Programs & Services
Pine County Water Management Plan:
The Pine County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution on March 4th, 2008 requiring the update and revision of the Pine County Local Water Management Plan, as authorized under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 103B.301, the Comprehensive Local Water Management Act.
The current Water Management Plan .
For more information about the Pine County Local Water Management Plan, please contact the office at (320) 216-4240.
The Waters Newsletter:
Click on our newsletter link for information about the newsletter.
State Cost-Share:
Click on our State Cost Share link for more information about the cost share program.
Wetland Conservation Act:
Please contact Pine County Planning and Zoning for questions about wetlands, at 320-591-1649. jeremy.williamson@co.pine.mn.us
Local Water Monitoring Data:
Water Quality Data from lakes and streams that is collected by agencies and volunteers and is put in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's STORET database can be accessed at their Environmental Data Access website http://www.pca.state.mn.us/data/eda/index.cfm. Click on Surface Water Quality Data. You can then choose between a Map-based search or a Text-based search.
Stream & Lake Monitors:
The citizen's lake and stream monitoring programs are sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The programs combine the knowledge and commitment of interested citizens with the technical expertise and resources of the MPCA. The volunteers are a critical component of Minnesota's Water Quality Strategy. Most of the large lakes currently have volunteers monitoring them, but there are small lakes that could be monitored. Most of the rivers and creeks are not currently being monitored and could also use volunteers. Volunteer lake monitoring involves going on the lake to the same spot about once a week and using a Secchi disk to measure the clarity. The data is sent to the MPCA at the end of the summer. Volunteer stream monitoring involves going to the river or creek to the same spot once a week and using a transparency tube to measure the clarity of the water. For both lake and stream monitoring, general site conditions are recorded each time the monitoring is completed. The data that is collected is very useful. It helps determine the water quality of the lake or stream and that data is entered into the MPCA database and will be available in future years for comparison. Monitoring is also an opportunity for the volunteer to learn about the lake or stream and see changes or trends. If you are interested in being a lake or stream monitoring volunteer, please call the office at 320-216-4240. You can also contact Laurie Sovell at the MPCA at (651) 757-2750 (direct) or Johanna Schussler at (651) 757-2705. They both can be reached toll free at 1-800-657-3864.
Pine County Fair:
Pine SWCD has a booth in the Snake River Conservation Club building at the Pine County Fairgrounds. Typically we focus on a different topic each year.
Pine County Waters Festival:
Pine SWCD presents "The Water Cycle" to 5th grade students at the Pokegama Lake Association's Water Festival in Pine City each year. 5th grade students from all over Pine County attend the event and learn about water quality, protection and conservation.
Envirothon:
The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental competition for high school students in grades 9-12. Students in Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Carlton, Mille Lacs, Aitkin, St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties all participate in the event, which is held the first Monday in May. The event is held at a different site each year. Teams of 5 students visit 5 of the 6 stations (wildlife, forestry, water quality, soils, and a current events station), where they listen to a brief presentation by natural resource professionals, and then complete a short test. Teams also visit the 6th station where they give a 10 minute oral presentation on the current events topic. Scores are tallied for the 6 stations and the top 3 teams move onto the State Envirothon where they compete against teams from all over Minnesota. The team with the highest score at the State Envirothon then travels onto the National Envirothon with teams from all over the U.S.