Rock County’s Soil and Water Conservation District earned prestigious statewide recognition during the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual conference in Bloomington on Dec. 1-3.
The Minnesota Drinking Water Protection Award is a joint recognition of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA).
This is the first year the award was given, and Rock County was the first to receive it.
Aaron Meyer with MRWA and Amanda Strommer of the MDH nominated Rock County’s SWCD for the new award.
“The staff at the Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District has worked diligently to address drinking water and source water protection issues,” they wrote in their nomination.
“Preserving quality of drinking water sources is a critical issue in southwest Minnesota, which has limited water resources and nitrate contamination concerns.”
They praised Doug Bos (now retired), Assistant Land Management Director Arlyn Gehrke and their staff for ensuring “a constant commitment to tackling these drinking water issues.”
Assistant Land Management Office director Arlyn Gehrke attended the conference on behalf of Rock County and said he was surprised to hear Rock County announced as the award winner.
“It was nice to be recognized for the work and knowing that we’ve made a difference,” Gehrke said. “But there is still work to be done. There are still nitrates in the water.”
He credited Bos, who recently retired from the position Gehrke now holds.
Gehrke said Rock County was recognized for its out-of-the-box approaches to problem solving.
“With a lot of these projects we learned some things, but we came away with more questions than answers,” he said.
Rock County’s SWCD water protection story
The MDH and MRWA nomination of Rock County’s SWCD for the award tells its story of water protection through the years. Following is the nomination:
Since 1945, the Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District (RCSWCD) had served the community by coordinating technical and financial assistance for local landowners.
They have a long history of involvement with drinking water issues. The first conservation easements within the wellhead protection area were recorded in 1994.
Rock County Soil and Water Conservation District partnered with local producers, nonprofit organizations and state and federal agencies to develop and implement new easement programs, which place land in permanent protection.
These easement programs benefit drinking water quality by reducing nitrate contamination and have now been scaled up statewide.
Through this work, the RCSWCD has helped secure 1164 acres of perpetual easements totaling just under $7 million dollars in funds within the Rock County Rural Water Drinking Water Supply Management Area (DWSMA).
The coarse and porous soils cause any nitrogen that does leach to reach the aquifer quickly. Taking the land out of production meant nitrogen was no longer being applied. The grasses buffered the well from runoff.
RCSWCD has also worked extensively with local producers and cooperatives to implement best management practices that benefit groundwater quality on 1,700 acres of land within the Rock County Rural Water DWSMA, made possible through Clean Water Fund-supported grants.
Staff from the RCSWCD met one-on-one with farmers in an effort to implement soil health and nutrient management best management practices (BMPs).
State funding was also available for cash incentives for BMPs that reduced nitrate loading to the aquifers in Rock County.
The results are that farmers have successfully changed the way they apply nitrogen fertilizer.
The incorporation of more cover crops into farming rotations has also been a direct result of the incentives and outreach provided by the District.
Collectively, all these actions have resulted in improvements to the drinking water in Rock County.
RCSWCD has spent many hours meeting one-on-one with producers and co-ops and agronomists working in DWSMAs within Rock County to help promote soil health and nutrient management BMPs.
In addition, they have presented at numerous field days and educational sessions for producers and agronomists and the general public to promote BMPs to help safeguard drinking water supplies.
They go above and beyond to make personal connections and promote drinking water protection.
RCSWCD was a critical partner with Rock County Rural Water in securing funds and helping conduct geo probing with the Rock County Rural Water DWSMA in an effort to better understand the source and pathways of nitrates. All in an effort to have more strategic and effective implementation activities with their DWSMA.
The District makes it a priority to also assist private well owners. Well water test kits are available to Rock County residents free of charge. Residents can pick up their test kits at the District office and they contract with a private laboratory for analysis.
They also provide cost share funding to assist with sealing abandoned wells. They were heavily involved in making sure drinking water protection was a top priority in the Missouri One Watershed, One Plan.
Finally, the District is also involved in educating area students on drinking water issues. The District annually hosts an Environmental Fair and the Prairie Ecology Bus, and it provides in person educational opportunities to local students on proper use and disposal of household hazardous waste.
‘Outstanding leadership and … activities that protect water’
The objective of the MDH Drinking Water Protection Award is to annually recognize a SWCD, its board and employees for outstanding leadership and implementation of activities that protect and improve groundwater or surface water used as a drinking water source.
Key considerations in selecting an SWCD for the MDH Drinking Water Protection Award include:
1) local recognition of the scale, scope and diversity of protection needs that consider both public and private drinking water resources,
2) demonstrated commitment and prioritization over time of local drinking water protection efforts,
3) innovation — understanding and overcoming some of the barriers and challenges implementing conservation measures to achieve protection and drinking water quality goals, and
4) a willingness to share and promote drinking water protection successes with the public, conservation partners and peers.
MDH recognizes that for local and state drinking water protection programs and efforts to succeed, it requires leadership and commitment at the local level.
“One thing that stands out to me is Rock SWCD’s staff and board’s annual commitment to local drinking water protection conservation work over the last 20 or more years working with MRWA, MDH and all the agency partners,” said Mark Wettlaufer of the MDH.
“It was great to see them win the first annual award presented.”
