Programs

The Le Sueur River Watershed Network is guided by recommendations developed by a Citizen Advisory Committee in 2012 and 2013. In this video, see how people with different experiences came together to identify needs and start the hard work of change across more than 700,000 acres.

Citizens in the Le Sueur River Watershed met in 2012 to form a citizen-led group to improve watershed conditions. Meet participants and see how people with diverse experiences are working across the watershed as Le Sueur River Watershed Network.

Silver Creek Watershed coordinator Neil Shaffer is achieving his four goals—reduce soil loss, improve water quality, enhance wildlife habitat, and increase net farm income—because of a cascade of cooperation.

An oxbow is a historic river bend, cut off from the main channel much of the time. Restored oxbows re-establish ecological functions and provide flood storage and habitat to fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. They also process nutrients and are affordable.

Minnesota’s trout streams are treasured resources offering people outdoor recreation and excitement. Sometimes though, trout streams can have a rough time in farm country. Thanks to the work of 11 farmers in Dundas, Minnesota, water quality in Rice Creek is showing important improvements.

Brent Hoerr, president of Marion County Drainage District for 40 years, experienced a Mississippi River flood first when his family lost their home in 1973. "Floods overload agriculture, transportation and the environment, and we can minimize impact through collaboration."

Community outreach led by a farmer-driven steering committee in Indian Creek watershed transformed nutrient use and helped bring 50% of basin farmland into conservation practice.

Lessons learned from seven years of monitoring and stories of three farmers are shared in this video, released in 2018.

At a Watershed Leaders Network workshop, participants ask: How do I farm, protect public waters and get return on my investment? How do I catalyze others to do the same?

In southwest Wisconsin, farming practices such as cover crops, contour strips and native grass strips help sustain recreational fishing that generates more than $1 billion annually for the local economy.

Root River Field to Stream Partnership tracks the effect of farm practices on streams and helps landowners act for the future. See how Steph and Josh Dahl invested to expand their operation.

Blackhawk Creek carries E. coli bacteria and 2,720 tons of nitrates to the Cedar River annually. Neighbors established Blackhawk Creek Water & Soil Coalition to restore it.

Farmer Jeff Pape rallied neighbors to farm differently in Hewitt Creek Watershed, near Iowa’s Field of Dreams. “Affordable change came first. Now reaching water quality goals means more investment.

Cooperation between local partners in Pike County is increasing the number of cover cropped acres. Producers John and Sandy Scherder say it has everything to do with the will to connect.

Root River Field to Stream Partnership gathered data, but more importantly, it engaged with growers and encouraged conversations among growers that led to positive changes in soil and water.

“A watershed group was worth a try," said farmer Brian McCulloh, "so I attended meetings with an open mind. It helps when neighbors struggle with the same challenges, to do better.”

Restoring stream oxbows where they naturally occur is reviving the endangered Topeka shiner minnow, other fish and wildlife. Farmers also see nutrient reduction benefits.

Wisconsin no-tillers John Eron and Matt Hintz didn’t wait for regulations telling them how to farm. They started farmer-led watershed groups to deal directly with local environmental issues and the groups that raised them, not as adversaries, but as advocates.

Focused work in Minnesota's Rice Creek watershed is connecting producers, reducing the risk of trying cover crops and other new practices, influencing local farming methods and improving conditions for brook trout in Rice Creek.

Two restored Boone River oxbow wetlands on Camille Rogers' Iowa farm are part of a plan to renew more than 400 similar sites in her watershed. After eroded soil was removed, the topeka shiner minnow returned and Rogers can again enjoy a favorite natural area from her childhood.

Shoal Creek Woodlands for Wildlife, a bottom-up, self-organized group of local landowners and collaborators, connected neighbors and jumpstarted rapid adoption of conservation practices across the watershed.

Fishers & Farmers' interactive, no-lecture, professionally-facilitated workshops bring farmers, landowners and collaborators together to ask questions, hear new perspectives, reflect, and identify their own next wise steps.

A 14-inch brook trout is a trophy in most waters, but in a small Minnesota stream in farm country it's noteworthy. Rice Creek brook trout thrive because upstream farmers made changes.