The Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District has been able to carry out more projects to reduce sediment from the Poplar River than it had planned with a 2010 Great Lakes Commission grant because several projects came in under budget. Soil & Water staff have submitted an application for the next three-year grant cycle.
Numerous sediment reduction projects on the Poplar River funded by a large Great Lakes Commission grant in 2010 are being completed this fall while Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District staff wait to hear on the next round of funding.
Numerous projects not planned when the grant application was submitted are being done because the first set of projects came in under budget and the Great Lakes Commission does not want its money back, Soil & Water District Manager Kerrie Berg told the Poplar River Management Board (PRMB) on October 7, 2013.
Lutsen Mountains co-owner and Poplar River Management Board President Tom Rider credited Edwin E. Thoresen Inc., saying the construction company has been a big part of the success of the grant because of their willingness to work for a good price, enabling more projects to be done.
In planning for the next grant application, Berg said, she learned that the Great Lakes Commission indicated they are not very interested in funding water bars on ski runs or improvements to the wastewater pipe leading from Caribou Highlands to the top of the riverbank. The commission is interested in bank stabilization projects in areas with slumps, however, she said, and in dealing with a tributary that seems to have a lot of sediment in it.
Berg asked for $249,219, just short of the maximum three-year grant amount of $250,000. It would require an in-kind match of $8,300 and a cash match of $75,000.
Karen Evens of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said that St. Louis, Nemadji, Knife, and Poplar rivers are the only ones on Lake Superior that the Great Lakes Commission is interested in awarding grants for at this point. She said they would like to reduce sedimentation into the Great Lakes. The commission expects to grant $800,000 in the next grant cycle, she said.
TMDL
Evens reported that she and Kerrie Berg had been working on an implementation plan for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) – a water quality standard – and were creating a historical record of all projects that have been done so far to reduce sediment from the Poplar River. The TMDL might be ready by the PRMB’s December meeting, she said, and managers at the MPCA would then review it.
Comments from the public are listed on the MPCA website. Evens said people submitting comments have been wanting to know where sediment reduction projects still need to be done and how much they would improve the river. Identifying the next set of projects will be the next step. “There’s a little bit of gray area,” Evens said, “and I guess that’s what the issue is. …I think we’re on a course that’s a good course for the kind of watershed project this is.”
Superior National
Superior National at Lutsen Grounds Superintendent Mike Davies reported that contractors were doing a great job keeping soil from entering the river as they renovate the course. He said the local brown sand used originally on the course will be replaced by sand as white as they can afford and that they will be able to plant grass that can be cut shorter.
Davies said the improvements should make the course better to manage and maintain and will be better aesthetically for golfers. They are having budget problems, however, he said. Poplar River Management Board Vice President and Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Agency (EDA) Treasurer Scott Harrison said of the budget, “There are some holes.” Tom Rider said it was the same with the pipeline being built to bring Lake Superior water up the hill to homes and businesses from Lutsen Resort to the ski hill.
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