PROJECT DRONE VIDEOS

Take a bird's eye tour of three recent Bois de Sioux Watershed District construction projects:

DNR TO add land to designated PUBLIC WATERS INVENTORY

The Minnesota DNR has announced its intention to add to the Public Waters Inventory over the course of the next 8 years, by county. Public waters designations impact mandatory: 50' buffer requirements; DNR permitting authority and prohibitions over use, maintenance, and repair activities; county-based shoreland ordinance and zoning (including setbacks for surface and subsurface drainage); Minnesota Pollution Control Agency water quality chemistry and biological monitoring and impairments. As of July 1, 2027, inclusion or exclusion from the Public Water Inventory Map has no bearing on whether land is considered a designated a DNR Public Water.

More information can be found here on the update process: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/pwi/update.html

More information can be found here on authorized/unauthorized/permittable activities on land designated as Public Waters: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/pwpermits/requirements.html

The DNR has posted their informational webinar and question and answer session here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/pwi/update.html

Questions can be emailed to: pwi.update.dnr@state.mn.us

Updated Lidar

You may no access our updated landowner maps at: https://gisapps.iwinst.org/map-portal. Once you zoom in to the land you are interested in viewing, you can select "MN Contours (1f) from the Layer List menu on the right side of the screen. Continue to zoom in to view the elevation measurements.

Water Quality Is Important

The Bois de Sioux Watershed District not only manages its own water quality projects, but through participation in the Red River Watershed Management Board, we participate in regional water quality projects in the Red River Basin. Click here to view a report on the work that has been done!

Mustinka River Rehabilitation & Redpath impoundment CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES

For years, the Mustinka River in Traverse and Grant County, Minnesota has been the source of significant flooding caused primarily by spring snowmelt events. These floods have resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and culverts, and threatened rural homes and agricultural land. Since 2008, the Bois de Sioux Watershed District has been working toward a multi-purpose solution known as the Redpath Impoundment & Mustinka River Rehabilitation Project. After years of study, permitting, and land acquisition, the Watershed District is thrilled to announce that the project is nearly complete.

FUNDING REQUEST

To date, $36.5 M has been spent on this $61.0 M project, including $9.9 M from the Minnesota Flood Hazard Mitigation (MNFHM) program. An additional $13.7 M in funding is required through the MNFHM program to bring this project to completion and protect the region’s economy, citizens and natural resources from future flooding.

Past financial awards have been provided by the State of Minnesota Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Fund, the State of Minnesota Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, the State of Minnesota BWSR Clean Water Fund Legacy Amendment Act Projects and Practices and Mutlipurpose Drainage Management and Water Quality & Storage Pilot Program Grants, DNR Flood Hazard Mitigation Program, the Red River Watershed Management Board, and State of Minnesota Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council DNR Conservation Partners Legacy Grant.

  

 

Grant Money received!

The BDSWD proudly thanks the Minnesota Legacy Act Clean Water Fund, administered by the Board of Soil and Water Resources, for the grant opportunities to fund the Joint Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, Doran Creek, Lake Traverse Water Quality Improvement Project (Phases 1 - 3), Redpath Flood Impoundment, Mustinka River Rehabilitation, and WCD #Sub-1.

Funding for the Mustinka River Rehabilitation project was provided by the Red River Watershed Management Board, Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR),the State of Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, and the Legacy Act Clean Water Fund through the Board of Water and Soil Resources. For more information about how the funds are spent by the District please click here and for more information about the LCCMR grant funding source please click here.