Watershed Achievements Report

Watershed Minnesota River Achievements Basin Report 2008
Watershed Achievements Report Statewide 2015
Yellow Medicine Watershed
Lower Minnesota River Dissolved
Oxygen Elevation Project
Prompted by water quality issues in the Hawk Creek
watershed, a group of concerned citizens and local, state,
and federal representatives from the three counties in
the watershed began meeting in 1997 to work together
to address these water quality issues. Known as the Hawk
Creek Watershed Committee, the group determined
their long-term goal to be “improving the water quality/
quantity issues in the watershed, while also promoting
a healthy agricultural, industrial, and recreational based
economy for the region.”
The Hawk Creek Watershed drains 623,105 acres of
land. It is comprised of a main tributary (Hawk Creek)
and several other streams that flow directly into the
Minnesota River. Hawk Creek originates in the lakes
region of Kandiyohi County and flows approximately 65
miles to its mouth in the Minnesota River, located eight
miles southeast of Granite Falls. Agriculture occupies
approximately 88% of the land in the watershed.
The primary goal of this project was to implement BMPs
that decrease phosphorus runoff and increase water
infiltration in agricultural and urban areas in an effort
to achieve the water quality conditions outlined in the
Lower Minnesota River Dissolved Oxygen TMDL.
Throughout the duration of this grant, a total of 44
BMP projects were implemented with a reduction of
an estimated 23,653.43 pounds of phosphorus per year
and 4,529.27 tons of sediment per year and saving an
estimated 947.50 tons of soil per year. Water quality
monitoring has shown BMP implementation is working
with the reduction in phosphorus and sediment, but
they are still not to ecoregion standards. Hawk Creek
Watershed Project (HCWP) will continue the goals of
water quality improvement and increased watershed
citizen involvement.
Goals
• This project aimed to implement the following BMPs:
7 alternative intakes, 5 side inlets, 1 feedlot waste
reduction project, 1 rain garden, 1 bank stabilization,
and 1 grade stabilization. In total, a phosphorus
reduction of 485 pounds per year was anticipated.
• This project anticipated the enrollment of 100 acres of
buffer strips, which will reduce phosphorus loading by
849 pounds per year.
• This project aimed to restore 165 acres of wetlands,
with a phosphorus reduction of 3,929 pounds per year.
Results that count
• BMPs installed during this grant period include 1
alternative intake, 11 side inlets, 1 bio-engineered
streambank stabilization, 1 agriculture waste project,
1 rain garden, and 1 water and sediment control basin
for a total of 441.58 total treated acres, a phosphorus
reduction of 18,547.12 pounds per year, a sediment
reduction of 289.53 tons per year, and soil saved 289.53
tons per year. We exceeded our goal of the anticipated
phosphorus reduction by 18,062.12 pounds per year.
• 144.80 acres were enrolled in a buffer program,
resulting in a phosphorus reduction of 1,176.83 pounds
per year, a sediment reduction of 935.82 tons per year,
and 488.99 tons per year. We exceeded our goal of the
anticipated phosphorus reduction by 327.83 pounds
per year.
• 138.40 acres of wetlands were restored, resulting in a
phosphorus reduction of 3,929.48 pounds per year, a
sediment reduction of 3,303.92 tons per year, and soil
saved 168.98 tons per year. We exceeded our goal of
the anticipated phosphorus reduction by 0.48 pound
per year.
Lessons learned/Recommendations
Building cooperative working relationships with
communities and property owners is of the utmost
importance in maintaining a successful program.
Without interest and active participation of landowners,
implementation would be impossible. The reputation of
HCWP as a trusted partner in the arena of soil and water
conservation is at the core of our ability to secure and
implement pollutant reducing BMPs.
It is also important to recognize that individual farming
operations and communities have a wide range of needs.
To continue to be successful, a program must remain
as flexible as possible to serve the unique needs of each
individual producer. Project guidelines and goals must be
established without inhibiting the ability to diversify our
practices to meet the needs of the people we serve.
Feedback/Suggestions
Grant funds need to be inclusive enough to include
unforeseen expenses that are necessary to administer
the grant and fulfill grant objectives. Grant funds should
allow for expenditures that are necessary and required in
order to continue to operate and fulfill grant obligations.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency www.pca.state.mn.us 83