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

A waste storage facility near a lake was designed and installed
with assistance from the Stearns County SWCD.
Unpermitted manure storage basin
investigations are completed by an SWCD licensed
professional soil scientist and the Technical Service Area
Five professional engineer. This is one of several MPCA/EPA
319 grants administered by the SWCD which include funds
to provide technical assistance to farmers. The investigation
includes an examination of the basin liner and separation
distance to the water table to determine if the basin can be
permitted by the MPCA. These investigations have been
very successful in identifying basins in ecologically sensitive
areas that may leak contaminants into the groundwater. The
SWCD also provides technical and cost-share assistance to
the landowners who choose to repair or abandon the manure
storage basins that do not meet MPCA’s specifi cations.
A partnership with Pheasants Forever
(and watershed districts and lake associations) has enabled
the SWCD to successfully promote the CRP program to
landowners. The partnership also includes the USDA NRCS
and FSA, DNR, BWSR, Sauk River Watershed District,
Clearwater River Watershed District and North Fork Crow
River Watershed District. The partnership helps support a
Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist who works closely with
the watershed districts to identify and prioritize ecologically
sensitive areas for the promotion of Continuous CRP (CCRP),
which gives landowners additional incentives for enrolling
windbreaks, fi lter strips, farmed wetlands, and buffers.
A stormwater pilot program is underway
in an effort to educate and assist local developers,
contractors, and excavators, in complying with the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and protecting our
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
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Stearns County Soil & Water Conservation District
natural resources. The SWCD and the Stearns County
Environmental Services Department received an MPCA
grant to assist with the implementation of the NPDES
General Stormwater Permit for Construction Activity. The
MPCA is using the pilot program to evaluate the feasibility
of allowing local staff to conduct site inspections in Stearns
County for the MPCA.
Improve water quality in impaired waters areas in
the county and adjacent watersheds
Provide source water protection for safe drinking
water for all residents
Protect natural resources from residential and
commercial development
Protect groundwater quality and quantity through
nutrient & pesticide management, irrigation water
management, and related programs
Provide urban conservation assistance to cities to
identify and protect natural resources
Future Projects
Treating Feedlot Runoff with Woodchip Biofi lter
Demonstration: Animal agriculture has the potential
to adversely affect surface water quality through the
uncontrolled overland conveyance of manure particulates
from feedlots to adjacent water bodies during the melting
of the winter snow pack or from storm-water generated
runoff. An MPCA/EPA 319 grant has provided funds to
construct a prototype woodchip biofi lter and assess its
performance at a feedlot site near Melrose.
Manure Storage Basin Abandonment Alternatives and
Water Quality Improvement Demonstration: As the
number of farm operations is decreasing, the number of
unused manure storage basins is increasing. This study will
develop a low-cost effective abandonment procedure to ensure
landowner participation and protect the integrity of our
ground water. Basins in the study will have all the manure
removed along with a portion of the contaminated soil, the
berms pushed in, and contaminated soil reapplied over the
top of the basin and seeded with an aggressive plant species.
The Risk-Based Site Evaluation process will be used
to determine effectiveness of the bioremediation procedure.
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