Show All St. Croix River Basin: Interagency Water Resource Management Planning Effort
St. Croix Interagency Basin Planning Team
The St. Croix Basin Water Resources Planning Team consists of Federal, state and local members working cooperatively to protect and enhance water resources in the St. Croix River basin. The team includes four signatory members:
- U.S. National Park Service
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
And several cooperating members:
- Metropolitan Council
- U.S. Geological Survey
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Science Museum of Minnesota St. Croix Watershed Research Station
- University of Wisconsin Extension
- University of Minnesota
- Chisago County, Minnesota
- St. Croix County, Wisconsin
- Washington Conservation District, Minnesota
These agencies are active on one or more of the Basin Planning Team's Technical Subcommittees.
Basin-wide Phosphorus Reduction Goal
Rapid population growth and accompanying land-use changes have affected the water resources of the St. Croix River Basin. Based on projected population growth in the St. Croix Basin, water resources will continue to degrade within the current regulatory path. In response to this threat, the Basin Planning Team conducted a detailed review of nutrient and sediment research and developed recommended water quality goals that would return Lake St. Croix to the conditions that existed prior to 1950, before major ecological changes were experienced. These goals will require a 20-percent reduction in total phosphorus loading within the St. Croix Basin.
The report, “St. Croix Basin Phosphorus-Based Water Quality Goals,” presents a summary of the significant research reviewed by the Basin Team. The report addresses the goal-setting process followed by the Basin Planning Team and contains the recommended water quality goals and suggested strategies for implementation. The report can be accessed at this Web link:
On April 6, 2006, an agreement was signed by leaders of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources committing their agencies to work cooperatively to achieve the 20-percent phosphorus reduction goal. This agreement has set the agenda for the Basin Planning Team through 2009. Since the signing of the Nutrient Agreement, the 20 percent phosphorus reduction goal has been widely communicated throughout the basin and region, has been endorsed by local partners and is being considered in ongoing studies, rehabilitation projects and land use decisions.
The four strategies presented in the Nutrient Reduction Agreement are being addressed by the Basin Planning Team’s four subcommittees.
- The Standards Subcommittee will consider existing and proposed rules to establish water quality standards for Lake St. Croix consistent with the phosphorus reduction goal by the end of 2009.
- The Implementation Subcommittee will prepare a point and non-point sources nutrient loading study and develop an implementation plan for the basin by June 30, 2009.
- The Monitoring and Assessment Subcommittee was formed to coordinate and improve water quality monitoring and assessment capabilities in the basin and track progress towards achieving the basin-wide 20 percent phosphorus reduction goal.
- The Funding Subcommittee promotes continued support and participation among Basin Team member agencies and works to effectively utilize available sources of funding to accomplish the basin’s water quality goals.
Water Quality Monitoring in the St. Croix Basin
Understanding and responding to threats to water quality requires a continuing supply of water quality data. To that end, the “Monitoring Plan for the St. Croix River: 2006” was completed and updated in 2007. It provides information on current monitoring activities and is intended to guide future monitoring, and to measure progress toward the basin’s phosphorus reduction goal. The specific monitoring objectives identified in the plan are:
- Determine nutrient and sediment concentration trends and loads for the mainstem of the St. Croix River and Lake St. Croix;
- Determine nutrient and sediment loads for the selected tributaries used to track progress on tributary nutrient management goals;
- Determine trends in biological indicators for a) Lake St. Croix and Lake Mallalieu (pooled water locations) and b) mainstem and tributary locations (flowing water locations); and
- Provide information used in the development and modification of mainstem and tributary nutrient models, which are used to predict various mutrient management scenarios.
This plan identifies monitoring priorities for the basin that will guide and educate other agency members, organizations, and interested citizens groups pursuing shared water quality goals in the St. Croix River basin. It is anticipated that the monitoring plan will be updated annually.
Monitoring Plan for the St. Croix River (wq-b6-13)
Basin Planning Status Reports
Since 2001, the Basin Planning Team has prepared biennial status reports to provide up-to-date information on efforts to protect the quality of water resources of the St. Croix Basin and to create a unified report between the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Planning Status Reports provide information and direction for decision-making in the St. Croix Basin. The reports also summarize accomplishments of the Basin Team and activities within the Basin related to key water resources issues. These reports affirm the importance of phosphorus management, urban stormwater runoff control and water quality monitoring as the principal issues and challenges facing water quality managers in the basin. During 2008, the Basin Team has concentrated on the implementation of the 20 percent phosphorus-reduction goal through a loading study and implementation plan.
