Blue Earth River One of 18 Federal Priority Watersheds

BLUE EARTH, Minnesota, May 20, 2004 (ENS) - The waters of the Blue Earth River meet the flows from the Watonwan and then the LeSueur Rivers before entering the Minnesota River above Mankato. The three rivers form the backbone of an important drainage network, as well as providing diverse habitats for human, animal, and plant life, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says.

Together, the lands that feed the rivers make up the Blue Earth River basin, over 3000 square miles in south central Minnesota, and 450 square miles are found in north central Iowa.

In the past decade, says the DNR, the watersheds of the Blue Earth and its tributaries have experienced strong economic and population growth, rapid residential and commercial expansion, increase in traffic to and through the area, and growth in agricultural operations. This growth has put new pressures on the natural resources of the watersheds.

In 1993, the Minnesota River Assessment Project by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and others identified water quality problems for lakes and streams in the Blue Earth system that extend to the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers.

Farming systems of the watershed generate excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which have contaminated ground or surface water. The fine grained glacial soils of the watershed are easily eroded. Without effective erosion control practices, these soils end up in the rivers, along with runoff from fertilized crop fields and livestock feedlots.

Parking lots, sidewalks, and newly sodded lawns increase amounts of water running into area lakes and streams, but reduce vital recharge of local groundwater supplies.

Rain that falls on parking lots and roads is heated as it cools those areas, and ends up warmer than the same rain falling on forest or grasslands. Lawns generate use of chemicals that end up in the river.

For all these reasons, the Blue Earth is on the newly announced list of 18 priority watersheds that will be used in the fiscal year 2004 Conservation Security Program (CSP) sign-up to be held this summer.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman issued the priority list on Wednesday. “This voluntary program supports ongoing conservation stewardship of agricultural working lands and enhances the condition of America’s natural resources,” Veneman said.

Congress capped the fiscal year 2004 CSP budget at $41.4 million. This funding allows the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to write 3,000 to 5,000 contracts. Due to that limit on funding, the USDA chose to offer the program in selected, priority watersheds.

The interim final rule will be published in early summer. A sign-up announcement will be published along with the interim final rule that will detail the specific program requirements within the priority watersheds.

The list of priority watersheds and a map showing their location is online at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/watersheds04.html