ONE WATERSHED, ONE PLAN

The flows under Highway 23 just north of Hanley Falls in Yellow Medicine County. The Yellow Medicine River Watershed was among five One Watershed, One Plan pilot projects funded in 2014. The watershed drains more than 665,000 acres in Yellow Medicine, Lincoln, Lyon and Lac qui Parle counties. Leveraging funds, sharing expertise in the Yellow Medicine River Watershed MARSHALL – In the Yellow middle of the watershed Medicine River Watershed, near Canby, agreed. Antony upstream projects are has phased out of full-time gaining downstream farming since his crop support as One Watershed, insurance business took off, One Plan catches on. but most of his constituents are farmers. The locally driven, “The watershed isn’t just watershed- isolated to our county. based Knutson Netzke Overholser As projects are being approach done upstream, it’s spans ultimately going to help us political River Watershed to leverage “If we’re putting those downstream,” Antony said. boundaries federal funds that will cut practices in and the money “This is how you have to as it landowners’ shared costs in upstream, you’re going to think, as a watershed, not as prioritizes and put more projects on see benefits downstream,” ‘I’m part of this county,’ or conservation the ground. said Michelle Overholser, ‘I’m part of this district.’” work with the potential to Yellow Medicine River make the biggest water- The watershed drains land in Watershed District Agriculture dominates the quality improvements. four counties, from Lincoln administrator. 665,073-acre watershed. County in the southwest to Most watershed districts in A $551,700 Clean Water the south of Yellow Medicine County this part of the state formed Fund implementation grant Granite Falls in Upper Sioux Commissioner Ron Antony, decades ago to alleviate allowed the Yellow Medicine Agency State Park. whose district lies in the flooding. Partners involved in creating Yellow Medicine’s One Watershed, One Plan set three goals for the watershed: Mitigate altered hydrology and reduce flooding; reduce nutrients (including sediment, contaminants and E.coli) in streams; preserve and protect groundwater quantity and quality. “If we don’t do it and we don’t take the initiative to do it and show everybody that we can do it, somebody’s going to make that decision somewhere else and we’re not going to like it,” Antony The Yellow Medicine River, foreground, meets the Minnesota River in Upper Sioux Agency State Park southeast of Granite said of the years-long planning Falls. Reducing nutrients in streams, mitigating altered hydrology and reducing flooding, and preserving and protecting process. groundwater are among the Yellow Medicine River Watershed’s goals. Photo Courtesy Ann Wessel Not long ago, the 10 For example, the watershed Having a Comprehensive conservation-related local district is sharing staff with Watershed Management government units within Lincoln and Yellow Medicine Plan in place and state money available enabled Yellow Sometimes the ag the Yellow Medicine River SWCDs for bookkeeping and Medicine to apply for National Watershed were more likely technical assistance. “community gets a bad to compete than to cooperate Water Quality Initiative rap about being the over project funds. Ultimately, the resource will funds. That $123,750 award benefit. is one of two it’s received polluters of the water, “It always did seem like each from the Natural Resources but I think they’re the county was a little island “When you focus on the Conservation Service. The watershed and not the best conservationists unto themselves, whether second, for about $500,000, it was the county or the soil political boundary, you’re is its share of Regional we have. and water district. They were really putting the focus on Conservation Partnership the resource and looking at — Ron Antony, all competing for the same Program dollars awarded to money. There were times it that contributing area,” said BWSR and the Minnesota Yellow Medicine would get a little bit tense,” Marcey Westrick, BWSR’s Association of Soil and Water County commissioner said Kerry Netzke, Area II clean water coordinator. “If Conservation Districts. Minnesota River Basin Projects you work on that watershed basis, it does allow for that Within the Judicial Ditch executive director. “But now more holistic approach 24 subwatershed, NWQI that the perspective has where you’re looking at … the funds target Lyon County’s changed to a watershed basis, it seems to me like those turf biological, the physical, the Cottonwood Lake, which uncertainty. There’s worry ” wars aren’t as obvious as they chemical collectively — so is impaired for aquatic that it could drop their yields. habitat and wetlands and recreation. The biggest single once were. I think there’s a There’s worry that it’s not project: a three year, 721-acre lot more collaboration and water quality.” cover-crop planting. going to take, and they’re just cooperation going on.” going to waste the money,” “It’s a one-stop shop for Overholser said. “For us to Collaboration has paid off in hitting all of our priority financially help people to do other ways. Local government concerns,” said Tyler Knutson, it so that we can see some units have cut expenses by Yellow Medicine SWCD sharing expertise and staff. of those success stories and The Minnesota Board of technical director. Cover crops That’s been especially helpful neighbors can see that it slow snowmelt runoff, retain to people like Overholser, Water and Soil Resources’ sediment and fix nitrogen. worked — that’s some of the who’s been on the job for not mission is to improve and best advertising you can get.” quite four months. protect Minnesota’s water “I think there’s a lot of and soil resources by working landowners that are The 721-acre planting would “Not every single office in partnership with local interested in it, but it’s really meet 10 percent of the has to have every single organizations and private tough to get a lot of buy-in subwatershed’s cover-crop capability. We can share that,” landowners. www.bwsr.state. from landowners when there’s goal. Overholser said. mn.us. ‘There’s only so much soil, and we’ve got to protect it’ One Watershed, One Plan leads to federal funds for 721-acre cover crop COTTONWOOD — The The cover crop would three-year cover crop benefit the lake by reducing experiment David Loe plants erosion. The contract would after this fall’s corn harvest give Loe three seasons to could grow well beyond determine which seed mix, the 721 acres he enrolled planting method and tillage in a Natural Resources option work best. Among Conservation Service program. the concerns: Whether cover-crop residue will keep “If this works … I would do soil cool enough to delay it on the whole farm,” Loe spring planting. said. “It was a good opportunity Loe, 46, runs 3,700 acres of to learn the ins and outs corn and soybeans with his and see how they work and wife, children and parents. David and Missi Loe run a fourth-generation family farm in Yellow what might work best,” Loe The fourth-generation Medicine and Lyon counties. Their children, from left, Aaron, Isaac, said. family farm spans Lyon and Andrew and Ashley, all have been involved in the operation.Courtesy Yellow Medicine counties. Photo Below: Cottonwood Lake will benefit from a cover-crop experimemt “I hope to limit — or The NRCS contract will cut on the Loe’s land. Photo Credit: Ann Wessel, BWSR eliminate, if possible the risk. — as much of that (soil demonstration plot for fields, carrying pollutants The Yellow Medicine River erosion) as we can. Also farmers throughout the with the eroding soil. The Watershed qualified for there’s a green fertilizer four-county watershed. 721 acres Loe plans to seed NRCS’ $123,740 National value. Anytime you have Water Quality Initiative this fall with a winter rye Loe summed up his reasons mix includes a quarter- something growing that’s funds because, as a One for trying cover crops in two mile of Cottonwood Lake green out there, it’s going to Watershed, One Plan pilot words: Soil erosion. bring you soil fertility,” Loe site, it had a targeted, shoreline. Cottonwood said. prioritized plan backed by “There’s only so much soil, Lake is surrounded by the science and Clean Water and we’ve got to protect city of Cottonwood and by NWQI contracts also will farmland. It’s impaired for Funds. The dollar amount it. Wind and water — make possible a smaller aquatic recreation. will grow as the result of a those are the two main cover crop site near reallocation. antagonists,” Loe said. Loe’s parents live on the Cottonwood Lake, a nutrient The cover crop plantings Heavy rains sometimes cut lake, which he describes as management plan and could serve as a gullies into the clay-loam green. possibly a fourth project.