Inside this Issue:
Important Upcoming Dates
Annual Reporting Feb. 1 Deadline
Tell Your Story! Grant Reporting for Clean Water Fund Grants
PTMApp Updates for Annual Reporting
BMP Effects Estimator Tool (BEET) Update from MPCA
Forestry Estimator for Runoff and Nutrients (FERN)
Returning Funds
Tip of the Quarter
Managing Contacts in eLINK
Important Upcoming Dates
Jan. 16 Target date for FY25 Conservation Reserve Program State Incentive Tracking Form (final deadline is Feb. 1)
Feb. 1: Deadline for reporting on most BWSR grants
Feb. 1: Deadline for BWSR WCA Annual Reporting Form
Feb. 1: Deadline for DNR Shoreland Activity survey
Feb. 1: Deadline for MPCA SSTS annual report
Feb. 26: FY26 Multipurpose Drainage Management application period closes
March 2: FY27 Multipurpose Drainage Management application period opens
April 30: FY26 Watershed-Based Implementation Funding, PRAP and 1W1P Midpoint funding applications due by 4:30 p.m.
May 29: FY27 Multipurpose Drainage Management application period closes
June 1: FY27 Watershed-Based Implementation Funding open
Look for future spring funding request opportunities here Apply for BWSR Grants
Annual Reporting Feb. 1 Deadline
BWSR's Feb. 1 annual reporting deadline is right around the corner. Several administrative activities are subject to this deadline, including:
- Final reporting on grants that expired on Dec. 31, 2025
- Annual reports for most open grants
- Annual program activity reports
- Reminder to create a Progress Report for No Funds Spent
BWSR's website hosts several resources to assist you with your eLINK reporting, we recommend the following resources:
eLINK guidance videos
Adding Activities and Creating a Work Plan in eLINK
Progress Reporting in eLINK
eLINK guidance
Managing Grant Activities and Submitting a Work Plan
Linking Activities
Progress Reporting
Mapping Activity Details
Expenditures
Attachments
Additional resources
Grants Administration Manual
Program Reporting
Grants Expiration Dates
eLINK Reporting at a Glance
Grant Profiles
Reference your grant agreements and any amendments to determine the reporting requirements and deadlines as they apply to the specific grants your organization has received.
BWSR encourages grantees to begin working on reporting activities well before the deadline so that you can access help if you need it. Contact your board conservationist or grant manager with grant-specific reporting questions, and direct eLINK-related questions to eLINKsupport@state.mn.us.
Tell Your Story! Grant Reporting for Clean Water Fund Grants
Did you know that all BWSR Clean Water Fund (CWF) grant outcomes are publicly available on the Minnesota's Legacy website?
Please keep the public audience in mind as you complete annual or final reporting on your CWF grants. The activity details capture quantitative information (practices and indicators), while the results can be used to clearly and succinctly tell the story of what was accomplished through the grant.
Updates and Information on Tools and Estimators for Annual Reporting
Based on the results from a tools assessment survey and suggestions from participants, four training videos were created for Prioritize, Target, and Measure Application (PTMApp) and related tools during the winter of 2025.
Let's take a look at the past year
Training videos are available here PTMApp Learning Center
BWSR staff provided a day long in-person training to Local Units of Government staff on March 25, 2025 on the use of PTMApp and related tools for reporting outcomes.
BWSR staff provided training on Reporting Outcomes Using PTMApp during the 2025 BWSR Academy. This training provided an overview and hands on session on the use of PTMApp tool to effectively report the outcomes of implementation of conservation practices.
BWSR staff provided three two-hour virtual office hour sessions on the use of the PTMApp tool for reporting outcomes during the fall.
BWSR staff actively participated in the review and launch of Forestry Estimator for Runoff and Nutrients (FERN) tool in collaboration with staff from Itasca County Soil and Water Conservation staff.
BWSR staff completed three virtual office hours and one four-hour virtual training on the use of BWSR Estimator Tools for Technical Service Area 3 Soil and Water Conservation Staff during the fall.
Looking ahead
BWSR staff is planning small group in-person training for using PTMApp Web data viewer in 2026. Information on the PTMApp training that can be used for eLINK annual reporting can be found at PTMApp Learning Center.
Small group in-person training sessions are being planned during the winter 2026 to provide hands on training on the BWSR estimator tool.
Please contact the BWSR Modeling and Outcomes Coordinator Dr. Udai B. Singh (udai.singh@state.mn.us).
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Updates
MPCA staff provided training on reporting outcomes using HSPF at BWSR Academy 2025. Watershed Pollutant Load Reduction Calculator (WPLRCT) will be available until February 2026 annual reporting deadline.
Watershed Pollutant Load Reduction Calculator (WPLRCT) has been updated and renamed as Best Management Practice Effects Estimator Tool (BEET) by MPCA which provides Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Nitrogen and Phosphorus reduction values for BMPs based on the HSPF model. This online tool can be used for annual reporting of pollutant reductions for BMPs in eLINK and specifically helpful for projects that used HSPF model in their comprehensive watershed management planning efforts.
BMP Effects Estimator Tool (BEET) Update from MPCA
Please contact either David Miller (david.l.miller@state.mn.us) or Matt Drewitz (matt.drewitz@state.mn.us) with MPCA.
