Photo testimonials

As you can see from the photos below, volunteers with the SWAG program play a valuable role in protecting and restoring Minnesota waters. By collecting water samples and measuring water quality parameters such as clarity, they provide important data to the MPCA. The agency uses this data to see if lakes and streams meet state standards and to set priorities. By learning about their waters and sharing this information, volunteers also educate their families, friends and neighbors.

Background

First funded in 2006 by the Minnesota Legislature, Surface Water Assessment Grants (SWAG) provide local organizations and citizen volunteers with funds to gauge the health of lakes and streams. The MPCA uses the data collected to see if water bodies meet state standards and provide designated uses such as swimming and fishing. Assessing the water quality of lakes and stream reaches is usually the first step in protecting or restoring surface waters. The MPCA is the agency responsible for administering the grant program.

To date, the MPCA has awarded 162 Surface Water Assessment Grants totaling $8.1 million.

The grants provide the funds for training, equipment and lab analysis of water samples for two years. Local government units and non-profit groups recruit the volunteers (where possible) and coordinate the monitoring and sampling efforts.

 In this way, the MPCA works with citizens on the local level to identify healthy lakes and streams that need protection. They also identify waters that fail to meet state standards and need restoration. The data collected help set priorities for the agency and funding sources like the Clean Water Legacy Amendment.

The MPCA uses a four-tiered approach to monitoring water quality:

• Monitoring by MPCA staff;
• Monitoring by other groups such as counties, lake associations and watershed districts;
• Remote sensing such as satellite imagery; and
• Volunteer citizen efforts.

By using a multi-tiered approach, the agency can assess the health of waters across the state and collect detailed data to see if waters meet state standards. The MPCA thanks all the local SWAG partners and volunteers for their contributions and encourages them to stay involved by enrolling in the Citizen Lake Monitoring Program or Citizen Stream Monitoring Program.

How to apply

Eligibility

Applicants for Surface Water Assessment Grants can include local and regional units of government, tribes, nonprofits, educational institutions and watershed management organizations or districts in Minnesota.

SWAG funds are used to monitor the physical, chemical and/or bacteriological water quality parameters of lakes or streams to determine their condition. Only those lakes or stream sites listed through the applicable RFP are eligible for monitoring through the SWAG. These sites are specifically chosen by the MPCA and their local partners as priority resources within each of the major watersheds that will be intensively monitored.

Applying for Surface Water Assessment Grant funds

The SWAG is competitive. The RFP is typically released each fall, at which time instructions for obtaining the RFP will be made available on this Web page. After four years of offering SWAGs, the MPCA has noticed several common problems on applications that resulted in lost points during evaluation. To ensure your application is its most competitive, the MPCA offers the following advice:

Request for Proposals (RFP):

• Obtain a copy of the latest RFP.  Small eligibility changes are made each year, and the evaluation process may also change from time to time. Applications that fail usually do so because they propose ineligible projects (i.e., sites that are not listed within the RFP).

Application:

• Read the application instructions. They provide guidance on how to create the most competitive application.
• Past grant awards are no guarantee for future awards. The application evaluation team may not be familiar with your organization or past projects, so answer each question fully to showcase your experience and project proposal.
• Make sure your site maps are readable. Ideally, include one map that shows your project area in relation to nearby cities and a second that shows each site location in relation to the nearest road crossing. Expand the map(s) to fit an entire page, if needed.  There is no limit to the number of maps you can include.   

We also are looking or local partners to help monitor surface waters for events (i.e., snowmelt and rain events) and offer Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network sampling grant for that work. The next  Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network sampling grant round is expected to open in late summer 2013 for projects to begin in late winter/early spring 2014.

For any questions regarding the  Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network sampling grant or for any information regarding Surface Water Assessment Grants, please contact Kelly O’Hara at 1-800-657-3864 or at CWLA.surfacewater@pca.state.mn.us.