BISMARCK, N.D. (NDDEQ) – The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality allocated $2,973,424 in Nonpoint Source Program EPA-sponsored grant funding to eleven pollution prevention projects.

The goal of these projects is to reduce or prevent nonpoint source pollution through best management practices, educational events, and technical/financial support.

• Upper Sheyenne River Watershed Pilot Project – Implement streambank restoration practices at several priority sites on the Sheyenne River upstream from Lake Ashtabula.
• Jamestown Reservoir Watershed – Minimize the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and improve recreational opportunities at the Jamestown Reservoir.
• Antelope Creek Watershed & Wild Rice Riparian Corridor – Phase VI – Restore the recreational uses of the impaired reaches of Antelope Creek and the Wild Rice River in Richland County.
• Turtle River – Larimore Dam Watershed – Monitor water quality and implement agricultural Best Management Practices in the Larimore Dam watershed.
• Stockmen’s Environmental Services Program – Phase VII – Maintain a statewide program to reduce water quality impairments associated with livestock concentration areas.
• Upper Spring Creek Watershed – Phase II – Restore and maintain the recreational uses of Upper Spring Creek in Dunn County.
• The Regional Environmental Education Series (TREES) – Provide educational programs for K-6 grade students to increase awareness and understanding of nonpoint source pollution, natural resource conservation, and the relationship between land use and water quality.
• Menoken Farm Planting Green Project – Phase II – Demonstrate and educate how integrating cover crops and livestock into a diverse crop rotation can improve soil health and water quality.
• Red River Basin River Watch and River of Dreams Program – Provide high school and elementary students hands-on watershed educational opportunities that challenge the students and facilitate an understanding and appreciation of water resources in the Red River Basin.
• Envirothon – Implement a statewide competition for high school students to strengthen participants’ problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities concerning water and its relationship to other natural resources.
• Pay-for-Progress/Water Quality Outcomes Program – Coordinate with North Dakota farmers, commodity groups, and private companies to develop recommendations for a functioning framework to deliver an outcome-based process for incentivizing the implementation of conservation practices that improve water quality.