Q
A
Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOGCESS STORY
^^^Kinnes ot(£
Implementing Best Management Practices Improves Water Quality in
the Heron Lake Watershed
Waterbodies Improved
Runoff from agricultural and urban areas contributed
phosphorus and sediment to waterbodies *n Minnesota's
Heron Lake watershed. Because three of the watershed lakes failed to meet Minnesota's
water quality standards, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) added them to
the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters—North Heron and South
Heron lakes in 2002 and Fulda Lake in 2008. Implementing best management practices
(BMPs) and conducting public outreach in the watershed have led to significant water
quality improvements.
Problem
The 472-square-mile Heron Lake watershed empties
into the West Fork Des Moines River in southwestern
Minnesota (Figure 1). The watershed includes the
Heron, Graham, and Fulda lake systems and drains
portions of Jackson, Nobles, Murray, and Cottonwood
counties. These lakes, particularly the Heron lake
system (which includes the 3,204-acre North Heron
Lake and the 2,641-acre South Heron Lake) and the
Fulda lake system (which includes the 182-acre,
interconnected First Fulda and Second Fulda lakes),
have elevated phosphorus levels. The levels are high
because of inputs from agriculture (cropland and
pastureland), sediment eroded from streambanks,
atmospheric deposition, and urban runoff
In 1992 MPCA completed a diagnostic study and
classified North Heron and South Heron lakes as
hypereutrophic. Results of monitoring from 1997
through 2002 showed that levels of phosphorus
and chlorophyll a in the Fulda lakes exceeded
Minnesota's water quality standards. The standards
require that the summer (June-September) average
for total phosphorus concentration be 90 micro-
grams per liter (jug/L) or less and that the chlorophyll
a concentration be 32pg/L or less. On the basis of
these data, MPCA added these three waterbodies
to the CWA section 303(d) list of impaired waters:
North Heron Lake (waterbody ID 32-0057-05) and
South Heron Lake (waterbody ID 32-0057-07) in 2002
and the Fulda lake system (waterbody ID 51-0021-
00) in 2008. All three waterbodies failed to support
their aquatic life designated uses and were iisted as
impaired for nutrients and biological indicators.
Murray County _Fu|daL>|cH
Cottonwood County
i "*


North HeulD.
*
Lake " IJ \
Graham Lakes
® ^23%* \

. South Heron
i J - *
Lake f, \


Nobles County
Jackson County
Figure 1. The Heron Lake watershed is in southwestern
Minnesota.
Project Highlights
From 2007 to 2011, Heron Lake Watershed District
staff undertook a BMP incentive project in Alba
Township, providing information to 137 landown-
ers and 82 farm operators through direct mailing,
a newsletter, a meeting, and reports to the gen-
eral public and local officials. The District issued
payments to 29 operators in 2008, 15 operators
in 2009, and 22 operators in 2010. The operators
enrolled a total of 8,042 acres in conservation tillage
practices, surpassing the project's 6,000-acre goal.
They expressed enthusiasm for the program, com-
menting that the incentive helped them choose to
switch to less-aggressive tillage. According to the
Board of Water and Soil Resources' (BWSR's) eLINK
conservation practice tracking system, implement-

-------
ing these practices prevented 258 pounds per year
of phosphorus and 426 tons per year of sediment
from leaving the land surface.
From 2009 to 2012, operators of a conservation
tillage demonstration plot continued a field-scale
trial established in the fall of 2005 to evaluate the
effect of long-term tillage practices on percent
residue, population, yield, and economics in corn and
soybean rotations. Trials were rotated in subsequent
years in a corn/soybean rotation; tiiiage treatments
were practiced continuously in each tillage strip. The
six treatments evaluated were strip tillage; no tillage;
ridge tillage; chisel plow; chisel plow with an alterna-
tive nitrogen application; and one-pass, spring-only
field cultivation (Figure 2). The project showed that
strip tillage and ridge tillage were competitive with
chisei plow in a corn/soybean rotation in yield and
economics, demonstrating that these systems can
be viable in southwestern Minnesota, even in heavy,
clay loam soils with poor drainage. Project partners
conducted a workshop and bus tour of the project
area to share information about tillage practices with
the wider agricultural community.
From 2007 to 2011, the District provided cost
share to encourage landowners in the Fulda Lakes
subwatershed to implement conservation tillage,
critical area plantings, and shoreline restoration
projects to reduce water pollution. Landowners
implemented conservation tillage on 5,828.5 acres.
Watershed partners completed three shoreline res-
toration projects, ranging from a simple filter strip
to a complex restoration that involved a complete
bank stabilization using all bioengineered practices.
The District held a walking tour to showcase the
shoreline restorations. According to BWSR's eLINK
system, implementing these practices prevented
1,251 pounds per year of phosphorus and 1,312 tons
per year of sediment from leaving the land surface.
Results
Water quality monitoring following project imple-
mentation showed significant improvement in all
three impaired waterbodies. From 1997 through
2010, the mean concentration of total suspended
solids decreased by 72 percent in both First Fulda
and Second Fulda lakes. Total phosphorus decreased
by 45 percent in First Fulda Lake and 56 percent in
Second Fulda Lake. Monitoring in North Heron Lake
shows that the average orthophosphorus concentra-
tions are around 0.0069 milligram per liter (mg/L) in
North Heron Lake (a 94 percent reduction) and range
from 0.008 mg/L to 0.155 mg/L in South Heron Lake
(a 95 percent reduction) (Figure 3).
Figure 2. This strip till plot was part of the Conservation
Tillage Demonstration Project.
Average Concentration of Orthophosphorus
0.180
0.160
0.140
0.120
0.100
? 0.080
0.060
0.040
0.020
0.000
Avg.	2006	2009	2010
1997-2002
Figure 3. The average orthophosphorus concentrations
in North Heron Lake (NHL) and South Heron Lake (SFIL)
decreased from 1997 through 2010,
Partners and Funding
Restoration work in the Heron Lake watershed was
supported by $114,043 in CWA section 319 fund-
ing. The District served as the project sponsor and
lead agency, providing $59,880 in cash match and
$37,325 through in-kind match. The Murray, Nobles,
and Jackson soil and water conservation districts;
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources;
Minnesota Extension; Fairland Management; Alba
Grain, Inc./Mark Pietz; and Vern Uit de Flesch provid-
ed in-kind match (a combined total of $28,553), which
included contributions such as supporting restoration
efforts, lake management, and research planning and
data analysis. Dawn Equipment provided $2,540 in
equipment for examples at a field day. North Heron
Lake Game Producers Association provided $80, and
local volunteers provided $872 through in-kind match.
£
<
33
%
\
j8z.
ro
s
e
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-14-KK
June 2014
For additional Information contact:
Jan Voit
Heron Lake Watershed District
507-793-2462 • jan.voit@mysmbs.com
Katherine Pekarek-Scott
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
320-441-6973 • katherine.pekarek-scott@state.mn.us

-------