Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources

Announcements

April 25, 2018

Soil and Water Stewardship Week is April 29-May 6

St. Paul, Minn.— In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesotans have a great love for their lakes, rivers, streams and the great outdoors. For over 70 years, Minnesota’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) have been hard at work protecting our state’s critical soil and water resources by working with landowners on programs and practices that support conservation, healthy working lands, and clean water. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) honors and celebrates that work as part of Soil and Water Stewardship Week, April 29 – May 6, 2018. Read the full story here.

April 12, 2018

BWSR Board Committee Votes Down Additional APO Option

St. Paul, Minn. — Today, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) Buffers, Soils, and Drainage Committee met in St. Paul to review public comments on a draft amendment to the Administrative Penalty Order Plan (APO) for Buffer Implementation. Based on comments received via the public notice, the Board Committee voted unanimously to reject the proposal. Read the press release here. Read the letter Executive Director John Jaschke shared with Ag groups earlier this week here.

April 2, 2018

Notice of Request for Comment on a Proposed Amendment to Administrative Penalty Order Plan for Buffer Law Implementation

St. Paul, Minn. — The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is requesting public review and comment on a proposed amendment to the Administrative Penalty Order (APO) Plan for Buffer Law Implementation. The purpose of the amendment is to offer another option to assess penalties for noncompliance with the buffer requirements for counties and watershed districts that choose to use APO in the official control. Please visit the Buffer Program page to find more information about the proposed amendment and request for comments.

April 2, 2018

2018 RFP for One Watershed, One Plan Planning Grants

St. Paul, Minn. — The Board of Water and Soil Resources is currently accepting proposals for One Watershed, One Plan planning grants using funds appropriated from the Clean Water Fund. This grant application period will run from April 2 through July 2, with funds awarded at the Board’s August meeting. Please visit the Apply for BWSR Grants page for more information.

February 2, 2018

BWSR Completes Feasibility Study and Plan for Working Lands Watershed Restoration Program

St. Paul, Minn.— BWSR has completed a feasibility study and plan for a Working Lands Watershed Restoration Program – a program that would provide incentives for landowners to plant perennial and cover crops that will improve water quality. The report, posted below, includes an overview of promising crops and livestock enterprises, including perennial grasses and winter annual cover crops that keep roots in the soil and vegetation on the land throughout the year, improving soil health and wildlife habitat, storing carbon, and capturing excess nitrogen. Many of these crops can be grown for food or beverage production, grazed, used for livestock feed and bedding, or processed for applications such as bio-jet fuel, bio-based packaging, and renewable chemicals.

The study was directed by the 2016 Minnesota Legislature (Laws 2016, c. 189, s. 4) with the goal of improving water quality by increasing living cover on the landscape at a watershed scale. 

BWSR coordinated this effort with stakeholders and other state agencies, including agricultural and resource conservation interests, commodity groups, watershed districts, soil and water conservation districts, the biofuels industry, landowners, researchers at the University of Minnesota, and the Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Health, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

BWSR will continue to work with partners and stakeholders to analyze water quality impacts, track the progress of crop development, and investigate emerging market opportunities. Updates will be posted to this page regularly.

Read more.

February 1, 2018

Recommendations for Accelerating Public Drainage System Acquisition and Establishment of Buffer Strips and Alternative Practices

St. Paul, Minn.—BWSR has released a report for legislative consideration containing recommendations for accelerating the establishment of buffer strips on those reaches of Minnesota’s 19,150 miles of public drainage ditches that still need vegetative buffers. The report recommends statutory changes, funding provisions, administrative policy changes, and a comprehensive outreach and education to the county and watershed district drainage authorities that manage these systems on behalf of the landowners who own them. The 2017 Legislature directed BWSR to coordinate the Drainage Work Group to evaluate and make recommendations that would accelerate the acquisition and establishment of buffer strips or alternative practices along public drainage systems in advance of the November 1, 2018 deadline established by Minnesota’s Buffer Law. The Drainage Work Group completed and approved the 23-page report in early January and on January 24, 2018 the BWSR Board accepted it and directed it be sent to the legislature. The Drainage Work Group has representatives from all the key stakeholder groups involved in the management of public drainage systems in Minnesota. Read more here.

February 1, 2018

Root Causes, Root Solutions

St. Paul, Minn.—Improvements Josh and Steph Dahl are making on their fourth-generation family farm through the Root River Field to Stream Partnership will position their Houston County dairy operation for the future. Intensive edge-of-field and in-stream monitoring data collected here and on three other southeastern Minnesota farms will pinpoint what effect specific conservation practices have on water quality. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture-led venture started with monitoring in 2010. Clean Water Fund grants from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources helped fund conservation practices in Houston, Fillmore and Mower counties. Full story here.

January 25, 2018

Root River Area Farmers Implement Conservation Practices to Reduce Soil Erosion, Protect Water Quality

St. Paul, Minn.—The Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Board of Water and Soil Resources announced that their Root River Field to Stream Partnership with local farmers is reducing soil loss and protecting water quality. Nearly 100 percent of farmers in the Root River study area have participated in a field walkover to identify those areas most susceptible to sediment and nutrient loss. In just two years, more than 60 percent of those farmers have installed or fixed conservation practices in their fields to reduce these losses. Read more here.

December 21, 2017

Minnesota Awards $15.2 Million in Clean Water Fund Grants to Improve Water Quality Across the State

St. Paul, Minn. – Governor Mark Dayton commended the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) Board action to improve water quality in streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater across the state. The new grants, from the state’s Clean Water Fund, include $6.5 million dollars which will be used to protect at-risk waters and restore polluted waters throughout the state. Read the press release here.

December 19, 2017

BWSR celebrates outstanding 2017 conservation work

St. Paul, Minn. – As the year draws to a close, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) recognized the excellent work done locally in Minnesota communities to advance conservation. Read the press release here.

November 13, 2017

Sign up for MN CREP continues despite Federal CRP Continuous Signup suspension

St. Paul, Minn. – In October, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced a temporary suspension of enrollment in the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP). However, Minnesota landowners are still able to participate in sign-ups for the Minnesota Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (MN CREP). Read the press release here.

November 8, 2017

New healthy soils initiative launched by the Board of Water and Soil Resources and the University of Minnesota

St. Paul, Minn. – Clean water depends on healthy soil – soil that supports plant growth and can absorb, hold, and filter water. Healthy soil, in turn, depends on how people manage the land. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) and the University of Minnesota’s Water Resources Center (WRC) have committed to expand the science of soil health and share practical information with the farmers, conservationists and others who manage our state’s soils. Read the press release here.