2017 Conservation Cooperator Award
The Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District (DCSWCD) is proud to announce the Jenkins family as the 2017 Outstanding Conservationist for their leadership in conservation. Tom, his wife Stacey, and their three children have focused on five erosion and pollutant reducing projects.
 The Jenkins family has demonstrated leadership through the installation of two raingardens that treat runoff from their property and provide pollinator habitat. The plants help absorb the stormwater runoff to keep pollution from washing into local waterbodies. The Jenkins family is also working to install no-mow fescue lawn for their front yard, which is an eco-friendly, low maintenance and drought tolerant lawn.
 Tom Jenkins is a Pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church. He and Stacey organized the installation of a 500 square foot raingarden that treats 1.3 acres of stormwater runoff mainly from the church parking lot. This year, Tom also helped DCSWCD staff facilitate a new “Congregations for Clean Water” meeting focusing on stormwater improvements on church properties. Representatives from surrounding churches discussed project ideas and funding opportunities.
The Jenkins’ will be recognized at the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation District’s Annual Convention in December. Each year the DCSWCD honors a landowner, business, or organization for their contributions to conserve or restore natural resources in Dakota County.
The DCSWCD commends the Jenkins family for being leaders in conservation.
Photo taken at October Board Meeting
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Conservation Corps crews active in Dakota County
This summer, crews from Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa (CCMI) along with Dakota County Parks staff, and Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District (DCSWCD) staff, worked to improve raingarden pre-treatment devices at three sites - Lebanon Hills Visitor Center, Inver Glen Library, and Whitetail Woods Regional Park.
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Ten eroded grass pre-treatment raingarden inlets at Lebanon Hills Visitor Center were replaced with an innovative and easy to maintain stormwater pre-treatment design which involves the installation of trench drains at the raingarden inlet. These drains will capture sediment from the stormwater runoff prior to entering the raingarden. They also allow for easy cleanout of sediment on a regular basis.
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At Inver Glen Library parking lot, as well as at the Whitetail Woods camper cabin parking lot, an eroding grass pre-treatment inlet was replaced with a Rain Guardian Turret stormwater treatment device. This concrete structure captures sediment from the parking lot stormwater runoff prior to entering the raingarden. The project included a poured concrete chute, the Turret, and a rocked dry creek bed to stabilize the channels and prevent future erosion.
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CCMI crews also planted thousands of native plant plugs and native shrubs within the raingardens near the Whitetail Woods camper cabins and at the Lebanon Hills Visitor Center.
The plants and shrubs are all native to this region which means that they can withstand a Minnesota winter, as well as tolerate extended periods of dryness. Native plants have evolved to thrive in our local environment and provide great habitat for beneficial insects, including bees and butterflies.
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The work performed in partnership with CCMI has improved the ecological functioning and benefit of the raingardens at Lebanon Hills Visitor Center, Inver Glen Library, and Whitetail Woods Regional Park. The retrofits to the raingarden inlets will stop sediment from entering the raingardens by reducing erosion and capturing sediment coming from the roads and parking lots. This will reduce the long term maintenance of these County raingardens, extend their lifespan, and provide an opportunity to display new methods of stormwater pre-treatment for replication elsewhere.
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DCSWCD Holds 17th Annual Outdoor Education Days
DCSWCD held its annual Outdoor Education Days event at the 210 acre restored prairie on the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington over the last two weeks.
Approximately 950 5th grade students, teachers, and chaperones from eight local elementary schools attended the four day event. Children visited five education stations to experience hands-on learning with volunteer educators:
- Agriculture with University of MN Extension and 4-H
- Fall Phenology with Dakota County Parks
- Prairie with the National Parks Service
- Soils with NRCS
- Water with the SWCD.
For more information about the different education stations, view a virtual tour online!
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After the flood - restoring Trout Brook
Trout Brook, a designated and protected trout stream, runs directly through the Miesville Ravine Park Reserve before empying into the Cannon River. Heavy storms in recent years have sent runoff and debris gushing through the stream channel, causing erosion along large stretches of streambanks. Erosion not only detracts from the beauty of the area, it also affects the water quality of the stream and impacts wildlife.
