2. North Central Region
One Water Action Forum
Session: My Water - Connecting
Farmers, Communities and the
Public to Source Water Protection
December 13, 2018
Indianapolis, Indiana
Erin Meier, Director
Green Lands Blue Waters
3. greenlandsbluewaters.org
GREEN LANDS BLUE WATERS
A regional collaborative
working to improve soil & water quality
by increasing Continuous Living Cover
on the Upper Mississippi River Basin agricultural landscape
10. greenlandsbluewaters.org
• 1.2 million acres total
• 360,000 acres
considered highly
vulnerable
• 115,000 acres of row
crops in highly
vulnerable wellhead
protection areas
Wellhead Protection Areas
12. greenlandsbluewaters.org
The Land Institute in Kansas and U of MN are developing a commercially viable
perennial grain/forage/biomass crop. TLI registered the trade name Kernza®.
Increasing grain yield and biomass.
Enhancing grain quality for food.
Direct
Domestication
Wild Perennial Perennial Grain
Intermediate Wheatgrass
15. greenlandsbluewaters.org
Jungers et al., Reduced nitrate leaching in a perennial
grain crop compared to maize in the
Upper Midwest, USA. Agriculture, Ecosystems and
Environment 272 (2019) 63–73.
Nitrate content in soil water
50 cm below soil surface in
corn, Kernza, and
switchgrass when fertilized
with N rates optimize for
grain production in 2014 -
averages across three sites.
Soil water nitrate concentration
beneath annual and perennial crops
18. greenlandsbluewaters.org
• Central Lakes College - Central Sand Plains, 4 ac
• Cold Spring – DWSMA, Central Sand Plains, 20 ac
• Verdi – Lincoln/Pipestone WHPA, 54 ac
• Edgerton – WHPA, 40 ac
• Chatfield – WHPA, Karst topography, 13 ac
Research Sites
19. greenlandsbluewaters.org
Partnerships
The Minnesota Department of Health and the
Minnesota Rural Water Association recognized
Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water’s ongoing
commitment to protecting drinking water with a
Source Water Protection Award.
Martin Larsen, Olmsted County SWCD,
speaks about soil health during the Kernza
field day in Chatfield.
Dennis Fuchs (Stearns County SWCD), Farmer Brandon
Dingmann, Jake Jungers (U of MN Agronomy)
20. greenlandsbluewaters.org
Team
• UMN: JACOB JUNGERS*, Craig Sheaffer, Jessica Gutknecht, Don Wyse, David Mulla
• The Land Institute: Lee DeHaan,
• Minnesota Rural Water Association: Aaron Meyer & Scott Hanson
• Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture Margaret Wagner, Bruce Montgomery, Ryan Perish
• Minnesota Department of Health: Randy Ellingboe & Mark Wettlaufer
• City of Chatfield: Brian Burkholder & Joel Young
• Lincoln Pipestone Rural Water: Jason Overby
• Central Lakes College: Keith Olander, Hannah Barrett
• Agricultural Utilization Research Institute: Rod Larkins & Goutham Vemuri
Funding
• Minnesota Legislative Trust Fund for Natural Resources
• Clean Water Fund – Forever Green Initiative
• Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment
• The Land Institute and Malone Family Foundation
• Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Acknowledgements*