August 28, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Minnesota River Watershed Alliance meeting notes
Aug. 28, 2012, Ridgewater College, Hutchinson
Facilitator: Cathi Fouchi
Recorder: Forrest PetersonPresent: Charlie Blair, Susie Carlin, Cathi Fouchi, Alice Hanley, Chantill Kahler-Royer, Scott Kudelka, Mike Lein, Patrick Moore, Al Odenthal, Forrest Peterson, Sebastian Remarke, Franz Richter, Elliot Schofield, Richard Smith, Erik Wrede.
- 7 p.m. – Welcome and introductions
- Event and activity updates
- Patrick gave a review of Friendship Tour activities in the basin.
A field day July 31 featured saturated buffers and bioreactors on the
Doug Albin farm west of Hanley Falls. An Aug. 14 event at the Doug Hager
farm south of Mankato featured Discovery Farm monitoring at a berm
protecting a gully from field runoff.
- Forrest reported on the Aug. 20 meeting of the Agriculture Water
Quality Certification advisory committee, which is beginning the process
of selecting pilot subwatersheds for establishing criteria for
certification. He also reviewed the Upper Minnesota-South Dakota
Friendship Tour July 11.
- Susie and Chantill reported on the MRWA booth at Henderson
Sauerkraut Days. They promoted the Paddler Patch, and provided water
trail maps.
- 2013 Mayors’ Fishing Opener: Scott Sparlin, Patrick Moore, and Tim
Lies will lead the committee; they need a catchy title for the committee.
This project will be on the agenda for the Oct. 23 MRWA meeting.
- Minnesota Falls dam removal: Patrick reported that work on
removing the old dam could begin in late September or early October. He
suggested that the Alliance vote on a resolution at the next meeting,
encouraging the DNR to acquire the Xcel property for public use. Oct. 11,
CURE is hosting a dialogue on dam removal issues.
- Frac sand mining near St. Peter: Susie reported on a draft EIS for
a frac sand mining site proposed near St. Peter by Unimin, a leading
producer of non-metallic industrial minerals. It will be important for
citizen watchdogs to follow this project; more information will be
available by the Oct. 23 meeting.
- Big Stone quarry proposal: Patrick reported that the city of
Ortonville is seeking to annex Big Stone Township, to pave the way for
Strata Corp. to develop a granite quarry near the Big Stone National
Wildlife Refuge. The township has passed an ordinance establishing
planning and zoning authority in an effort to stop the project.
- Minnesota River Blueway nomination
- Charlie Blair presented information about the National Blueways
System, which is part of the America’s Great Outdoor Initiative. The
effort focuses on conservation, recreation, and education. He distributed
draft copies of the nomination description and form. The Connecticut
River has been designated the first National Blueway. He said the
Minnesota River has potential for being nominated one of six pilot
Blueways.
- The program will be formally announced this fall followed by
solicitation of nominations. A group of USFWS and DNR staff are working
on a nomination, and it could be submitted by a citizen group such as the
Alliance.
- Alliance members voted unanimously to serve as the entity for
nominating the Minnesota River to the Blueways System. Patrick said he
would work on raising funds; Several people are needed to work on this,
and Susie will check on the availability of student interns.
- Minnesota Water Trail 50th anniversary
- Erik Wrede, DNR water trails coordinater, said a 50th
anniversary event is being planned for June or July 2013. It would be a
6- to 7-mile paddle on the upper Minnesota River, and could tie into
existing community events. Shuttle buses would take people to the start.
A paddle event this past summer had about 130 participants.
- Minnesota started the water trail system in 1963. One of the first
states to do so, there are now 33 water trails over 4,400 miles in
Minnesota.
- Patrick suggested a route from Granite Falls to Upper Sioux Agency
State Park. It will also be the 175th anniversary of the
Joseph Nicollet visit to the area.
- Other upcoming events
- CURE is sponsoring an event Sept. 23 at Camp Release to
commemorate the 1862 conflict. The event starts at 1 p.m. at Chippewa
Village in Montevideo.
- Meander – Upper Minnesota River Art Crawl is Oct. 5-7. Friday
evening there will be a local theater production in Granite Falls,
covering 10,000 years of history on the river in 45 minutes.
- The Gustavus College Nobel Conference is Oct. 2-3 in St. Peter.
The theme is “Our Global Ocean.”
- MRWA coordinating process
- Cathi Fouchi and Brad Cobb will help create the agenda and
facilitate meetings.
- CURE will prepare and send flyers to promote the meetings.
- The next meeting is Oct. 23 at Ridgewater College in Hutchinson;
science instructor Elliot Schofield will arrange for the meeting room.
Action summary: The Minnesota River Watershed Alliance agreed to serve as the organization to nominate the
Minnesota River for recognition in the National Blueways System. Part of America's Great Outdoors Initiative, the Blueways System "will provide a national
emphasis on a 'source to sea' approach to river and watershed conservation, and
encourage stakeholders to integrate land and water stewardship efforts by
forming watershed-based, locally-led stakeholder partnerships." Charlie
Blair, USFWS staff with the
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife
Refuge in Bloomington, said the
Minnesota River has great potential for nomination to the Blueways System.
Cathi Fouchi, of the New Ulm DNR office, will be working on the nomination
form. The Alliance will seek out others to help; Susie Carlin offered to check
on the availability of student interns; Patrick Moore will work on raising
funds to support the effort.
Meeting notes:
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