Soil & Water Conservation District Guidebook 2008 - Minnesota ...

Pictured: Water quality monitoring has been done by Pennington
SWCD for 10 years on nine sites. Data is compiled and sent to
the MPCA each year for further analysis. This information helped
the MPCA to determine that the Thief River is impaired for turbidity
and the Clearwater River is impaired for dissolved oxygen.
A streambank stabilization project on the
Thief River was completed to control surface water runoff from
the Thief River Golf Club’s paved parking lot (pictured). Instead
of forming a gully, the fl ow saturated the steep river bank to the
point of sliding into the river. The slope of the river bank was
fl attened, causing the golf club to lose about 20 feet of parking lot
along that side. A 300-foot curb was installed between the parking
lot and the river bank to capture the water. The river bank was
seeded, and willow stakes were installed to provide additional
stability. The SWCD TSA 1 provided survey information for
the project. Total project cost was $52,256.50. Funding partners
were the SWCD, Pembina Trail Resource Conservation and
Development (RC&D) and the Red Lake Watershed District.
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Pennington Soil & Water Conservation District
Conservation education is one main focus
of the SWCD. Starting as young as kindergarten, students
learn the importance of trees by receiving their own
seedling to plant and nurture. Sixth graders get handson
learning with the Outdoor Education Day. Some of
their experiences include the Adventures of a Raindrop,
making an Incredible Edible Landfi ll, Tree Bingo, and
surviving the Deer Population Game. Other education
activities the SWCD is involved with include: NW Water
Festival, Conservation Poster and Mural Contest, local
Essay Contest, Envirothon, Science Fair, sponsoring a
Minnesota Science Museum presentation, and sending
two youth to Long Lake Conservation Camp.
Improve water quality by carrying out the
objectives in the Comprehensive Local Water
Management Plan
Educate youth and general public of soil and water
conservation practices
Increase productivity of ag producers through
conservation practices
Promote conservation of wildlife and wetland areas
Implement economic assistance programs
Future Projects
Jerome Street Group – The Pennington SWCD has
been working with a group six landowners, commonly
referred to as the Jerome Street Group, who live along the
Red Lake River in Thief River Falls. They live below the
Power Dam where ice and high water fl ows have undercut
this bank to point of cracking the top slope. A stream
bank protection project has been surveyed, designed and
agreed to by the landowners as a viable project. Stabilizing
the toe and restoring the fl oodplain will allow the
construction without removing existing vegetation. The
$85,000 price tag to restore this 700 feet of shoreline is
out of sight for the SWCD and the landowners. The Red
Lake Watershed District is aware of this project and is
willing to cooperate. With homes as close as 20 feet to
the top of the bank, SWCD staff are seeking additional
funding opportunities as soon as possible.
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