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

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Many Partners

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Continuous Living Cover (CLC)

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GREEN LANDS BLUE WATERS
• CLC = Combination of summer row crops, cover
crops, winter annuals & perennials to keep fields
covered & rooted in place year-round
• 5 GLBW CLC Strategies
*Agroforestry *Cover Crops *Perennial Biomass
*Perennial Forages *Perennial Grains

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CLC Benefits
• Water quality - Cleaner surface & ground water
• Water quantity - Mediation of significant weather events
• Improved soil health, erosion control, nutrient management
• Carbon sequestration & climate mitigation/adaptation
• Natural pest management
• More habitat for wildlife and pollinators

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3-10
> 10
Well water
NO3 (ppm)
• 13% of private wells
exceeded safe drinking
limit statewide
• 30% in central sand plains
Minnesota Nitrate Issues

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Too Costly to Treat

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• 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

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MN collaboration for source water protection
Kernza®?

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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

13. Jerry Glover of The Land Institute: Photo by Jim
Richardson

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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

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Nitrogen fertilizer
Groundwater
Nitrogen Leaching
Plantuptake
Root and
soil N
cycling
Root and
soil N
cycling
Plantuptake
Commodities
Commodities -
Grain &
High Quality
Forage
Annual Row Crops vs. Perennial IWG Kernza®

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

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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)

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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*

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THANK YOU
Erin Meier, Director
Green Lands Blue Waters
tegtm003@umn.edu
612-625-3709