Contact: Dan Olson, 218-846-8108
Detroit Lakes, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is seeking comments on a water quality report for a segment of the Rabbit River located in Wilkin County. The report, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), focuses on pollutants that are harmful to aquatic life caused by excess turbidity. A public comment period for the revised report runs June 21 through July 21, 2010.
Minnesota TMDL reports are part of a nationwide effort under the federal Clean Water Act to identify and clean up pollution in streams, rivers and lakes. Every two years, states are required to submit a list of impaired waters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A TMDL report establishes the maximum amount of a pollutant a water body can receive without exceeding water-quality standards.
After receiving public comments, the MPCA may revise the draft report and submit it to the EPA for approval. After the EPA approves the report, a plan will be finalized to reduce turbidity in the river.
The impairment is located along a 22.24 mile segment or "reach" of the Rabbit River in Wilkin County running from the Grant County line to the Bois de Sioux River. The reach is listed as being impaired for aquatic life due to excessive turbidity. The primary cause of turbidity in the Rabbit is suspended sediment. The primary contributing sources of the turbidity impairment appear to be upland soil erosion and stream-bank erosion. The impairment can also be directly correlated with higher flows, with sediment reductions near 92 percent needed to achieve the turbidity water quality standard during wet conditions and high flows.
There are several monitoring activities occurring on the Rabbit River to track water quality trends and to monitor the effectiveness of improvement projects. The Bois de Sioux Watershed District, with the assistance of its Flood Damage Reduction Project Team and various Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) within the watershed, will develop a detailed implementation plan within one year of the EPA's approval of the TMDL report. The four SWCDs and the watershed district have identified best management practices (BMPs) and structural controls to reduce erosion in critical areas. BMPs include crop residue management, grass waterways, shelter belts, filter strips, buffer strips, side inlet control structures, stream bank stabilization practices, channel restoration and so on. There are also a number of state and federal funding programs (e.g., Clean Water Fund, EPA grants, Clean Water Partnership grants, Natural Resource Conservations Service programs, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) that can address a variety of local water quality problems. These plans and programs will continue to play a major role in the protection and restoration of surface waters within the watershed.
The Rabbit River TMDL report is available for viewing on the MPCA Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-types-and-programs/minnesota-s-impaired-waters-and-tmdls/tmdl-projects/draft/public-noticed-tmdls.html.
Direct questions and comments about the report, as well as requests for additional information, to Jack Frederick, john.frederick@state.mn.us; or by mail to Jack Frederick, MPCA, 714 Lake Avenue, Suite 220, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501; or by phone at 218-846-8110.
Written comments must include the following:
1. a statement of your interest in the draft TMDL report;
2. a statement of the action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to sections of the draft TMDL that you believe should be changed; and
3. specific reasons supporting your position.
Additional information about TMDLs is available at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/tmdl/tmdl-publications.html.
