Watershed Achievements Report

Statewide Watershed Achievements Report 2015
Turf and Winter Maintenance Training –
FFY 2010 Amendment
Nutrients and chloride are immediate issues of concern
for Minnesota and many other states due to their negative
impacts on the environment, including impaired waters.
Currently 329 Minnesota streams and lakes are on
the 2008 TMDL list for nutrient/eutrophication. Thirty
percent of sampled groundwater wells in the Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area (TCMA) exceed the federal drinking
water standard for chloride, and Minnesota has seven
streams already on the impaired list for chlorides.
Goals
This amendment and funding were added to expand
the number of trainings. As with Fortin Consulting Inc.
(FCI)’s other 319 work, the emphasis is on teaching BMP’s
of winter snow and ice control with rock salt, and with
chemicals such as phosphorus and nitrogen used in
turfgrass maintenance.
Results that count
This grant funded training of an extra 415 maintenance
professionals, public and private, who engage in winter
and summer activities which lead to the introduction of
nutrients/phosphorus and chloride into the environment.
We also offered an MPCA-approved test for voluntary
certification.
Sixteen workshops and two short presentations were
held under this grant, with a total of 215 participants.
A sampling shows a minimum reduction of 20% in
chlorides and 35% reduction of phosphorus sent through
stormwater runoff due to this educational outreach and
the subsequent changed practices. The training material
was also refined and improved throughout the course of
the grant funding.
With a portion of this funding, FCI also evaluated the
interest for having a field demonstration as part of the
turfgrass class. The demonstration consisted of seven
stations. Participants rotated through the stations at
half hour increments. We had a strong turnout with 81
participants. One hundred percent of the respondents
rated the Field Demo good or excellent. Ninety six percent
would recommend it to a colleague. Participants found
the event valuable and felt the field demo should be held
every year (52%) or every two years (30%).
Lessons learned
Training for governmental and private maintenance must
include information addressing potential cost concerns.
We were fortunate in that we were able to provide
information that showed that adoption of the BMPs could
also save money. As we continued to gain actual results
from those using the practices, we added these actual
numbers to our training.
The thing we struggled most with is getting the
attendance of the private contractors. They are not
paid to attend training, and are not earning money
while attending, so it is difficult to get them to come
to workshops, even with the training being free or low
cost. Some ideas were discussed which we believe would
help, but none were tried by the local partners. FCI
recommends that counties and cities be supported in
requiring certification of maintenance staff doing work
within their borders.
Liability is a big barrier for many of the contractors and
government staff. Many were concerned that if they
reduced the amount of deicers used they would open
themselves up for future legal problems. The training
promotes reduction of material while maintaining safety.
However, we believe liability will continue to be a barrier
to chloride reduction unless there is an effort through
legal means to give individuals more responsibility for
their driving and walking under winter conditions.
From the start we planned on including two types of
instructors, one knowledgeable in water resources
and training, and another that has the experience
and knowledge in conducting winter and turfgrass
maintenance. We found that this worked very well
and helped give the training credibility with the winter
maintenance professionals. We were able to provide
environmental information, technical information on
the products, equipment and methods, and practical
information on using the practices. We recommend this
model for similar training.
One thing we recommend for this priority area is a media
campaign for the general public. Plow drivers continue
to frequently comment that they are using a lot of salt or
lawn chemicals because of public demand and that the
public must reduce its demands for perfectly clear roads
and perfect turfgrass. A public media campaign could
be used to help the public understand that there are
environmental ramifications to using salt and sand on our
roads and excess chemicals on turfgrass.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency www.pca.state.mn.us 41