December 8th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Winter 2020-2021 Waterline Now Available
Waterline is the official newsletter of the Drinking Water Protection Section of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). It is issued quarterly and is geared towards water operators, city officials, and others interested in news related to public water systems in Minnesota. The Winter 2020-2021 issue was released on December 7th.
An article of specific interest to those who live and/or work in Anoka County may be “Minneapolis Scores High in Customer Satisfaction”, as Minneapolis Water Works (MWW) serves the Anoka County communities of Columbia Heights and Hilltop. MWW was ranked first in the Midwest in customer satisfaction for a mid-sized utility.
Also, be sure to note that readers will need to opt-in to receive printed copies of Waterline in the mail starting next year!
Below are the topics included in the Winter 2020-2021 issue:
Minneapolis Main Goes from Bridge to Under the River
Opt-in to be Required to Remain on the Mailing List for Printed Copies of Waterline
Department of Agriculture Develops Videos on Groundwater and Nitrate Movement in Southeast Minnesota
Minneapolis Uses Microtunneling for Water Main below the Mississippi River
Minneapolis Scores High in Customer Satisfaction
MDH Profile: Kate Callais
Freeport Facelift Completed
WUTT’s Up Next
Source Water Protection Grants Support Community Solutions to Protect Drinking Water
December 6th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Ag-Urban Partnership Forum on Water Quality
The following is an announcement of the 2020 Ag-Urban Partnership Forum on Water Quality from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA):
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
8:45 am – Noon | Webex webinar
What: A conversation on the ways that agricultural and urban partners are working together to improve water quality around Minnesota. This builds off the inaugural event in 2019 that sparked new partnerships in the Minnesota River Basin, and explores ways to keep the conversation – and the partnerships – going, and beyond this basin.(Photo above is a streambank restoration along the Rum River, a municipal project with benefits beyond city limits.)
Who should attend: Ag and urban partners looking for ideas and information on how to develop and strengthen their relationships for working together to improve the water quality of Minnesota lakes and streams. These partners include elected officials, municipal employees, producers, tribal leaders, commodity groups, watershed professionals, advocacy groups, lake associations and private citizens.
December 4th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on League of Women Voters Water Column in Anoka County Union
Have you seen the recent water resource-related columns in the Anoka County Union Herald? The League of Women Voters has been working with local water experts to publish a series of monthly columns on local rivers and land use. This collaboration between the League of Women Voters Upper Mississippi River Region and other environmental groups in Anoka County has produced many columns already. Below are some that have been published and are available online:
November 25th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Anoka County Well Water Testing Update
The Anoka County Well Water Testing program will continue to operate on a limited basis through at least March 2021. Water samples for sanitary analysis (bacteria and nitrates) will be accepted on the last Monday (1-4 pm) and Tuesday (9-11:30 am) of each month. Water samples for other analyses (arsenic, manganese, lead, etc.) will not be accepted at this time.
Please note that turnaround time for results is approximately 3-4 weeks at this time. If you need results sooner, or if you would like to test your water for additional components (arsenic, manganese, lead, etc.), you may consider the use of a private laboratory.
November 25th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on BWSR Approves Lower St. Croix One Watershed, One Plan
The following is a news release from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). Anoka County communities within the Lower St. Croix major watershed are Linwood Township and portions of East Bethel, Ham Lake, and Columbus (see image at the end of this post).
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A collaborative effort among 15 local governments to improve water quality and natural resources in the Lower St. Croix River Watershed will begin implementation following approval of the partnership’s comprehensive watershed management plan at the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources’ (BWSR) October 28 meeting.
The plan was
developed as part of the state of Minnesota’s One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P)
program. The vision and purpose of the 1W1P program is to align local
water planning on major watershed boundaries with state strategies towards
prioritized, targeted, and measurable implementation plans. Planning on a
watershed level allows collaborating local governments to pursue timely
solutions based on a watershed’s highest priority needs.
“This partnership shows how conservation outcomes can be achieved when local
governments from different geographic areas unite toward a common goal,” BWSR
Executive Director John Jaschke said. “We look forward to watching what’s next
for this partnership as they move into the plan implementation phase.”
