provide shallow water habitat for dozens of Other Aitkin SWCD projects and duties: wildlife species. We are developing partnerships that will move forward to protect 1. Rivers and Lakes Fair these gems before they are severely damaged 2. Aitkin County Fair by development. 3. Tree sales 4. Forest Stewardship plans 5. Wetland Conservation Act 6. Forest certification 7. Water quality information 8. Lake Association presentations and assistance 9. Water Plan Coordination 10. Many other natural resource projects Russell Ruud A long-time Aitkin County SWCD Supervisor passed away in late 2009. Russell Ruud served for more than 30 years and was very active in regional and state committees. Russ’ knowledge and experience will be greatly missed. SWCD Staff: Steve Hughes Lori Nelson Janet Smude Dennis Thompson Board of Supervisors Name Position Phone Address Bob Janzen Vice Chair (218) 927-4488 523 1st St NW, Aitkin, MN 56431 Donna Rae Asp Chair (320) 592-3391 20053 180th St, McGrath, MN 56350 Michael Lentz Treasurer (218) 697-8214 41188 - 650 St, Swatara, MN 55785-9712 Russell Ruud Secretary (218) 768-4300 43454 Nature Ave, Palisade, MN 56469 Franklin Turnock Reporter (218) 768-4300 13196 360th St, McGregor, MN 55760-9746 5 Anoka Soil and Water Conservation District Recent Projects Subwatershed Assessments The ACD partnered with the Metro Landscape Restoration Program and local watershed districts to complete subwatershed assessments for Sand Creek and Rice Lake. The purpose of the assessments was to find places where BMPs can be implemented, and to rank projects in terms of cost-effectiveness to maximize the use of limited staff and financial resources. The assessments found stormwater retrofit opportunities (such as rain gardens or pond modifications) and used 16015 Central Ave NE #103 modeling to estimate pollution reduction. Cost Ham Lake, MN 55304 estimates