Selected Information Resources for Non-Point Source Pollution Reduction For Minnesota River Basin

Do not forget to check out an extensive list of Internet Resources for more internet links.

1.Agricultural Production Management Information

University of Minnesota Extension Service
University of Minnesota Extension Service, Experiment Station, and Departments publish production management information, including crop nutrients, pest management, tillage, varieties, and manure management. Recently, agency and University soil scientists assembled several publications focusing on tillage recommendations for various soil conditions in the MN River Basin, including: recommended tillage practices for continuous corn, corn and soybean rotations, and small grain production, as well as economic comparisons of incremental changes in tillage and residue management systems for sediment control.

A catalogue from which all MES print and other media documents can be ordered is available in hard copy at Extension offices and over the Internet. Text-only versions of many of the MES publications can be viewed and down-loaded over the Internet on the MES Gopher server (gopher://gopher.mes.umn.edu) and World Wide Web server (http://www.mes.umn.edu). County Extension offices are equipped with Internet accessible computers, available for MES related information retrieval by the public. Several computer programs designed to assist producers with various aspects of production management and water quality are available via MES www site. and PLANETOR, an economic and environment model by the Center for Farm Financial Management, Department of Applied Economics are two of them. The decision support system FARM*A*SYST is designed to assist farmers in assessing risks for pollution and provide alternative solutions (http://www.wisc.edu:80/farmasyst) is also available as a workbook or as a program on diskettes from MES.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)
Minnesota Department of Agriculture provides leadership in the development of fertilizer and pesticide BMPs for specific regions of the state. MDA actively involves experts from the University of Minnesota and other agencies to create publications for farm clientele. MDA web links weekly crop and weatherreports, feed lot and manure management and plant protection and biotechnology information. Address: Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 90 West Plato Boulevard, St. Paul, MN 55107, Tel: 612-296-7673. WWW site: http://www.mda.state.mn.us

Dept. Soil, Water, and Climate precision agriculture group's FARM*A*SYST
The Farmstead Assessment System (Farm*A*Syst) is a series of 12 worksheets that helps assess how effectively farmstead practices protect drinking water. (http://www.soils.agri.umn.edu/research/precision-ag/farmsyst/).

Minnesota Climate Working Group
The Minnesota Climate Working Group (http://www.soils.agri.umn.edu/research/climatology) provides a wide variety of products depicting climate and weather in Minnesota. Information and summaries at this site include short- and long-term climate, snow depths, weather forecasts, and stream flow. National weather service advisories for severe weather are posted when necessary.

National Water Quality Database.
Most of the U.S. Cooperative Extension publications related to water quality are indexed, and many with complete text are accessible through the Purdue Cooperative Extension Gopher server (gopher://hermes.ecn.purdue.edu/Extension/Environment) and WWW server (http://hermes.ecn.purdue.edu:8001:/server/water/water.html). Documents can be ordered directly from the publishing institution by the user.

Questions on University Extension Resource Information (QUERRI).
Extension publications in thirteen Midwest states are indexed on the database and are searchable by keywords. Information is available through Iowa State University WWW at http://ncremp.ag.iastate.edu

NRCS Handbook of Conservation Practices
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) publishes brochures and fact sheets on conservation practices. This information is available by topic over the WWW (http://www.ncg.nrcs.usda.gov/nhcp_2.html). Many documents are available at the local NRCS offices.

Water, Soil, and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System (WATERSHEDS)
The North Carolina State University (http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu) decision support system provides information on best management practices, water quality standards, and management practices to improve water quality for various types of water bodies. The user can identify the potential sources of NPS pollution for his or her case and the decision support system lists relevent BMP's as indexed in the NRCS Handbook of Conservation Practices.

Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC)
CTIC maintains a national database on landuse and tillage practices. It has developed many agricultural/conservation materials that review tillage related practices. The CTIC is a non-profit public/private national partnership dedicated to encourage profitable and environmentally sound agricultural and natural resource management practices. Address: CTIC, 1220 Potter Dr., Room 170, West Lafayette, IN 47906-1383, Tel: 317-494-9555.

Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI)
AURI has published documents with data compiled from farms which have established tillage systems. The systems which use a variety of tillage practices were documented including no-till, ridge-till, chisel and moldboard plowing. Data were collected on both corn and soybeans. Address: AURI, P.O. Box 599, Crookston, MN 56716-0599, Tel: 800-279-5010.

