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

AFTER BEFORE
A gully repair project on Lake Miltona is
the largest project that the Douglas SWCD has worked on
in the past 18 years (pictured). The gully formed by the
ground slumping in April of 2002. Douglas County had
experienced extremely warm weather and heavy rain that
melted approximately 2 feet of snow in less than a 24-hour
period. With these conditions and the soils at this site, water
moved horizontally through the soil and supersaturated the
toe of the bluff causing it to slump into the lake. The gully
was approximately 40 feet wide by 12-15 deep from the top
of the bluff to the lake and was within 25 feet of a home.
With the help of the NRCS Area Offi ce and NRCS State
Offi ce Engineering and Soils Staff, an engineering plan was
put together to re-establish the bluff and provide drainage of
the soils to prevent this from happening again. Funding for
this project was a cooperative effort of the two landowners
whose properties were affected, the Douglas SWCD
through regular State Cost-Share and Special Project Cost-
Share (previously applied for to work in the Lake Miltona
Watershed) and from the Lake Miltona Association.
A project to create sensitive area maps
of lakes in Douglas County was completed in 2007 by
Douglas County and the Douglas SWCD. These maps
identify bluffs, wetlands, and sensitive soils around all lakes
Top 5 Natural Resource Concerns
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Douglas Soil & Water Conservation District
of Douglas County. The project began in 2003 with a grant
from BWSR. Since the grant ended, Douglas County has
funded this staff position, which is now combined with the
Water Planner position. In 2007 the maps were adopted
by the Douglas County Commissioners and are now
part of the Ordinances of Douglas County. These maps
are being used as tools for setting stricter restrictions on
development within the sensitive areas.
Development pressures and impacts on
Douglas County Water Resources
Stormwater/drainage management in urban
and rural areas of Douglas County
Reducing cropland erosion on highly erodible
land watershed with TMDL plans
Establishing buffers on riparian lands in both
agriculture and urban areas
Upgrading of failing septic systems in
riparian areas of Douglas County
Future Projects
Douglas County has many partially drained shallow lake
basins that have been drained by private ditches or County
Ditches. Presently the SWCD is working with three
private landowners and the MN DNR, who own parts of a
shallow lake basin that has been drained by a County ditch
and tile. The SWCD is working with the landowners to
secure conservation easements and to restore the wetland
to its previous state. If this restoration is completed, approximately
85 acres of drained wetland will be restored.
The Douglas SWCD has just started the process of updating
the Water Plan for Douglas County and will complete
the update in late 2008. With the projected growth
within Douglas County over the next 20 years, the local
water plan will play an important role in protecting and
preserving the natural resources of Douglas County.
Since the SWCD has a strong working relationship with
the Douglas County Land and Resource Management
Offi ce, recommendations from the revised Water Plan
can be incorporated into the Douglas County Ordinances
to further protect the resources of Douglas County.
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