Elm Creek Watershed Green Lands, Blue Waters Annual Conference November 20-21, 2013 Linda Meschke, Rural Advantage

Elm Creek Watershed

Elm Creek  HUC 10  173,000 acres  Land Use  Agricultural  Corn  Soybeans  Swine  Towns  Bergen  Trimont  Northrup  Jackson

Why Elm Creek?  Watershed is Impaired  Does not meet MN Water Quality Standards  Impairments:  Affected Designated Use:  Aquatic Life  Pollutant or Stressor  Fishes – Bio-assessment  Turbidity  Downstream Impairments:  Lower MN River  Dissolved Oxygen  Blue Earth River  Fecal Coliform  Turbidity  Statewide  Mercury

Why Elm Creek? [continued]  Progressive farmers who are leaders in their industry. [Farmer Led]  History of doing & participation in conservation programs.  University of Minnesota leadership & involvement.  Local leadership from agencies and producers. and  Confidence that a successful program can be done here that can be replicated elsewhere.

What is Working to Drive Change? Key Principles:  Farmer Led [Listen & Apply Their Ideas]  Keep the raindrop where it falls.  Cheapest and most effective way to treat water.  Further the raindrop moves, the more costly and the less effective treatment is.  Manage your land in a way that enhances the biological aspects of the soil to increase productivity and reduce nutrient leaching.  Increase soil organic matter.

Target Priorities: How Can Continuous Living Cover Be Applied?  Nutrient Management  Commercial Fertilizer  Manure  Cover Crops  Drainage Water Management  Soil Erosion  Soil Health  Buffers

TOTT is simply a series of upland, riparian and in-stream practices that work together to cumulatively leverage pollution reductions from agricultural systems.  1. Upland  Cover Crops  Soil Health Building  Residue Management  Extended Crop Rotation  Nutrient Management  Controlled Drainage  2. Near Outlet  Bioreactors  Saturated Buffers  Water Storage  Two Stage Ditches  Constructed Wetland  3. Downstream  Microbial & Macroinvertebrate Habitat  Hyporheic flow w/Constructed Riffles  Biochar & Slag Iron in Constructed Glides Tile Outlet Treatment Trains Demonstrating Farmer Led Conservation in Elm Creek Watershed - Rural Advantage

What is Next?  Tile Outlet Treatment Trains  Drainage Management  MN Ag Water Quality Certainty Program  Conservation Planning  CLC Mindset