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2. General Water Quality Educational and Management Information

Minnesota Extension Service (MES) water quality WWW site .
In addition to the www site (http://www.mes.umn.edu/MES/enviro/wqlt.html), MES distributes water quality related educational materials through the St. Paul Campus distribution center and the county Extension offices. Information on Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources are avialable through MES home page (http://www.mes.umn.edu) and MES gopher server (gopher://gopher.mes.umn.edu) including a searchable catalogue of educational materials for water quality related information.

USEPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds
Homepage for USEPA OWOW (http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/sec7/index.html)links to many resources related to non point source management in watersheds. Links include watershed management information,watershed tools directory, manual for clean lakes program and case studies on ecological restoration of watersheds . Twelve case studies to reduce total maximum daily loadings of NPS pollutants are presented, including the Lower Minnesota River Total Maximum Daily Loading Study .

Support Technology for Environment, Water and Agriculture Resources Decisions (STEWARD)
The STEWARD program of Penn State University includes descriptions of water quality parameters, pollutants, sampling methods, analytical methods, and descriptions of popular models for water quality and pollutant delivery estimation. (http://rcwpsun.cas.psu.edu/steward/steward.html)

Minnesota River WWW Page
The University of Minnesota Department of Soil, Water, and Climate provides information for improved planning and management of water quality and agricultural productivity in the Minnesota River basin (http://www.soils.agri.umn.edu/research/mn-river/). Information includes maps and statistical distributions for water quality, landuse, slope steepness, soil drainage, geomorphic parent materials, erosion potential, and proximity of lands to lakes, streams, or drainage ditches. Planning frameworks based upon watershed and agroecoregion delineations are presented. Internet links to watershed management information in other states are provided.

SEEK (Sharing Environmental Education Knowledge)

The SEEK www (http://www.seek.state.mn.us) is designed to work as a clearinghouse for environmental education resources. It includes articles, lesson plans, information on performances and displays, and many more. These resources come from organizations throughout Minnesota, including schools and colleges, government agencies, libraries and businesses. One section lists environmental learning centers throughout the state. Connections to national sites are also available.

Give Water a Hand
The University of Wisconsin maintains a WWW site describing innovative educational programs for water quality (http://www.uwex.edu/erc).

Water, Soil, and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System (WATERSHEDSS)
The North Carolina State University WWW site (http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu) contains information on water quality standards for various types of water bodies. It contains descriptions of successful watershed projects and elements of successful program design.

Water Quality Information Center of National Agricultural Library.
The Water Quality Information Center www (http://www.inform.umd.edu:8080/EdRes/Topic/AgrEnv/Water) and gopher (gopher://gopher.inform.umd.edu:70/11/EdRes/Topic/AgriEnv/Water) sites contain a wide variety of water quality related information and bibliographies.

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3. Research, Landscape, and Water Quality Information

Tillage, Nutrient Management, Riparian and Filter Strip Research Inventory
Minnesota River Basin Agricultural Resources and Research WWW site of UM contains a searchable bibliographic database (http://soils.agri.umn.edu/research/mn-river/res-inv). It indexes tillage and nutrient management research conducted by the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and Tilney Farms in the Minnesota River Basin. It also includes a worldwide bibliography of riparian zone management and buffer strip research.

Water Qualtiy Information Center, National Agricultural Library.
The Water Quality Information Center WWW (http://www.inform.umd.edu:8080/EdRes/Topic/AgrEnv/Water) and gopher (gopher://gopher.inform.umd.edu:70/11/EdRes/Topic/AgriEnv/Water) sites contain water quality related bibliographies, announcements of upcoming meetings and teleconferences, and a listing of internet discussion groups related to water quality.

Water, Soil, and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System (WATERSHEDSS)
The North Carolina State University WWW site (http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu) contains an extensive bibliographic database on water quality.

Land Management Information Center (LMIC)
LMIC is the state clearing house for digital data. It promotes and supports development of geographic information systems (GIS). LIMIC databases include digital data on land use, topography, aerial photography, geomorphology, soils, water resources, land ownership, demography, administrative boundaries, and many others. Address: LMIC, Room 330, Centennial Office Building, 658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155, tel. 612-296-1211. (http://www.lmic.state.mn.us/)

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
MPCA is entrusted to protect the environment and the public health in Minnesota by developing regulations, providing education, giving technical assistance, and enforcing regulations for pollution control. The MPCA Water Quality Divsion is involved in monitoring water quality of streams, lakes and ground water throughout the state. Monitoring information collected is maintained using the EPA STORET national database. The MPCA library is a good source for reports on state studies, US EPA documents, and environment related journals and books. The state office and the library of MPCA is located at 520 Lafayatte Road North, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-4194. Tel. (612) 296-7442 or 1-800-657-3864.

