Public discussions in January were held in Koochiching and St. Louis counties to present the most current report on the health of the Littlefork River Watershed and to invite public comment.
In March, follow-up meetings will be held to present updated information and to continue the discussion regarding future projects over the next few years.
Public dialogue and ideas are encouraged to aid in the collaborative process of identifying potential restoration project areas. Local partners will be asking the community for suggestions on future projects that could reduce sediment loads to the Littlefork River and the greater watershed. The event will include a meal sponsored by the Koochiching County Farm Bureau and discussions to shape the future of the community resources.
Koochiching and Itasca SWCDs will host two events, repeated in different locations for convenience:
- March 18, 4:30 p.m., Littlefork Community Building, 220 Main St., Littlefork.
- March 19, 4:30 p.m. in.the French Town Hall, 7401 Highway 5.
Background
The passage of Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Act in 2006 provided policy framework and money for state and local governments to accelerate efforts to monitor, assess, and restore impaired waters, and to protect unimpaired waters.
The Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy, known as WRAPS, process is a 10-year repeating cycle. During the 10-year cycle, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and its partner organizations work on each of the state's watersheds to evaluate water conditions, establish priorities and goals for improvement, and take actions designed to restore or protect water quality. The primary feature of the watershed approach is that it focuses on the watershed's condition as the starting point for water quality assessment, planning, implementation, and measurement of results.
During the first five years of the 10-year cycle, intensive water quality monitoring and assessments are conducted. The results of these efforts show which water bodies - lakes and streams - meet the water quality standards and which water bodies do not. For those water bodies that do not meet the water quality standards, a Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, study is conducted.
A TMDL is a research project which determines the cause of the impaired waters and what reductions in the pollutant type are needed to meet the standards for those waters. Local partners then work on projects for restoration of impaired waters or protection of high quality waters for the next five years. When a watershed's 10 year cycle is completed, a new cycle begins.
Littlefork River WRAPS
The Littlefork River WRAPS process began in 2008 with monitoring and assessments by the MPCA, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Itasca Soil & Water Conservation District, and Koochiching SWCD.
Findings from combined data collections showed impairments in four segments of the Littlefork River’s main stem, totaling just over 100 river miles. These segments were then listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Impaired Waters List, also referred to as the “303(d) list.”
Currently, a TMDL study is being conducted on the Littlefork River to determine where the sediment is coming from, how much sediment is presently in the river system, and what can be done to reduce the amount of sediment. The next cycle for data collection in the Littlefork River Watershed will begin again in 2018. During the next cycle we will be able to measure the results of restoration and protection projects implemented during the previous cycle.
Next steps
The time is approaching for local partners to develop projects that will result in a reduction of sediment in the river.
While public events in January focused on the TMDL report, the upcoming March events will focus on the draft WRAPS report produced by the MPCA and used to leverage grant funds to implement proposed projects. This will be presented by guest speakers from Emmons & Olivier Resources Inc., a company contracted by the MPCA to conduct the research and analysis needed to finalize both the TMDL and the WRAPS reports.
For more information,contact Jolén Simon, Koochiching SWCD program coordinator, 283-1180; or Kim Slanga, Itasca SWCD Water Resources technician/specialist, 218-326-0017.
