Geological Survey by University of Minnesota and DNR to begin
Efforts to map out the foundation of Lyon County will begin soon. A partnership with the University of Minnesota and the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a geological survey of the area was approved Tuesday morning by the Lyon County Board of Commissioners. “You have a long history of working on difficult water issues, I know that,” said Paul Putzier, with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
“So, you’re very smart about these things as a county because you’ve had a lot of challenges, I think.” The Minnesota Geological Survey is a research and service arm of the Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota. It works with state, county and regional offices to set up geologic data bases and provide technical guidance for water resource planning, land management and mineral exploration policy, energy system development, and other planning and resource management activities.
Barbara Lusardi, associate director of the Minnesota Geological Survey, spoke to commissioners about the importance of a geologic atlas in regulating common issues such as watershed, recreation, construction and more.
“There’s just a lot of things going on that require natural resources and then impact natural resources, including water. Anything that falls from the ground or from the tanker truck or from a manure patch onto the ground is going to go back into the earth. And what the material is below that spill or that rainfall is going to determine how fast it moves, where it flows to. So, it’s important to know what the distribution of those materials is,” she said.
Geology is the container that can help manage mineral and water resources through comprehensive mapping, Lusardi said.
Once completed, a county geologic atlas can be used by county staff, business and industry, agriculture, engineering consultants, communities, cities, townships, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, private citizens, state and federal agencies, researchers and more.
While it will take six to seven years to construct, the atlas will pay off especially for future generations, Putzier said. “In 20 years, when there’s people sitting in your chairs, they’re going to be very grateful that you took the effort to do this,” he said.
“Because you’ll still be dealing with environmental challenges, you’ll still be looking for natural resources that you can use in your county. And in 20 years, it’ll probably be more intense than it is today.”
Putzier pointed to how effective some of the first surveys that were made three decades ago have been for local workers. “Like in Rochester, the county agent down there, he has one of the maps and it’s just almost falling apart because he’s used it so much over the last 30 years,” he said.
Altogether, the project will cost about $800,000, Lusardi said. It’s funded by the state through various avenues, including the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, federal contracts, the Department of Natural Resources and the Clean Water Fund.
The only expense to the county will be time. “What we do need is for you to help us locate water wells,” she said. There are about 900 wells in Lyon County that need to be located in order to begin the survey. Departments have a year-and-a-half to complete that portion, and much of it can be done in the office, rather than the field, Putzier said. “Nine hundred wells is not that many compared to some counties. It shouldn’t really take a very long time,” he said.
“Several weeks of someone working on it, maybe a little longer than that. Just to give you a sense.” A complete county geologic atlas consists of two parts.
The first is completed by the Minnesota Geological Survey and includes the water well database. The second part is done by the Department of Natural Resources, which takes the data already collected and reanalyzes it to create maps of water levels in aquifers, direction of groundwater flow, water chemistry and sensitivity to pollution, among other things. A finished survey can be used for land-use planning, wellhead protection, source-water protection, remediation, appropriation, monitoring and support for permitting decisions. In other action Tuesday, the board:
• Heard an update on the buffer cost-share assistance program from John Biren, Planning and Zoning administrator, and Luke Olson, Planning and Zoning conservation technician. Biren said 270 letters will go out to landowners who do not meet the requirements under Minnesota law. “This will be the last push before we move to enforcement,” Olson said. After a time period, initial violations will be $100 per parcel per month for the first 6 months and $300 per parcel per month after that, Biren said.
• Approved the continuation of a joint powers agreement with the State of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to participate in a human trafficking investigators task force. The initial agreement expired Dec. 31, 2019, due to grant funding, but additional money has been secured by the state, Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen said. The new agreement will extend until 2025.
• Approved a request from Lyon County Coroner Steven Meister to appoint Jill Vroman and Laurie Hill as assistant County Coroners. Vroman and Hill are current doctors with Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Marshall.
• Approved the acceptance of a $100 donation check from Schwartz Farms of Sleepy Eye to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. The gift will be placed into the DARE account to be used for drug and alcohol education, and a thank you card will be sent to the donor.
• Approved a March 18 hearing on the Preliminary Engineer’s Report for the improvement of County Ditch #14.
• Approved the use of $10,000 matching dollars for potential equipment grants for the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. The Southwest Regional Radio Board, of which the office is a participant, recently advised that there may be incoming, unused grant money which could be redistributed statewide and used for regional and county level projects, Sheriff Wallen said. Because the window of opportunity to apply for the reallocated money will likely be narrow, he said, the office was requesting pre-authorization from the board to provide the matching funds required. The board approved the request 4-1 on the grounds that Wallen would return with more information if the cost was higher or if time allowed. The sheriff’s office plans to use the grant money for portable and mobile radios to replace units that have reached end of life.
• Approved a resolution in support of a concrete resurface instead of bituminous surface on Highway 23 between Russell and Pipestone.
In a supporting document, Commissioner Loren Stomberg cited several reasons for the replacement, including: - The importance of quality arterial highways to promote economic development and provide for the efficient transport of regional freight and employees.
- Recent mill and overlay projects on area highways, while appreciated, have not provided any practical longevity to better highway conditions.
- In 2016, more than 2,000 permits were issued to oversize overweight trips either starting or ending in District 8 — about 22% of the total permits issued in the state that year.
- Minnesota’s freight tonnage is expected to increase by 80% between 2012 and 2040.