Crow Wing County to receive $180,000 for water quality projects

The Crow Wing Soil and Water District is announcing that the SWCD will be receiving $180,000 dollars from the Clean Water Fund through a grant from the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). The Clean Water Funds were established through the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment (approved by voters in 2008).

"This was a very competitive process. BWSR received over 30 million dollars worth of applications for the $ 7 million dollars of implementation funds available this year" said Jeff Hrubes, BWSR Clean Water Specialist - North.

In fall of 2009, the competitive grant applications were submitted by cities, counties, soil and water conservation districts, watershed districts, and watershed management organizations. The applications were reviewed and ranked by an interagency team that included BWSR, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

"We are very excited for this opportunity to not only bring locally paid sales tax dollars back to Crow Wing County (CWC) but also to be one of the first in Northern Minnesota to bring State Dollar grants for sole purpose of water quality protection rather than restoration based on impairments" said Melissa Barrick, SWCD Water Educator.

This initiative is titled Recharge! Restoring Natural Hydrology to Crow Wing County Urban Communities which will focus on Crosslake, Breezy Point, Fifty Lakes, and Crosby urban lakesheds. A watershed and water quality analysis project funded by a previous BWSR grant helped CWC prioritize activities for implementation funding. The SWCD formed a partnership with municipalities, lake associations, landowners, churches, Thirty Lakes Watershed District, and CWC Land Services to implement these projects that protect the surface waters of Rush, Crosslake, East & West Fox, Pelican, and Serpent.

Project Recharge will empower citizens of CWC to be proactive about water quality protection. The SWCD is not only working with shoreline landowners of these lakes but we are also working with landowners and other groups that live in the urban lakeshed--the area of land that drains into a lake" said Beth Hippert, SWCD District Technician