To the Tidings Newsletter Index Page The Official Newsletter of the Mississippi Headwaters Board

Volume 13, Numbers 4

April 23,1997

River monitors from the Red River, St. Louis, Mississippi and Minnesota river basins will gather in St. Paul Wednesday, April 30th, to share results and experiences. Students are part of overall efforts to create partnerships between schools and local government to monitor and protect Minnesotaıs 92,000 miles of streams and rivers. Students from schools in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, will also be reporting on water quality monitoring established there in October 1996. Charlie Maquire will perform for students. The Youth Congress will be held at the Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, with support from Mississippi Headwaters Board and the Blandin Foundation. Wayne Goeken, Sandhill River Watch Coordinator, and Anoka High Schoolıs Water Quality Team have provided organizational assistance. A reception welcoming students and visiting Russians to St. Paul will be held Tuesday, April 29th, at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Call 218/574-2622 for information. 1996 River Watch Results Reflect High Water The Mississippi River has been muddier than desirable, probably due to higher than normal levels of runoff, according to results of the 1996 Mississippi Headwaters River Watch Project sampling. Results for turbidity, pH and conductivity often exceeded expectations for the ecoregion at most locations. The Mississippi Headwaters Board (MHB) compares results from River Watch monitoring to Minnesota Pollution Control Agencyıs guidelines for the Northern Lakes and Forest ecoregion. That ecoregion includes most of north central and northeastern Minnesota. Mississippi Headwaters River Watch measures ambient water quality of the Mississippi River at 45 locations in the region; the MHB has helped organize River Watch projects outside its jurisdiction, as well. Communities monitoring water quality using River Watch methods are: Bagley, Bemidji, Deer River, Grand Rapids (three rivers), Hill City, McGregor, Aitkin, Crosby-Ironton, Brainerd, Little Falls, Pierz, Royalton; communities outside the Mississippi Headwaters with monitoring programs are Long Prairie, Sandstone, Hennepin County, Cromwell, Morris, Elgin-Milville, Bigfork and Littlefork. Sampling results suggests that there may have been more soil and sediments in the water than usual. For example, conductivity exceeded state guidelines at most locations for every sampling event. Conductivity is a measure of the ability of water to pass an electrical current, and depends on the presence of ions and temperature. It does not measure a specific compound, such as nitrogen. Significant changes in conductivity suggest discharge of additional material to the river. Because the channel of the Mississippi Headwaters is composed of erosive soils, the increase in conductivity could be due to the presence of increased sediment in the water, due to the high water conditions last year. Turbidity is a measure of the ability of light to pass through water. Light in the water is critical to the process of photosynthesis. Turbidity increases after rain events, when soils are dislodged and run into the water. In the 1996 River Watch results, turbidity exceeded ecoregions expectations consistently at sites in Grand Rapids, Aitkin and Little Falls. River Watch results indicated that the water of the Mississippi Headwaters was more acid than expected, especially in the first part of the sampling year. pH measures the acidity of the water and the state expectation for the ecoregion is 7.9, or slightly more base than neutral. (7.0 is neutral; as the reading increases, the water is base; as it decreases, the water is acid). This could reflect acidity of snowmelt. Teachers and local government officials gathered at Breezy Point Conference Center January 29th to report on 1996 River Watch program activities. Observations from that meeting: Jim Cairns, Bagley, monitored water quality side by side with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at five sites from the Headwaters to Coffee Pot landing (Clearwater/Hubbard county line) last year. There are few impacts in his stretch of the Mississippi; the goal of his monitoring is to build awareness among students. He has participated in the River Watch program since 1990; he is a farmer, member of the county local water planning task force, teaches earth science (used to teach biology), and is writing graduation standards for Bagley schools. Ron Morrison is a citizen volunteer monitoring eight sites near Bemidji. He is literally helping to build a River Watch lab at Headwaters Science Center which opens in May 1997. Jeff Hrubes, Bemidji, coordinates River Watch programs in Beltrami County and is leading establishment of a River Watch lab at Headwaters Science Center there. That lab will allow regular programming for the public at Bemidji. Shelly Hanson, Park Rapids, joined the program in 1996, with monitoring projects proposed for the Kabekona River and possibly the Fish Hook. The Kabekona River has the only brook trout north of the Itasca moraine; Fish Hook River has a native population of brook trout (now not reproducing, being stocked). LaPorte School, the Bemidji Trout UnLimited Chapter and the Kabekona Lake Association will do monitoring at those locations. Jon Rowe, Grand Rapids, has participated in the program since 1990. The past year was very exciting; as a result of concerns raised by monitoring, phosphorus manipulation and monitoring in the city of Grand Rapids was changed and a very positive relationship with Blandin Paper Company has resulted. Rowe led a delegation of Grand Rapids students to Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, where he helped to establish a River Watch monitoring program there. He hosts Russians this month. Carol Wenger established River Watch monitoring on the Swan River using her Itasca Community College chemistry class. Rian Reed, Itasca Soil and Water Conservation District limnologist, coordinates the program in Itasca County. Richard Lacher is a citizen contact for monitoring at Bigfork and Littlefork Schools on the Bigfork River. These programs use students in grades 7 through 12. Janet Smude, Aitkin Soil and Water Conservation District Technician, coordinates River Watch sites at Hill City, McGregor and Aitkin. Lisa Jokela and Jack Burt starting monitoring Morrison Brook and Upper Hill Lake at Hill City and Mississippi at Jacobson in 1996. The Morrison Brook site is located on the school forest. Aitkin School samples on the Mississippi River to Palisade and the