MANKATO — While there are many challenges to improving the Minnesota River Basin, one issue has become the key focus in recent years.
“Water storage, in all forms, is the big story,” said Scott Sparlin of New Ulm, a longtime river advocate.
He kicked off the 16th Minnesota River Congress Thursday evening at the Kato Ballroom, where state and local officials and area residents talked about recent successes and future goals for improving the rivers.
Reducing the rapid flow of water into area rivers, which erode banks and create water quality problems, has become the chief target for state agencies and river quality groups in recent years.
More erratic rain events and better farm field drainage that quickly removes water from the landscape have sent more water more quickly to ravines, streams, and into the Minnesota River.
“It’s the bounce in the river up and down, up and down,” Sparlin said. “Water storage on the landscape is what’s needed.”
John Jaschke, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and Rita Weaver, chief engineer of BWSR, talked about state funding their agency received to do more water storage projects and their hopes for getting federal funding to accomplish more.
“The Minnesota River is a large drainage area and we’re looking for ways to store more water on the landscape, more ways to keep water closer to where it rains or where the snowmelt is,” Jaschke said.
“We’re building infrastructure, some larger and some smaller to hold water longer, the way nature used to do.”
The Minnesota River Basin drains nearly 15,000 square miles of land in Minnesota and about 2,000 square miles in South Dakota and Iowa.
Weaver said the state Legislature last session appropriated $17 million to BWSR to lead water storage projects, but hasn’t guaranteed future funding. She said the agency will in July apply for a $22 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture so they can use it to match state funding for any projects that landowners agree to do.
“We’ll find out in October if we get it,” she said.
Jaschke said water retention projects are voluntary and BWSR works with landowners and their neighbors who are interested in doing a project.
He said the projects are often done when there is a maintenance project done on farm drainage ditches.
“But they can also be done during a road project where you can do small projects, or we also just look for a spot to do them.” He said they now have better data showing where water used to be stored naturally on the landscape that would be good places for projects. They then see if landowners in the area are interested in taking part.
Weaver said projects qualifying for funding need to show they would result in reduction of peak flow rates and/or volumes, must show reduced flooding concerns, water quality improvements and other benefits. The project also must have a lifespan of at least 25 years.
The mission of the River Congress is to promote citizen input from a wide variety of stakeholders to find ways to cooperate on improving the river basin.
The River Congress gets financial support from the McKnight Foundation and the Izaak Walton League is a co-host of the event.
Attendees also heard from David Minge, an environmental advocate, former U.S. House member and Minnesota Court of Appeals judge.
Ted Suss, of the Izaak Walton League, talked about the Upper Mississippi River Initiative.
Also speaking were local legislators Nick Frentz and Jeff Brand, state Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen, Department of Natural Resources Regional Administrator Scott Roemhildt and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Assistant Commissioner Dana Vanderbosch.