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CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)

CAC Meeting - December 4, 2012

The Le Sueur River Watershed Network hosted the first meeting of the Citizen Advisory Committee on Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at Pemberton’s Main Street Plaza. Eighteen people attended. After introductions and an overview of the goals, timeline and proposed guiding principles of the Citizen Advisory Committee, the group set to work brainstorming recommendations to improve water quality in the Le Sueur River Watershed. A draft version of the “Le Sueur River: Science Briefing Booklet” was passed out and we discussed how the science related to our brainstormed list.

CAC Meeting - February 19, 2013

The Le Sueur River Watershed Network hosted the second meeting of the Citizen Advisory Committee on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at Pemberton’s Main Street Plaza. Twenty-one attended from across the watershed. After introductions, CAC member Leon Schoenrock gave a demonstration of how tile drainage works which was followed by a group discussion. Leo Getsfried MDNR Hydrologist provided additional background on his experience working on hydrologic issues in the watershed. In order to understand current water policy currently in place in the watershed, a summary of water plan priorities, goals, and objectives for the four main counties in the watershed was passed out. A summary of priorities from SWCDs (NRCS Rapid Assessment) was also passed out as well as the Executive Summary of the 1994 Minnesota River Citizens’ Advisory Committee “Working Together: :A Plan to Restore the Minnesota River."

CAC Meeting - March 19, 2013

The third Le Sueur River Watershed Network Citizen Advisory Committee was held on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at Pemberton’s Main Street Plaza. Twenty-two people attended from across the watershed. After introductions, the group heard a presentation about County Ditch 57 by Chuck Brandel from I&S Group and CAC member Pat Duncanson. Spurred by the engaging tile model demonstration that CAC member Leon Schoenrock gave at the last meeting, Paul Davis from MPCA provided another tile demonstration model that prompted another great discussion from the group. The rest of the meeting was focused on revisiting the brainstormed list of suggested recommendations from the first day the CAC met.  The group further refined the list and discussed what else should be included. A draft list of recommendations will be sent out to the group so they can further discuss and rank them at the next meeting.

CAC Meeting - April 9, 2013

As part of the introductions, we went around the circle of those present and asked those who attending the Waseca County Farmers Forum to share their observations. A video case study in the Hawk Creek Watershed was shown. Beaver Creek has see significant water quality improvements over the past ten years.  Kim passed out a map of watershed organizations in the Minnesota River Basin and explained that many parts of the Basin have watershed groups currently structured to help with water quality improvements like Hawk Creek watershed Project. There are a variety of ways these groups are organized with varying authorities: watershed projects, watershed districts, watershed management organizations.

Special Acknowledgements:
Citizen Advisory Committee members:

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  • Ozzie Arndt – Waldorf

  • Mark Bosacker – North Mankato

  • Paul Davis – Mankato / MPCA

  • Pat Duncanson – Mapleton

  • Leo Getsfried – Mankato / MDNR

  • Larry Gunderson – St. Paul / MPCA

  • Lu Guse – Mapleton

  • Carl Guse – Janesville

  • Brooke Hacker – Mankato / MDNR

  • Mark Jenzen – Minnesota Lake

  • Mark Krosch – Mankato

  • John Kuether – Mankato

  • Harold Loeffler – Mankato

  • Greg Mikkelson – Lake Crystal

  • Patrick Moore – Montevideo / riverartisian.com

  • Rick Moore – North Mankato / WRC MSU,M

  • Kim Musser – North Mankato / WRC MSU,M

  • Bernie Paulson – Janesville

  • Kevin Sargent – Janesville

  • Eugene Scheffert – Janesville

  • Randy Schindle – St. Clair / MDNR

  • Leon Schoenrock – New Richland

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Technical Advisory Committee members:

Project partners from state agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits who help support the Network, provide data and input and provide technical assistance.

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  • Jerad Bach - Blue Earth Soil & Water Conservation District

  • Michele Stindtman - Faribault Soil & Water Conservation District

  • Mark Schaetzke - Freeborn Soil & Water Conservation District

  • Marla Watje - Waseca Soil & Water Conservation District

  • David Bucklin - Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance Technical Coordinator

  • Julie Conrad - Blue Earth County Environmental Services

  • Laura Rohde - Waseca County Planning & Zoning

  • Mark Leiferman - Waseca County Planning & Zoning

  • Dick Hoffman - Freeborn County Environmental Services

  • Patrick Moore 

  • Sarina Otaibi - Clean Up the River Environment (CURE)

  • Rick Moore - Water Resources Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato

  • Kim Musser - Water Resources Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato

  • Linda Meschke - Rural Advantage

  • Brian Nerney - Metropolitan State University

  • Anne Queenan - Queenan Productions

  • Lansing Shepard - Land Stewardship Project

  • Paula Westmoreland - Land Stewardship Project

  • ​Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Leo Getsfried

Brooke Hacker

Todd Kolander

Scott Kudelka

Jon Lore

Randy Schindle​

  • Board of Water & Soil Resources

Chris Hughes

Matt Drewitz

  • Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Mark Dittrich

  • ​Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Larry Gunderson

Paul Davis

Bill Kell

Lynne Kolze

Ron Struss​

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