The watershed planning boundary includes portions of Chisago, Isanti, Anoka,
Pine and Washington counties. Water resources are abundant in the area,
including 127 lakes, 152,000 acres of wetlands and more than 1,000 miles of
rivers, streams and ditches. Plan priorities include improving lake, stream,
St. Croix River, and groundwater quality by providing cost-share for targeted
cost-effective agricultural and urban projects, protecting and restoring uplands
and wetlands and expanding technical assistance to landowners. The partnership
includes local governments from both greater Minnesota and the metro area.
“Throughout the planning process, I have met a lot of really great people
who work in the natural resources field in the Lower St. Croix
watershed. Individually, we are accomplishing a lot, but by working
together we will be able to build on each of our strengths to accomplish the
goals of our plan,” said Craig Mell, Chisago SWCD administrator.
“I’m excited about the opportunities we have before us because of the high level of collaboration we’ve seen and the broad reach we have within the Lower St. Croix because of that collaboration,” said Fran Miron, Washington County commissioner, who chaired the planning partnership’s policy committee.
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BWSR is the state soil and water conservation agency, and it administers programs that prevent sediment and nutrients from entering our lakes, rivers, and streams; enhance fish and wildlife habitat; and protect wetlands. The 20-member board consists of representatives of local and state government agencies and citizens. BWSR’s mission is to improve and protect Minnesota’s water and soil resources by working in partnership with local organizations and private landowners.
November 22nd, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Sand Creek Corridor Restoration Highlighted in Water Talk Newsletter
The following article was included in the November 2020 edition of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Water Talk Newsletter. This bulletin is issued anywhere from 4 to 6 times each year.
The Coon Creek Watershed District (CCWD) and the City of Coon Rapids have partnered with DNR Ecological and Water Resources staff to address aquatic recreation and aquatic life impairments on Sand Creek in the City of Coon Rapids.
Project goals
In 2018, a stream corridor restoration of Lower Sand Creek was implemented to reduce bank erosion and improve habitat. The partnership was awarded a second set of Clean Water Fund and US-EPA Section 319 grants for continuing stream corridor restoration in Middle Sand Creek. The project goals are to:
Reduce sediment and phosphorous loading from bank erosion.
Enhance habitat for native species.
Reduce the impacts of altered hydrology while accommodating floods.
Why the projects were needed
There are multiple causes for the poor condition of Sand Creek. Much of the stream channel was ditched and straightened years ago causing the channel to cut downward and lose connection to its floodplain. Urban development within Lower Sand Creek occurred before stormwater regulations were enacted. There were many direct pipes to the stream which speeds up water delivery and causes stream flows to be “flashy.”
Upper Sand Creek is in better condition than Lower Sand Creek because stormwater regulations were in place prior to development and there are wetlands and stormwater ponds that help retain water and filter pollutants.
The aerial image above is from a drone flight of Middle Sand Creek between construction phases showing the newly constructed “off-line” meanders that will form the new channel. Once the work is completed, the filled-in portions of the old channel will connect the flow.
Proposed Middle Sand Creek project
The Middle Sand Creek project area is divided into two reaches where differing techniques will be used to address problems.
Upstream reach: Eroding banks will be stabilized using a variety of methods and instream habitat will be improved.
Downstream reach: A newly remeandered channel and floodplain, designed by DNR Clean Water Specialist Nick Proulx and Wenck Associates, will be constructed that improve connection to the floodplain and accommodates flood flows.
The new channel will be constructed following the natural channel design principles instead of using traditional hard armoring techniques such as riprap. According to CCWD staff, there was initially public resistance due to the amount of disturbance the project would create and the number of trees that would need removal to accommodate a meandered channel. However, CCWD and DNR staff explained that the disturbance would be temporary and that tree removal was necessary to create space for the channel and the wider connected floodplain. The public has gained acceptance of the project through discussion and education.
Previous Lower Sand Creek work
Replacing invasive tree species with a variety of native vegetation in the Lower Sand Creek project area provided a glimpse of what the new project will eventually look like. Residents were also concerned about impacts to wildlife that use the stream corridor. After completion of the Lower Sand Creek project in 2019, residents believed they were seeing more wildlife use of the corridor and this helped alleviate concerns about tree removal and disturbance in the new project area.
Before: Lower Sand Creek After: Same Lower Sand Creek site after vegetation has grown in.
