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Nonpoint Source
Management Program
In 2004, Fond du Lac submitted our
Nonpoint Source Assessment Report and Management Program to the
EPA Region 5 office (link to report document). In December, they
approved both the management program and our application for
‘Treatment as an Affected State’, or TAS, which is the authority to
manage a tribal nonpoint source program for the Reservation. In our
nonpoint source assessment of the Reservation, we examined all the
indirect sources of pollution (erosion, stormwater runoff from roads
and pastures, nutrient loadings, temperature impairments), and then
developed a nonpoint source management plan to minimize those
loadings and impacts. Since there are no permitted discharges or
point sources of pollution to Reservation waters, it is critical to
identify and mitigate nonpoint source impairments to protect our
lakes, streams and wetlands. We now have additional federal dollars
every year for our water quality protection program, and can apply
for competitive tribal nonpoint source project grants. In our first
nonpoint source program work plan, we identified several priority
projects: hosting a Forestry Best Management Practices workshop,
working with Carlton County on a Geologic Atlas, and develop
education programs and outreach materials for different sectors.
Wild Rice Lake
Restoration
Our monitoring data did not indicate
any biochemical reasons for wild rice to be inhibited in Wild Rice
Lake; the most likely and apparent cause was high water levels. The
concrete culverts at the lake’s outlet under Highway 210 had been
completely blocked by debris from beaver activity, causing the water
levels in the lake to remain too high for ideal wild rice growth
conditions. Working with our Wildlife Biologist, Mike Schrage, and
with technical assistance from the Minnesota DNR, in 2001 we
installed two pond levelers at the outlet to Wild Rice Lake (see
photos below). These conduits keep water flowing through the outlet
and maintain lake levels suitable for wild rice, even if beavers
attempt to block the culverts again. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, we
have seeded different areas of the lake, and are seeing positive
results: rice is growing in more areas of the lake, and is becoming
more dense in the areas that we have seeded. This certainly benefits
the waterfowl and other wildlife that use the lake, and in future
years there may be dense enough stands of rice to support
harvesting.
Stoney Brook
Watershed Study
The Resource Management Division will
begin a comprehensive hydrologic study of the Stoney Brook Watershed
this year, with technical assistance from the Natural Resource
Conservation Service. We will be collecting precipitation, ground
water, rice lake water level and stream flow data; doing physical
surveys of the ditch channels and stream segments; creating a
high-resolution digital elevation model; and pulling all of this
information together to develop a hydrologic model of the Stoney
Brook system. Once this model has been developed and calibrated, we
can use it to predict how the wild rice lakes, ditches and historic
stream channels, and wetlands respond to different storm events and
water conditions (drought, spring runoff). With this information we
can determine which ditch segments are most important for helping to
manage the water level in the wild rice lakes, and which areas would
be good candidates for restoration (re-connecting the original
stream channels to the adjacent wetlands, and improving habitat).
St. Louis River
Monitoring
The Fond du Lac Office of Water
Protection, Ceded Territories Fisheries Biologist, and Natural
Resource Technicians will be working this summer with three
Minnesota DNR Area Fisheries Offices and the 1854 Authority to do
fisheries assessments and water quality monitoring on the St. Louis
River. We will be working from the lower Reservation boundary all
the way up into the headwaters of the river, near Seven Beavers
Lake. Many different agencies and groups will benefit from this
monitoring project, and we will establish 4-6 permanent monitoring
sites on the Reservation that will be part of our ongoing water
quality monitoring program.
Natural Resource
Damage Assessment
The Fond du Lac
Environmental Program has been actively participating in Natural
Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) activities related to the
Interlake/Duluth Tar Superfund site in the St. Louis River
estuary. This site is heavily contaminated with polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, and others)
from various industries that have operated at the site over many
decades, much of it associated with the sediments in Stryker Bay and
the two shipping slips at the site. Last year, the MPCA issued a
Record of Decision describing the remedial or cleanup activities
that the responsible parties (the industries responsible for the
pollution) must pay for and complete. While this satisfies their
obligation under Superfund rules, they are still responsible to
provide compensation to the public for the many years of lost
natural resources use because of the contamination. Along with the
US Fish and Wildlife Service, the DNR, the MPCA, the BIA, the 1854
Authority, and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), Fond du Lac is one of the “Natural Resource Trustees” for
this NRDA action. We are developing a plan for restoring some of the
natural resource services that have been lost because of the
industrial contamination: improving fish habitat, public access, and
restoring wild rice in suitable areas of the estuary. In the near
future, Fond du Lac will be involved in implementing some of these
projects, including raising public awareness of the cultural and
historic importance of this area to the Ojibwe people.
Traditional Foods Risk/Benefits Study
We
collaborated with Dr. Mary Renwick of the University of Minnesota
Water Resources Center on a study funded through Minnesota Sea
Grant, to look at contaminant levels in other harvested/hunted foods
associated with water or wetlands. In this project, we collected
samples of wild rice (both green and finished), waterfowl and moose,
and are analyzing them for mercury and lead levels. Once again,
rather than attempting to alarm band members and discourage them
from eating traditional foods, we emphasized the tremendous cultural
and nutritional benefits of harvesting, hunting and consuming these
foods, as opposed to supermarket alternatives and commodities
products. Native Americans are disproportionately at risk for
developing diabetes and other nutritionally related health problems,
and this increased risk has been attributed to a shift towards a
more “Western” diet, away from traditional local foods.
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