Inside this Issue:
Important Upcoming Dates
eLINK Best Management Practice Geospatial Data
Prevailing Wage
Grants Administration Manual Updates
Best Management Practice Effects Estimator Tool
Tip of the Quarter
Important Upcoming Dates
Aug. 31: FY27 Multipurpose Drainage Management quarterly application deadline
Aug. 31: Work Plan Submittal Deadline: FY27 Clean Water Legacy Partners (CWLP)
Oct. 20 - 22: BWSR Academy
Oct. 30: Work Plan Submittal Deadline: Managing Invasives for a Resilient Landscape (MIRL)
eLINK Best Management Practice Geospatial Data
BWSR updates the eLINK Best Management Practice (BMP) geospatial data on the MnGEO Commons on an annual basis. This data layer provides the locations of best management practices (BMPs) reported to the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) via the eLINK grant reporting system from 2003 to present. Data is updated daily and can be viewed on a dynamic map viewer. New features have been added to the map viewer. User can filter data at various scales.
This dataset includes all mapped BMPs associated with completed and closed grants. Practices connected with open grants considered “in progress” are included only if an installed date has been reported. Please be advised that any practice(s) associated with open grants are subject to change until all grants have final reports submitted, approved and grants are closed. The attribute HAS_OPEN_GRANTS_YN can be used to determine if a practice may be subject to change in the future.
The eLINK data represents BWSR grants funded through BWSR via the State General Fund, Clean Water Fund, and Bonding funds. Practices funded through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Clean Water Partnership and 319 programs and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) well-sealing grants are also included. This dataset does not include BWSR Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) easements, which are collected in a database outside of eLINK. BWSR RIM easement data is provided through a separate dataset on the MnGEO Commons.
As of June 15, 2026, there are 62,874 BMPs records in BWSR eLINK database. Of those, 54,365 records are mapped in the geographic information system (GIS) database are available to the public. A total of 51,078 records are connected to closed grants. Another 3,287 records are connected to open grants and have an “Installed Date” reported. These mapped records are up from 51,788 records in 2025.
Prevailing Wage
Over the past year, BWSR staff have been meeting with staff from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) to better understand statutory language changes related to prevailing wage that were made in 2024 and how prevailing wage now applies to work funded by BWSR grants.
Within BWSR grant agreements, there is a section of prevailing wage which states:
Contracting and Bidding Requirements: The Grantee and any subrecipients must comply with prevailing wage rules per Minnesota Statutes §§ 177.41 through 177.50, as applicable.
Minnesota’s prevailing wage laws are administered by DLI. Per DLI’s website, prevailing wage is the minimum hourly wage employers must pay certain workers who work on construction and public works projects where state dollars are used to fund the construction.
A Prevailing Wage chapter has been reintroduced to the Grants Administration Manual (GAM) and provides guidance on the following:
- What prevailing wage is
- How it applies to BWSR grants
- Requirements when it applies to a project
- Determining the rates
To learn more, visit the Prevailing Wage chapter of the GAM.
FY27 Updates to the Grants Administration Manual
The Grants Administration Manual (GAM) establishes the administrative and programmatic framework for grants administered by BWSR. Updates summarized below are in effect as of July 1, 2026 for Fiscal Year 2027. For detail, please visit the link to the updated chapters below.
Chapter name | Summary of changes |
|---|---|
| About | Added language clarifying which GAM version chapter(s) may be used. Added definitions for Fraud and Misuse. Removed definition for “land occupier.” |
| Allowable Costs | Updated mileage rates. |
| Assurances | Operation and Maintenance and Period Practice/Project Inspections procedures updated under the Technical Quality Assurances section. Additional guidance added for Operation and Maintenance Plans. Replaced the term “Land Occupier” with “Landowner or Authorized Agent.” |
| Closing Out a BWSR Grant | Added procedure for returning negligible funds. |
| FAQs | Prevailing wage question removed and reinstated as a chapter. Added FAQ regarding the reporting of concerns on fraud or misuse. Replaced the term “Land Occupier” with “Landowner or Authorized Agent.” |
| Prevailing Wage | Chapter returned and updated based on information provided by Department of Labor and Industry. |
| Processing a BWSR Grant | Added website contact information language. |
| Providing Financial Assistance | Minor text changes for clarity. Clarified Technical Assistance Provider certification procedures for amendments and percent-based payments. Replaced the term “Land Occupier” with “Landowner or Authorized Agent.” Updated chapter title to Providing Financial Assistance. |
| Records, Program and Project Files | Minor text changes for clarity. Replaced the term “Land Occupier” with “Landowner or Authorized Agent.” |
| Reporting | Added website contact information language. |
| Grant Noncompliance Policy | Revised to incorporate fraud and misuse. |
| Recording Conservation Practices | Replaced the term “Land Occupier” with “Landowner or Authorized Agent.” |
Best Management Practice Effects Estimator Tool Update from MPCA
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released two tools in conjunction with revision and updates to Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy (NRS), which was finalized in January 2026:
- BEET Planner – a tool to quickly approximate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions from new or future BMPs
- BEET Tracker – a tool to estimate approximate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment load reductions from existing BMPs implemented through government-funded programs
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. NOTE: The WPLRCT was phased out in April and is no longer on the MPCA website. The new BEET Planner tool includes updated water quality modeling data, includes a basin-wide scale (in addition to major and minor watershed scales) for planning purposes; adds a few additional BMPs to the list; adds a state-line delivery point; and has been reformatted into a vertical web format that works better on a wider variety of electronic devices.
By August 2026 or earlier, a revised version of the BEET Planner will be deployed with updated HSPF modeled data, nutrient efficiencies based on the Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy science assessment, suitable acres for practices by minor watershed, and improvements to the user interface. Training videos will follow once the user interface updates have been made, and a webinar on the BEET tools is planned for fall 2026.
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 users to visualize modeled reductions at the minor watershed level based on real practices that have implemented. The application also includes a basin-scale component, which will be used by MPCA to track adoption of practices at that scale and measure long-term progress toward NRS goals.
For general questions, contact Matt Drewitz, MPCA Research Scientist, at matt.drewitz@state.mn.us. For troubleshooting or comments on the online BEET application functions, contact David Miller, MPCA Data Analyst, at david.l.miller@state.mn.us.
Tip of the Quarter
Is the amount of an employee’s benefits private data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA)? Can a grantee include the amount in a billing rate or indirect cost allocation?
The amount of an employee’s benefits is public information. The Data Practices Act classifies “the value and nature of employer paid fringe benefits” as public data (Minnesota Statutes 2015, section 13.43, subdivision 2). Information regarding the use of health or medical benefits, including sick time (13.43, subdivision 2 (a)(8)) and “data pertaining to an employee's dependents” (13.43, subdivision 4), is private information and should be secured. BWSR’s billing rate template includes a field for “Yearly Hours” but does not specify a reason for working or not working the number of hours.
How do I learn more about data practices?
Financial records and other grant files kept may contain private or nonpublic data. Private data are data identifying an individual that are only available to the individual or with the individual’s consent. Nonpublic data are data on a business or other entity that are only available to the subject of the data or with the subject’s consent.
For more information and requirements on all data classification types, refer to the Minnesota Data Practices Act.