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

Pictured: The Granite Lake project after a rapid snow melt.
Pictured: Water Management Specialist Jacobs instructing using
the Stream Table at the Field Day
the outdoors and the environment will pay dividends in the
future.
Intensive monitoring is being conducted with the
help of the MPCA on Wright County lakes that are on the impaired
waters list. The SWCD has partnered with the Initiative
Foundation and various lake associations to help these entities
gain consensus on priorities, create plans around those priorities
and put them into action. These efforts give people who live on
and near the lake the opportunity to learn about lake issues and
potential actions to deal with identifi ed problems. This has led
to a cooperative monitoring program where volunteers have
been gathering water quality data on 33 lakes for fi ve years.
By hiring an Urban Conservationist and
as cities have stepped up their activity related to the Wetland
Conservation Act, construction sites have had much better
compliance with stormwater concerns and other environmental
priorities.
As the lead Wetland Conservation Act
administrator and a reviewer on all county permits the
SWCD has fostered review of these issues on wetland
applications and county land-use applications. The Wright
SWCD and DNR enforcement have been serious with
wetland issues in the county, and many violations have
been dealt with. Numerous water impoundments, wetland
restorations and improved stormwater projects have been
built into applications as a result of these efforts.
Wright Soil & Water Conservation District
A buffer program has been created
by the SWCD, Pheasants Forever, lake associations and the
Clearwater River Watershed District (CRWD) to further
enhance payments to landowners that replace cropland
with buffers of native vegetation. This program can be used
as a stand-alone program to encourage buffers that can be
harvested or as an incentive program for the use of CRP. The
program can also be used on tile intakes that lead to ditches
or streams that fl ow to these lakes which are not currently
eligible for CRP. Since 1999 almost $62,000 has been used to
replace cropland in critical areas with narrow strips of grass.
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Water quality and quantity concerns
Soil erosion and resulting damage to soil resources
Wetlands protection and enhancement activities
Urban development problems (erosion and
sediment control)
Loss of farmland to development and other uses
Future Projects
The Sugar Lake gully project has been in the works for a
number of years. It appears the project will be constructed
in 2008. A lined waterway with a rock center for low
fl ow and rock check dams has been designed. A small
water and sediment basin will also be a component of the
project. The plan was designed around a wooded wetland
which should be enhanced by the project. Funding is being
secured and fi nal design plans are being drawn up.
The SWCD is undertaking a TMDL process on Ann
Lake in southern Wright County. Stream fl ow stations
have been established in some areas and samples are
being taken. Ann Lake is fed by a 20,000-acre watershed
directed by County Ditch 10. This watershed
contributes to the North Fork of the Crow River and
has been identifi ed as a problem for that river system as
well. When sampling is completed a phosphorus budget
will be established and internal loading will be compared
to the load delivered from the watershed and that
leaving the lake. If it is determined that improvements
are possible, agricultural lands will need to be targeted
with some type of new program to garner enough reduction
in phosphorus loads to realize improvements.
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