There is a new drainage improvement project being proposed in Stevens County, MN. This project is quite large and will span roughly 8,000 acres and cost $5M. There are very serious environmental consequences for moving forward with the project as listed below. JOIN US TODAY IN SAYING NO TO THIS DITCH!!!

The potentially significant environmental effects of the Proposed Project include the following:

• Increased discharge that will result in additional streambank erosion in open ditches downstream of the proposed project and on banks and bluffs along the Pomme de Terre River and will contribute additional sediment/turbidity to the River.
• Increased duration of flows contributing to the widening of the river channels, the movement of meander bends, the degradation of wetland vegetation and habitat and the aggradation of the riverbed particularly in areas used for navigation
• Downstream sediment deposition in flood plains and backwaters and silt accumulation in slips, marinas, wetlands and lakes including Lake Pepin.
• Increased flooding that will result in additional soil/sediment being transported to the Pomme de Terre River and downstream.
• Increased nutrients attached to sediment particles caused by this proposed improvement project and similar improvement projects being proposed in the watershed, which will degrade water quality in all downstream areas, culminating in increased hypoxia conditions in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Increased flooding that destroys crops, degrades the fertility of farm fields, and damages public infrastructure and private property.
• Inconsistency and interference with the Stevens County Local Water Management Plan to “implement a plan of action to promote sound hydrologic management of water and land resources in the county” that will reduce sediment and nutrients tributary to county water resources.
• Create a disincentive to the implementation of sustainable farming practices including cover cropping and conservation tillage which would reduce crop loss from excessive moisture and from drought, conserve top soil, and improve soil quality and fertility.
• Add to and be a part of the cumulative effect of agricultural drainage in the Minnesota River basin causing the material adverse impacts identified in the foregoing bullet points.

JOIN US TODAY IN SAYING NO TO THIS DITCHING PROJECT!!!