State of Minnesota Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) collects data on landuse, erosion, tillage practices, and land characteristics (http://mnipc.mn.nrcs.usda.gov). The National Resource Inventory (NRI)of Minnesota(http://mnipc.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/nri/nri.html) is an inventory of land cover and use, soil erosion, prime farmland, wetlands, and other natural resource characteristics on non-Federal rural lands. Inventories are conducted at 5-year intervals by NRCS to determine the conditions and trends in the use of soil, water, and related resources nationwide and statewide (http://mnipc.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/nri/nri.html). The 1992 NRI is the most extensive inventory yet conducted, In Minnesota over 8,000 sample sites were used. Information is available for three years-1982, 1987, and 1992. From this time series, changes and trends in land use and resource characteristics can be estimated and analyzed for a 10-year period.

State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) data base for Minnesota.
STATSGO is a digital general soil association map developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The soil maps for STATSGO are compiled by generalizing more detailed soil survey maps. Where more detailed soil survey maps are not available, data on geology, topography, vegetation, and climate are assembled, together with Land Remote Sensing Satellite (LANDSAT) images. This data set consists of georeferenced digital map data and computerized attribute data. Soil map units are linked to attributes in the Map Unit Interpretations Record (MUIR) relational data base which gives the proportionate extent of the component soils and their properties. This site (http://www.ncg.nrcs.usda.gov/metadata/mn) provides meta data for the Minnesota STATSGO data.

Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (MWCC)
The Water Quality Division of the MWCC monitors stream water quality in the lower reaches of the Minnesota River basin and portions of Mississippi River basin, and maintains the information in a computerized water quality database. It supports research to understand sources and processes of non point source agricultural pollution and conducts computer simulation modeling to study contaminant loading to water resources. Water Quality Division is located at Mears Park Center, 230 East Fifth Street, St. Paul, MN 55101.

Minnesota Climate Working Group
The Minnesota Climate Working Group (http://www.soils.agri.umn.edu/research/climatology) provides a wide variety of products depicting climate and weather in Minnesota. Information and summaries at this site include short- and long-term climate, snow depths, weather forecasts, and stream flow. National weather service advisories for severe weather are posted when necessary.

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4. Water Quality Project Design

Watershed groups starting projects for reduction of NPS pollution can find information regarding project design based on experience from previous or ongoing projects.

Summaries of Federal "319" and National Rural Clean Water Program (RCWP) projects
These project summaries are available at the WATERSHEDSS WWW site (http://h2osparc.wq.ncsu.edu) described in previous sections. This site also includes a complete bibliography of published information from the RCWP projects.

EPA report EPA/625/R-92/006
The symposium proceedings of "The National Rural Clean Water Program, 1992" summarize ten years of experience of RCWP projects thoughout the U.S. Elements discussed include producer and agency participation, selection of agricultural practices for recommendation, incentives, requirements for water quality monitoring, expected response time for water quality improvement, and other information essential to project design. Also available, and cited in the Education Report of this project, is the study "Information on and characteristics of selected watershed projects." GAO Report 95-218, June 1995.

Support Technology for Environment, Water and Agriculture Resources Decisions (STEWARD)
The Penn State University STEWARD program includes descriptions of water quality parameters, pollutants, sampling methods, analytical methods, and descriptions of popular models for water quality and pollutant delivery estimation. This site describes the progress of a number of National Rural Clean Water Program projects. (http://rcwpsun.cas.psu.edu/steward/steward.html)

Minnesota River Agricultural Resources and Research
Minnesota River Agricultural Resources and Research www site contains a guide for education programs addressing non-point source pollution which was prepared at the University of Minnesota (http://soils.agri.umn.edu/research/mn-river/doc/edpage.html).

Partnership Handbook, Arizona State University.
The Partnership Handbook is a resource and a guidebook for local groups addressing natural resource, land use, or envirnomental issues. (http://ag.arizona.edu/partners/)

More Internet Resources

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