News Release: Minnesota River group pursues ‘National Blueway’ designation
News Release
Date:
Contacts: Ted Suss,
507-828-3377; Forrest Peterson, 320-441-6972; Scott Sparlin, 507-276-2280; Brad
Cobb, 507-637-2828.
Minnesota
River group pursues ‘National Blueway’ designation
Years of effort by groups and
individuals working to improve the Minnesota River could be getting a boost from
a national recognition program highlighting major river basins. The Minnesota
River Watershed Alliance has nominated the Minnesota River to become a
“National Blueway.”
In recent years the Minnesota
River has received much attention as a natural resource under stress from
development. In the broad, fertile river basin that covers much of southern Minnesota, both natural forces and land uses lead to water
pollution from excess sediment and nutrients.
The U.S. Dept. of Interior
(DOI) established the National Blueway System in 2012 to promote a network of
nationally significant rivers and their watersheds that are highly valued as
economic, recreational, social, and ecological assets. The Connecticut River
spanning four states in New England was the first to receive National Blueway
designation.
The Minnesota
River Watershed Alliance (MRWA) is a watershed-wide network of
individuals from private organizations and public agencies, and citizens who
meet quarterly and work on projects that support and benefit the Minnesota
River basin. It has a website for the Blueway project at: www.minnesotariverblueway.com.
A delegation
from the Blueways nomination team will meet at noon, Monday, Aug. 26 at the
Joseph Nicollet Tower and Museum in Sisseton, SD. There will be a visit to the
Little Minnesota River source at Sica Hollow State Park, followed by an open house/
community listening session from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall Community Room in Sisseton.
“The landscape , the terrain and views in the Sisseton
area are amazing, and this is a great opportunity to strengthen our
upstream/downstream network through this Blueway designation,” says Patrick
Moore of the MRWA. For more information about the event, contact Moore at riverartisan@gmail.com, or 320-841-1487.
Program paused to address questions and
concerns
In response to questions elsewhere
about the Blueway program, the MRWA is expanding efforts to show local support,
and disseminate accurate information. Recently, opposition to the Blueway
program surfaced in Arkansas and Missouri, where the White River had been the
second to receive the designation. Since local support and control is
paramount, the DOI accepted a request to withdraw the White River designation,
and placed the program temporarily on hold.
“One of the aspects of the
National Blueway Program that most excites me is that this is a voluntary program
that allows private citizens like myself and local not-for-profit organizations
to join together and ask that a river be designated as a National Blueway,”
says Ted Suss, one of the local project organizers.
“One of the major reasons I
joined this effort is that the Blueway designation does not bring any new
regulations or restrictions on private property owners or local units of
government, but it does commit the various federal agencies to work
cooperatively with each other, our local governments, local organizations, and
individual citizens like myself as we move forward with economic development
and conservation plans affecting the Minnesota River.”
More than 50 organizations support
nomination
Many public and private
organizations have been working individually and collectively to meet the
challenge of improving water quality in the river and its entire drainage
basin. A National Blueway designation will recognize
and reward the work of those partnerships and provide a platform to encourage expanded
collaboration.
More than 50 public and
private organizations from all sectors supported the nomination of the
Minnesota River for designation as a National Blueway, submitted by the
Minnesota River Watershed Alliance, and sponsored by the Minnesota Dept. of
Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The nomination states: “The Minnesota River Watershed will become a
model for habitat connectivity and resiliency in an agricultural to urban
landscape; improved water quality and a more stable hydrograph; increased
public access for outdoor recreation, and economic vitality based on a legacy
of natural, cultural, historical, and agricultural resource conservation and
sustainability. We can accomplish this vision because there is a highly engaged
and informed watershed citizenry and Blueway Partnership Group.”
Benefits of National Blueway designation
include:
·
Cabinet-level
recognition and prestige.
·
Marketing value
and recognition tools offered by federal and partner organizations.
·
Memoranda of
Understanding (MOU) and Cooperative Agreements with federal agencies, and
commitments of support from public and private partners.
·
Eligibility for
federal technical and monetary assistance over a five-year period to achieve
partnership goals, including development of an online river atlas in
collaboration with stakeholders. Potential for initial start-up grant.
·
Eligibility for National Blueway System specific
grants to stakeholder partnerships for establishment and expansion, and for
river or watershed projects.
Little Minnesota River source in South
Dakota
The Minnesota River begins at
Big Stone Lake on the western border with South Dakota. Its 317-mile, winding
journey flows southeast to Mankato, then northeast to its confluence with the
Mississippi River at Fort Snelling. This large basin drains nearly 20 percent
of Minnesota’s land area, about 14,918 square miles (9,547,520 acres), plus
smaller portions in South Dakota (1,081,600 acres), Iowa (216,960 acres) and
North Dakota (3,200 acres).
While Big Stone Lake is widely recognized as the
source of the Minnesota River, it is fed by the Little Minnesota and Whetstone
rivers, which have their source in South Dakota. The Little Minnesota River
accounts for 90 percent of the water entering Big Stone Lake, and begins as a
small stream descending from the high coteau in Sica Hollow State Park.
posted by Minnesota River Watershed Alliance @ 3:34 PM