The Lower Sand Creek project was completed in 2018-19. Half of the new channel and most of the floodplain of Middle Sand Creek were excavated in the winter of 2019-20. Excavation work of the channel was completed “off-line” with stream flow remaining in the old channel. This re-meandered section of the stream was left dry during 2020 to allow vegetation to grow and establish root structure. During this winter, 2020-2021, the other side of the floodplain and the new channel will be constructed while the old channel will be filled, thus completing the project.
Additional educational elements, including tours
Additional project elements to be added include interpretive signing along a popular walking path next to the stream, hosting interactive “Watershed Walks” with CCWD staff, and continued monitoring and project maintenance. The photo on the right shows Jon Janke, of Coon Creek Watershed District, giving a site tour to Anoka Ramsey Community College biology students.The Sand Creek corridor restoration will be completed soon. The partnership is now setting its sights on restoring the stream corridor of Coon Creek by applying what they have learned from the Sand Creek projects.
Editor’s note: We have two DNR staff named Jeff Weiss. One Jeff Weiss is an engineer leading the floodplain mapping program in our St. Paul office, and the author of this article is a Clean Water Specialist in our Rochester office.
October 23rd, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Minnesota Ground Water Association 2020 Fall Conference
The Minnesota Ground Water Association (MGWA) will be hosting its 2020 Fall Conference virtually on November 12th, 2020 from 8 am to 4:30 pm via Zoom. The focus of the conference is “Keeping it Clean: Protecting and Managing Groundwater Quality in Urban Environments”.
Registration is open now and the deadline for pre-registration is November 6th. Click here to register.
There is also a call for posters. If you would like to present your groundwater-related poster, see the conference website for details.
See the conference description below and be sure to check out the conference website for more information and details on speakers!
Conference Description:
The MGWA Fall Conference will examine issues related to urban groundwater protection and management. Nearly three-fourths of Minnesota residents live in urban areas and continued growth is expected over the next decade. As we continue to grow our demands and impacts on our geologic environment continue to increase.
The
conference will bring to light groundwater quality issues of concern facing
urban areas and the work that is being done to address them. Speakers will
explore the current status and trends of chemicals in our groundwater from the
scale of a single spring or well to regional aquifer systems. Presentations
will cover aspects of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
contamination in the eastern part of the Twin Cities, chloride concentrations
in our shallow groundwaters, and address emerging concerns including detection
of human viruses in deep groundwater in Wisconsin.
September 30th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Virtual MS4 Permit Chloride Discussion
Are you a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permittee?
The new MS4 General Permit is planned to be issued on Monday, November 16, 2020. Existing MS4 permittees will have 150 days (April 15, 2021) to complete and submit the permit application forms to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
There will be an opportunity to join other MS4 communities and MPCA staff to learn about the new MS4 requirements for chloride and find out what other MS4 communities have implemented to improve their winter maintenance operations on Monday, October 5th, from 8:30 am to 12 pm. This discussion will be online and hosted by the MPCA. It is a great chance to get a step ahead on planning ways to meet upcoming permit requirements.
The next MS4 General Permit will require specific chloride reduction activities for permittees such as community education, annual training for your winter maintenance staff, proper deicing salt storage practices, and other requirements. Some permittees must also conduct an annual winter maintenance operations assessment to assist in identifying deicing salt reduction opportunities on permittee owned/operated surfaces. The MPCA Smart Salting Assessment tool is one way to complete the assessment requirement.
Register today for this free, online live-stream to openly and informally discuss how we can all reduce the permanent effects of chloride pollution in Minnesota and protect our water resources. Contact Brooke Asleson brooke.asleson@state.mn.us or Cole Landgraf cole.landgraf@state.mn.us with questions and to register.
September 24th, 2020 knowtheflow Comments Off on Online Children’s Water Festival Next Week – Register Now!
Final reminder that the FREE 23rd annual Metro Children’s Water Festival is online this year, with LIVE online classes from Monday, September 28th to Thursday, October 1st!
Live classes will cover a wide variety of water topics. Some examples include:
What lives in water?
Who polluted?
Journey through a watershed from forest to faucet
Mosquito mania
In addition to live classes, many presenters have provided recorded videos, curriculum, and lesson plans on the festival webpage. If you are looking for water education, there are plenty of accessible and fun opportunities at this festival!
Although education is geared to meet 4th grade standards, water is vital to everyone, and all interested teachers, students, and their caregivers are welcome to participate.
December 8th, 2020 
knowtheflow 
