by MGWA Newsletter Team
The MGWA fall conference was again held virtually on November 18th via Zoom due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic. The conference theme was “Rural and Sensitive: Groundwater across the “Driftless Area” of Southeastern Minnesota.” This meeting covered a large number of topics and included work in Wisconsin and Iowa as well as Minnesota. The meeting topics included the geology and hydrogeology of Southeastern Minnesota, water-quality issues, and research dedicated to improving the understanding of contaminant transport through this surface water-groundwater system.
Morning Session
The first session of the conference gave the participants an overview of Southeastern Minnesota’s hydrogeology and water-quality issues. The speakers were Jennifer McDonald and Julia Steenberg from the MGS and Kim Kaiser and Heather Johnson from the MDA.
Jennifer and Julia described the quaternary and bedrock geology of this part of Minnesota, with Jennifer reminding the membership that this area is not completely driftless! Julia also let everyone know about two great videos produced by the MDA showing how groundwater and contaminants move through this part of the state.
Kim and Heather described the nitrate and pesticide concerns in Southeastern Minnesota’s groundwater. Kim’s talk focused on nitrate monitoring in private drinking water wells, and Heather’s talk was on the occurrence of cyanazine in the groundwater—a pesticide that was banned about 20 years ago.
Click on the button below to view these talks:
Click on the links below to learn more about the nitrate monitoring done by MDA as well as the Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan and the Groundwater Protection Rule.
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/nfmp
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/southeast-minnesota-volunteer-nitrate-monitoring-network
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/township-testing-program
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/nfr
Click on the links below to learn more about cyanazine and other pesticide monitoring done by the MDA as well as how to treat drinking water to remove these contaminants.
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/cyanazine-monitoring
https://www.mda.state.mn.us/pesticide-fertilizer/water-monitoring-reports-resources
https://wrl.mnpals.net/islandora/object/WRLrepository%3A3523/datastream/PDF/view
Mid-Morning Session
The mid-morning session included four technical presentations which focused on water-quality concerns. Maureen Muldoon from the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey described water-quality issues with the groundwater in Southwestern Wisconsin. Chris Jones from the University of Iowa described the work he has done on real-time nitrate monitoring of the groundwater. Matthew Mitro from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources described modeling work done in cooperation with the USGS showing how groundwater and trout stream temperatures are affected by climate change. To round out the session, John Barry from the Minnesota DNR presented work done to better understand nitrate transport by combining spring monitoring, dye tracing, and watershed analysis.
Click on the button below to view these talks:
Click on the links below for additional information on the water-quality monitoring work done in Southwestern Wisconsin, real-time nitrate monitoring in Iowa, or John Barry’s nitrate transport research.
https://wgnhs.wisc.edu/southwest-wisconsin-groundwater-and-geology-study-swigg/
To learn more about Matthew Mitro’s climate change work, click on the links below.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20145186
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165124https://rdcu.be/bMmX1
Afternoon Session
The afternoon technical session included presentations describing nitrate research in Southeastern Minnesota as well as lessons learned over the past few decades of work in this area. John Nieber, Tony Runkel, Kerry Holmberg, Jared Trost, Philip Margarit, and Andy Holmberg all gave short talks describing the University of Minnesota’s Nitrate Time Lag project. Donna Rasmussen, a retired administrator from the Fillmore Soil and Water Conservation District, and Terry Lee, retired from Olmsted County, gave presentations describing the lessons they learned from years of working in Southeastern Minnesota.
Click on the button below to view these talks:
Late Afternoon Session
The late afternoon session included presentations on a variety of different topics, including efforts to protect the groundwater, water sustainability, private well water testing, and ways to reduce nitrogen loss from farm fields. Caitlin Brady with the Olmsted Soil and Water Conservation District gave a presentation on their efforts to protect drinking water from nitrate contamination. Todd Osweiler from Rochester Public Utilities spoke on water sustainability in the City of Rochester. Jenny Siefert with the University of Wisconsin-Madison presented on their FEWScapes project—an interdisciplinary effort to enhance understanding of ways to increase Food, Energy, Water, and ecosystem Security and are resilient to climate change. Jeff Broberg, Director of the Minnesota Well Owners Organization, spoke about nitrate testing clinics they have done in cooperation with the MGWA. Kevin Kuehner from the MDA presented on the Root River Field to Stream Partnership. Finally, to complete the conference, Jeffrey Vetsch from the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center, and Martin Larsen, a farmer with Soil Keepers, discussed strategies that reduce nitrogen loss from the landscape.
Click on the button below to view these talks:
Click on the links below for more information on the FEWScapes project, Minnesota Well Owners Organization, and Root River Field to Stream Partnership.
https://rootriverfieldtostream.org/
MGWA is committed to developing a just, equitable, and inclusive groundwater community. Click on the button below to read MGWA’s full diversity statement.
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