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

Pictured: A feedlot upgrade project under construction.
the Rock County Land Management Offi ce to hire an employee
for this purpose. The offi ce has been participating in this Non-
Point Engineering Assistance (NPEA) Grant since 2004 with the
Southwest Prairie Joint Powers Organization (SWPJPO). The
staff person also works with the other nine SWCDs in the area.
A major portion of 90 feedlots have been
brought into compliance with the State Feedlot Rules. These
feedlots were identifi ed as environmental concerns through
a countywide Level III Feedlot Inventory, conducted from
June 2002 to December of 2004. Rock County has helped to
provide several thousand dollars in federal and State Cost-
Share dollars to producers for corrections to feedlot runoff
concerns. Engineering has been provided by the NPEA grant.
Projects to stabilize streambanks along
the Rock River have been completed by the Rock County Land
Management Offi ce, in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the Minnesota DNR. The Rock River is a federally
impaired surface water, with turbidity identifi ed as one of the
pollutants. Streambank erosion (sloughing off) is a contributing
factor to turbidity. The Rock River has also been identifi ed as
habitat for the federally endangered Topeka Shiner.
140 acres in the Wellhead Protection
Area of the Rock County Rural Water Systems were enrolled
in conservation easements through the CREP II program. The
Rock SWCD has been involved in the promotion of the CREP
II program. These enrolled acres were considered extremely
sensitive, due to the shallow aquifer involved in providing a
safe supply of drinking water to many of the rural residents
and farmsteads in Rock County. This rural water system
provides drinking water alone to at least 25 percent of the
residents of Rock County.
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Rock Soil & Water Conservation District
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
Protect groundwater quality and quantity,
especially in the designated Drinking Water
Supply Management Area
Feedlot program management through the
Minnesota Delegated Feedlot Program to help
promote and ensure countywide compliance
with the 7020 Feedlot Rules
Protect surface water quality
Restore surface water quality in the Impaired
Waters through TMDL Assessment and
Implementation planning
Reduce agricultural runoff from cropland and
feedlots
Future Projects
The Rock County Land Management Offi ce is
leading the planning and development of the
TMDL involving the Rock River, which is on the
federal impaired waters list. The ongoing process
includes monitoring and sampling water in seven
locations within the county. The process involves
bi-monthly meetings with Rock SWCD and County
Environmental Services Offi ces staff and staff from
the other participating counties of Nobles, Murray,
and Pipestone, as well as staff from the MPCA and
Minnesota State University (Mankato). The group
will develop an overall Implementation Plan to
submit to the EPA, obtain federal approval, apply
for grant dollars, including Clean Water Legacy
funds, and work to install conservation practices to
ultimately de-list the river.
The SWCD is working with various partners, including
Rock County, the City of Luverne, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Services, and Minnesota DNR in a dam
removal project on the Rock River, within the city
limits of Luverne. There have been two drownings
associated with it, and it has proven to be a substantial
sediment trap, quite likely an additional factor
to the impairment of the Rock River. It has also
been an impediment to the natural movement of the
Topeka Shiner, an endangered species.
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