• An Environmental and Conservation Partnerships grant, from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR); and
• A Resource Investigation Program grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) Clean Water Partnership.

With these resources, the Brown Nicollet Cottonwood Environmental Health Department established three water-quality monitoring stations on Seven Mile Creek and began efforts to educate the public about water quality protection.

Results from the monitoring showed that the largest water quality impairments for the watershed are:

• Fecal coliform bacteria;
• Excessive nitrate concentrations; and
• Extreme peak water flows, resulting in accelerated stream bank and gully erosion.

These initial assessments and evaluations, together with watershed coalition efforts, lead to a Clean Water Partnership (CWP) grant in 2001. (The CWP program was created in 1987 to deal with pollution from agricultural and urban runoff. The program provides local governments with resources and expertise to protect and improve lakes, streams, and groundwater.)

Implementation of Conservation Practices
The objectives of this CWP project (2002-2005) are to accelerate conservation practices and promote voluntary adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) by providing additional technical and financial assistance to watershed landowners and livestock and crop producers.
The project focuses on education, nutrient management, septic system upgrades, filter strips, wetlands creation, water storage, in-stream trout habitat creation, and stream-bank erosion control. Intensive water-quality monitoring and watershed assessments are continuing throughout the course of the project.

Continuous sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is one very popular program being implemented as part of the CWP. Through this program and its attractive incentives, landowners are enrolling small, environmentally sensitive areas into wetland restorations. On most of these sites, drainage tile is broken to restore the original hydrology and, where permitted, adjacent drainage tile is routed into the restored wetland to reduce nitrate runoff.

Partners
More than 15 agencies, citizens groups, and private enterprises are involved in the Seven Mile Creek Watershed Project:

• Brown Nicollet Environmental Health
• Nicollet County Soil and Water Conservation Distric
• National Resource Conservation Service of the USDA
• Nicollet County Environmental Services
• Farm Service Agency
• Minnesota Department of Agriculture
• MPCA
• DNR
• University of Minnesota Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering
• University of Minnesota School of Public Health
• The Center for Agricultural Partnerships
• Blue Earth Consulting
• Local agri-business retailers
• USDA Paired-watershed Study
• The McKnight Foundation

In addition, the watershed’s biggest business, Northern Plains Dairy, and southern Minnesota’s longest-running demonstration farm, Red Top Farm, are both valued partners in the watershed protection project. The Brown Nicollet Cottonwood Water Quality Board is the project sponsor and coordinating agency.