by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The lands and waterways in the Mississippi-Sartell Watershed have greatly improved, but there is still a lot of work to do to preserve them as a precious resource, said a spokesman for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
At the Sartell Community Center Feb. 27, Phil Votruba presented a slide show and talked about efforts to protect the watershed. Votruba is with the MPCA’s Watershed Division, Brainerd office. The title of the meeting was Watershed Restoration and Protective Strategy.
About three dozen people attended the meeting.
A major part of watershed protection comes from citizen input and citizen volunteerism, which has made a huge difference throughout the years, Votruba noted. In fact, the purpose of the Sartell meeting – and one previously in Royalton – was to gather public input on the best ways to protect the watershed’s lakes, streams and rivers. Participants were invited to fill out a survey form at the meeting asking participants to circle three issues that must be dealt with to best protect the watershed. The 11 options on the survey were row crop agriculture, feedlot practices, pastured areas, lake management, stream bank erosion and channelization, altered hydrology, septic systems and wastewater, climate change, urban storm-water runoff, irrigation and groundwater levels, and source water protection. There was a blank spot on the survey for “Other.” Survey responses will be tabulated and shared in future planning processes.
At the Sartell meeting, booths were set up around the room, each featuring charts, maps, photos and information brochures about one aspect or another about the watershed – its value for health and recreation and the challenges to its preservation. Besides the MPCA, others involved in the presentation were members of the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District and Tetra Tech, a consulting and engineering firm that helps with MPCA programs.
A watershed is a land area that drains into a lake, stream or river. It includes natural and man-made drainage systems, such as ditches and storm sewers.
The Mississippi-Sartell Watershed is one of the largest in Minnesota – one of 80. Its land use is 97 percent agricultural. Votruba said the 80 watershed divisions are somewhat arbitrary (with some more complex and larger than others), but small as some may be, the boundary lines are designated to facilitate specific planning and projects within each one, Votruba added.
The Mississippi-Sartell Watershed includes parts of the counties of Stearns, Benton, Morrison, Mille Lacs, Crow Wing and Todd. Its main cities are Sartell, Avon, Albany, Pierz, Rice and Royalton.
Some of the threats to water quality in the watershed are the following:
• Loss of shoreline habitat due to developments.
• Large amounts of phosphorus, sediment and bacteria in waters.
• Stormwater runoff.
• Nitrates and other contaminants in well water.
• Loss of water-related native species due to the introduction of invasive species.
• High-impact land use near sensitive areas of the watershed.
• Risk of harmful bacteria in drinking-water sources.
• 1Stream-flow changes due to human-activity impacts.
Votruba said the MPCA has been working in partnership with federal, state and local agencies, as well as watershed residents, to restore and protect the watershed. A recent example of that partnership is the Little Rock Lake and River Drawdown Project. Last summer, the lake level and connected river level north of Sartell to Rice was lowered by 3 feet. It was an effort to restore water quality and included thousands of plantings in the exposed portions of the lake. That ambitious project was done as a partnership among many, including the DNR, the Little Rock Lake Association, local Boy Scouts and hundreds of citizen volunteers.
Votruba said the role of citizen input and volunteerism cannot be overestimated. By learning about the watershed, by volunteering and by doing simple at-home projects, everyone can contribute to the watershed’s health, he noted. A cost-sharing program is available for preventive and restoration projects, funded through the year 2034.
In one of the slides of his presentation, Votruba showed just how bad water quality was in the Mississippi River and other waterways decades ago. The slide was a photo, taken in 1927, of a huge sewer pipe discharging millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river at St. Paul. At that time and in the years later, many people did not even know what the word pollution meant. Slaughterhouses for decades discharged massive amounts of animal parts right into the river. Other companies polluted the river with industrial waste. The river, Votruba said, was so badabout the only living thing that could thrive in it were intestinal worms. Thanks to restoration, the river now teems with fish, birds and other forms of life.
The 1972 federal Clean Water Act finally set in motion widespread efforts to restore the health of rivers and other waterways. That work continues with the ongoing partnerships, including the MPCA and local agencies and residents.
Here are some of the simple changes residents can make to help keep the Mississippi River-Sartell Watershed healthy:
• Maintain a natural shoreline.
• Learn about and implement best-management practices in agriculture.
•Manage livestock waste.
• Reduce the use of road salt and de-icing products.
• Plant a rain garden on the lawn to collect and drain run-off water.
• Keep storm and drain gutters clear of debris and pollutants.
• Use all fertilizers with care and restraint.
• Maintain one’s septic system.
• “Leave no trace” when visiting wildlife areas and waterways. Obey the advisory signs.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/MissSartellWRAPS/

Amanda Guertin (right) discusses her water-quality display with Jennifer Olson at the Mississippi River-Sartell Watershed informational meeting Feb. 27 at the Sartell Community Center. Guertin is a water-plan technician with the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District. Olson is a member of Tetra Tech, a consulting company that helps with projects of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.