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Staff from both DCSWCD and Dakota County Parks department decided on a 20-day plan that would restore the stream and re-stabilize over 550 feet of shoreline.Given the tight timetable and the size of the project, multiple CCMI crews are took part in the project. Central Minnesota crews – Metro and Mississippi – assisted SWCD and DC Parks staff with the project.
The SWCD and the CCMI crews surveyed the area and found many solutions for stabilizing the eroding shores.
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The restoration project was divided between five different sites along Trout Brook, with the objective of keeping the water clean and safe for trout while reducing the amount of sediment that is moved downstream towards Cannon River.
Because the project locations are remote and the disturbance caused by heavy machinery would be counterproductive to the objective of the project, all the work is being done by hand and with ATVs.
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Materials are being sourced from the park, including cedar trees for revetment, sandbar willow live stakes, and sod mats. Using these locally sourced materials is intended to ensure there is no introduction of invasive or non-native species during the project and no further damage to the area. The sections of the Park from which these materials have been harvested will be re-established as a prairie in the near future.
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Danielle Palm, a member of the Conservation Corps Apprentice with the DCSWCD, spent the summer helping staff with various conservation projects. They are excited to see how the project will improve the stream for the foreseeable future.
Palm, originally from the Dakota County area, is looking forward to seeing the technical portions of this project pay off. “The crews also feel a big impact, as they are learning everything about stabilization right alongside me,” Palm says. “I think the finished version is going to be very rewarding for all of us.”
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Conservation at work
In early 2017, SWCD staff was approached by a local landowner looking to implement a water quality improvement project on their property. Following a rain event, storm runoff from the road culvert under County Road 46 was washing away crops and soil near the road. The landowner was interested in constructing a conservation practice along the field that would help direct the water away from the field, preventing the formation of a gully through the cropland.
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Upon review of the property, SWCD staff estimated that half a foot of soil was being washed away every year in the four hundred fifty foot long area of concern. From an economic standpoint, the landowner was losing valuable soil and all of his annual input costs, including fertilizer and seed. Turning this area into a grassed waterway meant a loss of farmable acres, but when considering annual losses, it made sense to move forward with the project.
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DCSWCD staff designed a grassed waterway that would safely convey the stormwater through the farm field. The design included shaping the soil, seeding, mulch, fertilizer and erosion control blanketing. The final cost of the project was $5,300 (not final yet) with the SWCD reimbursing 75% of the cost. The landowner was pleased with the financial and technical assistance that the SWCD provided.
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For more information about cost share programs offered for the DCSWCD or to inquire about technical assistance, please check out the DCSWCD website or call 651-480-777.
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Get to know your WMO
Is WMO a hip new band? A code for the top performing mutual fund? An organization that you reside within its boundaries? WMO stands for Watershed Management Organization, and yes, you all live within a WMO if you are in the seven county metro area.
When the Metropolitan Surface Water Management Act was passed in 1982, cities and townships were required to form WMOs through the use of a Joint Powers Agreement in order to better plan for and manage our water resources. WMOs take the lead on implementing water quality improvement projects and programs as well as facilitating coordination between cities on water resource issues.
Dakota County SWCD has a strong relationship with many of the WMOs in the county, and a unique involvement with three of the WMOs. The Eagan-Inver Grove Heights WMO, Lower Mississippi River WMO and the North Cannon River WMO all contract with Dakota County SWCD for administrative services. Some of the WMOs also contract for water monitoring services.
If you are concerned with water pollution and want to get off the sidelines and become more involved, consider volunteering to be a member of your local WMO Board or advisory committee. These Boards are citizen led with representatives from each City in Dakota County.
You can learn more about these Dakota County WMOs by visiting their respective websites:
Blackdog WMO
Eagan – Inver Grove Heights WMO
Vermillion River JPO
North Cannon River WMO
Lower Mississippi River WMO |
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