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

Pictured: A CREP wetland restoration site in Blue Earth County.
CREP I went from 1998-2002, creating 172 permanent
easements totaling 5,329 acres and spending 4.5 million state
dollars in Blue Earth County. Over 100,000 acres across
the Minnesota River basin were enrolled into the program.
Many projects had landowners that went together to create
much larger conservation areas. One group project involved
six different landowners who enrolled 340 acres for a large
wetland restoration project. Some project work is still being
done today along with routine maintenance to many of
the easements. The program brought together local, state,
and federal offi cials, conservation groups, and interested
landowners to work collectively on restoring the Minnesota
River watershed.
The Greater Blue Earth River Watershed
Initiative began in 2003 through the SWCD’s partnership
with Three Rivers RC&D. A grant from the U.S. EPA was
received to promote the installation of conservation practices
by offering enrollment incentives as well as cost share
incentives. Blue Earth County SWCD encumbered and
received $49,469 in grant dollars that enrolled 117.5 acres
with a soil loss reduction of 587.5 tons per acre / year and a
phosphorus reduction of 1175 pounds /year. This grant is a
good example of how multiple agencies such as the SWCD,
Three Rivers RC&D, FSA and NRCS can accomplish a
lot when partnering together toward a common goal of
improved water quality.
The Maple River Watershed Improvement
project is sponsored by Blue Earth County, with project
management and leadership held by the Blue Earth SWCD.
Faribault County conservation and environmental staff are
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
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Blue Earth Soil & Water Conservation District
also actively engaged in this project. The Maple River has
a drainage area of 340 square miles. Numerous project
committees assist to implement project work plans for
surface water quality improvement through conservation
practices. Monitoring of the Maple River began in 2003
with one site and has since expanded to two sites. This
project will continue implementation, monitoring, and
educational activities through 2009. The project’s main
objective is to reduce the levels of sediment, nitrates, and
phosphates in the river. Funding sources include in-kind
contributions (about $335,000) from over 10 groups,
cash support from Blue Earth County and a Clean Water
Partnership implementation grant of $474,100.
Classic or ephemeral gully control
Water resource protection
Wastewater & feedlot runoff control
Sheet & rill erosion
Wind erosion
Future Projects
Cobb River Watershed Project: The Cobb River
Watershed Project is an effort by the Greater Blue
Earth River Basin Alliance and Blue Earth County
SWCD to concentrate Agricultural and Drainage
best-management practices within the Cobb River
watershed. The project has funding to hire one fulltime
employee, working with the Blue Earth SWCD
for 2 1/2 years. There is also over $200,000 in cost
share assistance available to land owners for implementation
of the varying BMPs within the watershed.
An additional $15,000 is available to the Drainage
Authorities in each of the four counties in the watershed.
This funding is for upgrading the current
drainage information management systems. All while
increasing cooperation of local agencies throughout
the watershed. With the cost-share funding we hope
to implement several BMP projects throughout the
watershed. These projects will help in reducing the
sediment load as well as several, all too common,
pollutants in the watershed.
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