The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is considering making some changes to its rules governing wild rice waters, and is seeking public comment on those proposals.
The first change would be in its calculation used to determine what is a safe limit for sulfate in a specific body of water.
Secondly, MPCA is seeking to establish criteria used to determine which surface waters will be designated as wild rice sites, and third, MPCA will provide a list of wild rice waters where the sulfate standard will be applied.
From 2011 to 2013, MPCA monitored 112 Minnesota lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers. Those results demonstrated that where there was a high concentration of sulfide in sediment there was less wild rice. Sulfide does not contaminate rice that is gathered for food, but does limit the plant’s ability to grow and produce a harvest.
According to its report, “MPCA has determined that sulfate is not directly toxic to wild rice, but sulfate in surface water can be converted into potentially toxic levels in sulfide in the sediment in which wild rice is rooted.”
To calculate what a level is in a given body of water, MPCA will measure sulfate levels in water based on concentrations of sulfide in sediment, sediment iron, and sediment organic compound.
A second criteria will establish a minimum threshold for what constitutes a wild rice body of water. MPCA is proposing to use a minimum stem count for lakes and wetlands of 8,000 stems per water body, and 800 stems per mile for rivers and streams.
The third element seeks to establish a new wild rice class that shows how water will be defined as “wild rice waters,” and where the equation sulfate standard will apply.
A 2008 report submitted to the Minnesota Legislature by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) identified 1,300 lakes, wetlands, streams, and rivers that appear to meet the minimum stem count now under consideration. But MPCA has compiled a second list of water that also may fall under the current proposal and would like to hear from the public about these sites.
Interested persons or groups should submit written comments or information on these planned rule amendments by 4:30 p.m. December 18, 2015 to Carol Nankivel, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul MN 55155-4194, or email: minnrule7050.pca@state.mnus.
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