Best Management Practice Effects Estimator Tool (BEET) Update from MPCA
The MPCA recently released two tools in conjunction with the DRAFT Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy update in July 2025:
BEET Planner – tool to quickly estimate approximate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions from BMPs
BEET Tracker – tool to estimate approximate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions from existing BMPs implemented through government funded programs since 2013
The BEET Planner application is an update and replacement to the existing Watershed Pollutant Load Reduction Calculator Tool (WPLRCT), which many local government staff have used in the past for reporting BMP pollution reduction estimates in eLINK. The WPLRCT will be kept up on the MPCA website until annual reporting is completed in February 2026 but will be phased out soon thereafter. The new BEET Planner tool includes updated water quality modeling data, includes the basin wide scale (in addition to major and minor watershed scales) for planning purposes, adds a few additional BMPs to the list, and has been formatted to a vertical web format that works better on a wider variety of electronic devices. You will notice some differences between the BEET Planner and the old WPLRCT results because the differences in modeled loads in the updated BEET Planner database.
The BEET Tracker tool takes existing BMP data from government programs (USDA NRCS, BWSR, MPCA, MDH, and MDA) that is used in the MPCA Healthier Watershed Application and applies pollution reduction benefits based on the BEET Planner water quality modeling database. This application allows the user to visualize the level modeled reductions at the minor watershed level based on real practices that have been implemented. This application also has a basin scale component which will be used by MPCA to track adoption of practices at that scale as well.
MPCA will be developing some educational videos and training materials in the coming months for both BEET tools and recently tested out some video content at BWSR Academy. Look for information on that in a future Grants Quarterly update. For general questions, contact Matt Drewitz, MPCA Research Scientist, at matt.drewitz@state.mn.us. For trouble shooting or comments on the online BEET application functions, contact David Miller, MPCA Data Analyst, at david.l.miller@state.mn.us
Forestry Estimator for Runoff and Nutrients (FERN)
The Forestry Estimator for Runoff and Nutrients (FERN) was created by Houston Engineering, Inc (HEI) with funding support from the Upper Mississippi-Grand Rapids Watershed partnership planning effort. The purpose of FERN is estimating water quality benefits from select forestry best management practices (BMPs). FERN is intended to be a statewide forest implementation decision support tool. Prior to the development of FERN simple models, tools, or estimators for estimating reasonable sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen load reductions at receiving waterbodies from BMPs implemented within forested lands did not exist. FERN is a tool that can help fill that space.
FERN (Forestry Estimator Tools) was created within Microsoft Excel and estimates existing sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen loads along with BMP-driven load reductions using static datasets of landscape sediment and nutrient yields.
Existing loads of sediment, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen calculated within FERN are based on data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model for the Midwest United States (Robertson and Saad, 2019). Once the final existing sediment and nutrient load values are calculated, the expected load reduction from an implemented BMP is calculated based on the assumed load reduction efficiency of a selected BMP and the area across which that BMP is being applied.
The FERN tool, along with the Forestry Technical Memorandum, has been posted on the BWSR Water Quality Tools and Models webpage with the other pollution reduction tools. This is available for estimating and reporting measurable environmental outcomes for water quality projects funded through BWSR and agency partners.
Returning Funds
If you need to return grant funds at closeout, please follow the additional steps below. After completing all reporting — including final expenditures in eLINK, click the Add New Progress Report button on the Progress Reporting tab:
- Answer these questions “Is this a final report?” and “Are you returning funds?”
- Complete the following fields Confirm the Amount to be returned, Enter check # (if known), Narrative
- Check the attestation box
- Click the Save button
- Click the Generate Returned Funds Form button
If you forget to generate this form on the progress report page, you can still generate it from the progress report page or the generate reports on either the eLINK grant activities tab or the progress reporting tab - Click the Submit button
- Make the returned funds check payable to BWSR (return the check and returned funds form to the address listed on the form). Returning the form with the check helps us attribute the funds to the right grant.
Tip of the Quarter
Q: How can a grantee use the billing rate template to account for the cost of MN Paid Leave premiums?
A: Employer paid premiums may be incorporated into the billing rate template one of two ways:
1. Enter the paid leave premium rate as a percent under benefits. If applicable enter benefit payments that meet the paid leave wage definition under *other benefits. The template will calculate the premium per hour based on a percentage of the base rate plus *other benefits.
2. Enter the paid leave premium as an expense under facilities. This is a look back based on expenses paid as reported in the previous 12 months financial reports.
Managing Contacts in eLINK
Reminder: Continue to keep your organization, contact, and eLINK user information up to date as your organization has staffing changes and when your organization’s annual elections are finalized.
BWSR maintains contact information in the system for:
- eLINK Users (Users, SWCD Users, SWCD Managers, NRCS Users, NRCS Managers these roles have eLINK Accounts)
- Organizations
- Other changes (update the Day-to-day contact (D2DC) for your organization)
- Directories
Search, View, Edit, Add, and Export Contacts - Under Contacts, and Contact and User Management, eLINK Users can search, edit select details about contacts for their organization and export contacts data into a report.
How to maintain and edit Contacts and Board Members information
How to maintain and edit eLINK User information
How to maintain and edit organization information
Requesting any other Changes to Contacts or Organizations:
Edits that cannot be completed by someone that has an eLINK User account (for example if an organization needs to update their D2DC), should be submitted via the Support Ticket form in eLINK (preferred) or to eLINKsupport@state.mn.us
These are directly tied to eLINK, but can only be accessed by eLINK Users
- Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD)
- SWCD Technical Service Areas
- Watershed Districts (WD)
- Watershed Management Organizations (WMO)