MPCA plan aims at cleaner Minnesota River

Water Resources

Center event Sept. 13

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Nearly a decade after Gov. Arne Carlson said he wanted to make the Minnesota River fishable and swimmable in 10 years, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a 114-page plan geared towards that goal.

Ten years is not enough time to solve an environmental issue as complex as the Minnesota River, but the river has attracted lots of attention since the governor's proclamation, the MPCA said.

The river hit list included algae growth, murky water and unhealthy fish populations, to name a few. Scientists examined the issues and identified many problems that prevented basin waters from supporting aquatic life and recreation.

Scientific research, citizen recommendations and the work of many agencies and organizations helped create the MPCA plan to improve the river.

Like Carlson's statement in 1992, the new plan has a lofty goal -- reducing river phosphorus (fertilizer nutrients and human and animal waste) and sediment (dirt) loads by 40 percent by 2010 and reversing the trend of greater concentrations of nitrate and nitrogen in the river.

The plan is divided into four sections:

* Recognizing and addressing threats to the river environment.

* Preventing, limiting and cleaning up pollution.

* Improving government services and collaboration.

* Providing responsive services to citizens and stakeholders.

The plan predicts more local planning and changes in practice over the next decade, with state government providing assistance while working with local government and watershed teams.

New Ulm's own river advocate, Scott Sparlin of the Coalition for a Clean Minnesota River (CCMR), said the river condition is a mixed bag and that the river plan was originally released two years ago.

"We're taking great steps forward but also some backwards," Sparlin said. "Some things are being solved while others are digressing. The 40 percent reduction goal was also introduced in 1994."

The MPCA's 2002 Impaired Waters List is expected to be released in July. Sparlin said the list will be larger than the 1996 and 1998 lists (a list was not released in 2000) due mostly to expanded monitoring.

A member of the Minnesota River Data Center Board, Sparlin is excited about the Minnesota River Research Forum set for Sept. 13 at Minnesota State University in Mankato. That event will precede CCMR's Riverblast that begins that evening and continues Sept. 14 & 15 in New Ulm.

"In Mankato, we'll give people lots of data to run with. Then they can come to our Riverblast here," Sparlin said. Riverblast includes music, artwork, food, drink and river tours and races on a variety of boats.

Rural Sleepy Eye farmer Richard Wurtzberger, who has taken a very active interest in river pollution issues, says river issues are often as clouded as the river water itself. He agreed with Sparlin's assertion that the MPCA's plan is not new.

"It's the same thing they said 10 years ago and really just a lot of words," Wurtzberger said.

One of his points of contention is that contrary to popular belief, supposedly "clean water" from a municipal treatment plant triggered far more algae growth than comparable water laced with silt from cropland erosion.

Those were the results of his daughter Sharon Wurtzberger's science project last year at New Ulm Area Catholic School. The project won a No. 1 ribbon at the South Central Minnesota Regional Science & Engineering Fair at Mankato. and a No. 2 ribbon at the Minnesota Academy of Science State Fair.

The younger Wurtzberger said judges were convinced that farmers were to blame for algae growth in rivers.

"They just didn't want to believe my research findings," she said in an Aug. 20, 2001 story in Landowner magazine. "I've often thought my project would have won a No. 1 ribbon in the state if my evidence hadn't raised doubts about popular beliefs."

In the discussion part of her paper, she said more emphasis should be put on phosphorus removal from water treatment plant discharges flowing directly into streams.

Treatment plant water scored a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale of algae bloom intensity. Lake water scored a 4. Water was tested at Minnesota Valley Testing Labs in New Ulm.

Richard Wurtzberger said he'd like to see other water treatment plants that empty into the Minnesota River and its watershed reduce their phosphorus discharges to 1 ml. per liter. Such a reduction could be done by adding another treatment process, which he said has been done in Mankato.