Ripple River. Bill Muscatello and Chuck Pettersonıs students started monitoring the Ripple at the request of the DNR. They have found high concentrations of fecal coliform in the Ripple River, although they are not finding the bacteria in the Mississippi River. Water levels have been too high for spring macroinvertebrate sampling. An accomplishment of the program is increased student awareness of environmental problems, Muscatello reported at the January meeting. Bob Kuschel, Crosby Ironton, lives on the river. River Watch has doubled chemistry enrollment at Crosby Ironton. Kuschel said that the opportunity for students to operate independently is a prime motivator for their participation in River Watch. Crosby-Ironton students are also monitoring mine pit water quality and Serpent Lakeıs water quality. Students report routinely to the Serpent Lake Association. At Brainerdıs Central Lakes College, Bob Fedeler has used River Watch in his wetlands ecology class; the parks management class teaches river ecology and chemistry concepts to fifth graders at an annual nature day. The watershed management class selects a watershed and develops a plan, such as setting phosphorus limits for the lake, and have to present to a panel or group. Last year, Fedeler worked with Gull River Sportsmenıs Club to investigate aquatic plant growth. The Club is very concerned about the City of East Gull Lakeıs municipal wastewater discharge and the city has improved permitting and reduced nutrient load. The club believes its action by monitoring ‹ without considering results ‹ has lead the city to act more responsibly, Fedeler said. Bonnie Goshey, Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District Technician, will be coordinating River Watch sites at Crosby Ironton and Central Lakes College. She hopes to add sites at Brainerd and Pequot Lakes. She is also conducting an erosion inventory for the Mississippi Headwaters Board. Wayne Pikal, Little Falls Community High School biology teacher, chairs the Morrison County Local Water Planning Task Force and writes curriculum and provide training for MHBıs River Watch. Pikal trains two River Watch squads per year: fall is aquatic biology; spring is three hour community involvement class (social studies/ English and science). Pikal and his classes monitor six sites on the Mississippi River and three tributaries which drain to the river. His classes found a problem with fecal coliforms in the water below the Little Falls wastewater treatment plant. They shared results and found that the cityıs reagents were not working properly. ³Watchdogging pays off,² Pikal told the meeting of River Watch representatives. Jon Burban, is monitoring the Zumbro River with Elgin-Millville Schools. Results have been used to report to the Zumbro River Planning Committee, a local canoe rental and the SWCD. Wayne Goeken, Fertile, coordinates four schools on the Sandhill River. He organized a River Congress for his program last year and this year is coordinating the Mississippi Headwaters Boardıs River Monitors Youth Congress. In February, he accompanied Win-E-Mac students (from the communities of Winger, Erskine and McIntosh) when they presented their River Watch results to the Winger Legion. ³It was fun to watch and hear the lively exchange between the students and the local Legion members‹the students were having fun telling about some of their experiences taking the samples and giving their impression of the health of the river based on their results. In a small community like that (Winger-population approx. 160) most of the kids and the Legion members had some sort of family, church or other social connection,² Goeken said. The Legion provided $500 to help send students to the Youth Congress. Bruce Curley monitors the Long Prairie River using students from the Alternative Learning Center. Highlights of his first monitoring year were the excitement of students working outside and in the lab and the added bonus of good weather on sampling dates. Curley and his students had excellent media coverage and experienced no problems. Results indicate high phosphorus and bacteria levels in some locations on the Long Prairie. Carolyn Dindorf and Connie Fortin established macroinvertebrate monitoring on Elm Creek, Rush Creek, Minnehaha Creek, Shingle Creek, Crow River in western Hennepin County, working with eight schools in the spring and 12 in the fall. Monitoring was done twice, but water was either too low or too high to be suitable for monitoring. They have had a hard time finding stoneflies and have put out the call that stoneflies are wanted in Hennepin County. Cromwellıs Bill Freiermuth uses his sixth grade class to monitor the Tamarck River in western Carlton County; Lori Wester is monitoring with her high school classes. Brian Hayden, Carlton County water planner, coordinates. Allen Krueger, Canby, starts monitoring the Lac qui Parle River this spring. He is a sixth grade teacher and will work with his students and independently. Pequot Lakesı fourth grade teacher Jim Minerich developed a Mississippi River game, where players balance river uses and river protection. He uses the game in his classroom to fulfill a variety of educational goals and has demonstrated it at several workshops. Morrisı Ruth Roquitte joined River Watch in Spring 1996 and learned sampling on the Pomme de Terre and Muddy Creek. She lead a River Watch team in Russia and introduced the River Watch techniques there. The Morris River Watch program uses expertise of the West Central Experiment Station, the Stevens County Environmental Services Department and Soil and Water Conservation District and a local aqua farmer. She is hosting Russian students and teachers at Morris in April and May. Roquitte reported that the exchange with Russia has been extremely successful. Morrisıs host school in Chelyabinsk has monitored the Miass River monthly since the Minnesota delegation visited. The Chelyabinsk teacherıs university is using River Watch to train teachers, and the Director of Education for the State of Chelyabinsk has directed all schools to develop and implement the River Watch environmental curriculum. The three Russian schools held a seminar on monitoring in early January. Morris schools plan to conduct nonpoint source monitoring in two small watersheds of the county, keep testing at sites with unusual results, use cable tv for community awareness, increase number of testing sites on the Pomme de Terre, sample sites to the west in the Red River watershed; and use high school students to teach elementary students about water quality and river protection.

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