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IN THE VALLEY, B1

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A SPECIAL REPORT

Cain out of GOP race

WASHING AWAY Studies pin river troubles on farm drainage By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

From

amber waves

The Associated Press

eth Greenwood has to watched parts of Seven Mile Creek County Park between Mankato and St. Peter disappear. “The Minnesota River is eating the bank away,” said The environmental threat the Nicollet County public of the Minnesota River works director. “It’s really bad Part 1 of a 5 on that bend on the river. Five to 15 feet of bank has gone just this year.” Much of that sediment will likely end up in the Mississippi River and settle to the bottom of Lake Pepin. While intense efforts to improve the Minnesota River have gone on for 20 years, now there is a major convergence of better data and mounting political pressure that is bringing to a head problems of suspended solids in the river. The issue is creating growing friction between farmers and environmentalists and residents on Lake Pepin who are suffering from the Minnesota’s pollution. The millions of tons of sediment getting into the river is emerging as the keystone issue facing the river basin. The impacts on the Mississippi, Lake Pepin and the river basin’s contribution to the Gulf “dead zone” are sweeping and the potential solutions expensive, controversial and complicated, considering the Minnesota watershed covers 16,000 square miles. Decades of scientific research — bolstered by new techniques such as using radioactive isotopes to trace where dirt particles originated — offer a few major findings: ■ The amount of sediment getting into the river has increased dramatically — tenfold its natural rate by some estimates. ■ Two-thirds or more of the river’s sediment load comes from eroding streambanks and bluffs.

John Cross

Please see TROUBLES, Page A6

Seth Greenwood, Nicollet County public works director, surveys Minnesota River bank erosion along Seven Mile Creek County Park. About 15 feet of bank were swept into the river during spring flooding.

muddy waters

ATLANTA — A defiant Herman Cain suspended his faltering bid for the Republican presidential nomination Saturday amid a drumbeat of sexual misconduct allegations against him, throwing his staunchly conservative supporters up for grabs with just one month to go before the lead-off caucuses in Iowa. Cain condemned the accusations as “false and unproven” but said they had been hurtful to his family, particularly his wife, Gloria, and were drowning out his ability to deliver his message. His wife stood behind him on the stage, smiling and waving as the crowd chanted her name. “So as of today, with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distractions and the continued hurt caused on me and

Please see CAIN, Page A10

Farming flourishes with drainage

Radioactive particles used to track sediment

By Tim Krohn

tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

Call it “CSI Minnesota River.” They’re not crime fighters, but top researchers. Their job is to look for the sources of sediment that annually flows into the Minnesota River and then into the Mississippi. How much comes from the millions of acres of farm land in the watershed and how much from streambanks and ravines? In the recent past, quantifying where sediment was coming from was very diffiCourtesy of Cottonwood County Historical Society cult, if not impossible. Workers hand dig trenches to install cement tile lines in a field Please see FARMING, Page A6 near Amboy in about 1900. Please see SEDIMENT, Page A7

Farm drainage is a relatively straightforward process. Farmers bury a series of underground tile lines in their fields with the tile emptying into the open ditches that people are accustomed to seeing as they drive through the countryside. Those ditches carry the water to lakes, streams and rivers. The Minnesota River ends up with much of that water — the Minnesota River Basin drains 10 million acres of land, or about 20 percent of the state’s landscape. Tile drainage was introduced to the United States in 1838 by a Scottish immigrant who labored to lay 72 miles of clay tile on 320 acres of land on his New York farm. The results were phenomenal, jumping his wheat yield form 12 bushels per acre to 60 bushels. Farming moved slowly to the Midwest because of the lack of well-drained land, and Congress and the states in

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Cutting deficits easier said than done The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The coming year-end spending spree after so much debate over budget deficits shows just how hard it is to stem the government’s flow of red ink. Lawmakers are poised to spend $120 billion or so to renew a Social Security tax cut that averaged just under $1,000 per household this year. They’re ready to commit up to $50 billion more to continue unemployment benefits to people out of work for more than half a year. And doctors have no reason to doubt they won’t be

Please see DEFICITS, Page A8

F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S The Free Press / Sunday, December 4, 2011 A SPECIAL REPORT

TROUBLES: Limited funding doesn’t address all the issues Continued from Page A1

■ Compared to the past, there is much more water flowing into the river more quickly. Part of that comes from more frequent and heavy rains. But more and more, researchers are convinced the high, fast waters tearing into streambanks are largely the result of extensive farm drainage that has changed the hydrology of the landscape. ■ The more powerful flows are altering the river. The Minnesota River from Mankato to St. Paul has widened by 50 percent since 1938. The scene along Seven Mile Creek County Park is playing out all along the lower half of the Minnesota River.

Myriad studies

Farm groups have begun a more aggressive campaign to counter the image of drainage as the primary foe, pointing to research that high bluff erosion and bank erosion are coming from more precipitation. But researchers increasingly say otherwise. “We don’t know absolutely everything,” said Norman Senjem, who recently retired from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency after many years of overseeing river research. “But postWorld War II to about 1980 is when we see the biggest uptick in sediment, the biggest uptick in Lake Pepin filling in. It’s the time of increased mechanization in agriculture. “Precipitation plays a role, but primarily it’s landscape changes.” Shannon Fisher, who heads the Water Resources Center based at Minnesota State University and is director of the multi-county Minnesota River Board, said he’s seen enough credible research to believe farm drainage is a major factor. “In my opinion, the drainage we’re doing is having an impact on the hydrology and we’re going to have to address it. Water storage (on the landscape) is going to be very important, and it’s hard to sell to people as we put more tile in the ground.” The latest study to peg farm drainage as the culprit was recently released by scientists at the St. Croix Watershed Research Station and the University of Minnesota. The research included examination of 70 years’ worth of records on rainfall, flow and land use changes along the 21 tributaries to the Minnesota River. Shawn Schottler, one of the scientists who worked on the research, said every-

Submitted photo

Norman Senjem recently retired from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency after many years of overseeing river research.

Pat Christman

Shannon Fisher (left), who heads the Water Resources Center, catalogs fish caught in nets on the Minnesota River with the help of Minnesota State University students. one agrees streambank and bluff erosion are putting a majority of sediment in the river. Their latest study looked at how much of that could be tied to increased precipitation. “Of course the (river) flow goes up when it rains more. Precipitation has gone up about 8 percent since 1940. Has flow gone up proportionally with that? No, it’s gone up more than that.” And Schottler said climatology records show precipitation has not increased in May and June in southern Minnesota, months that river levels are often highest. Schottler said erosion of riverbanks and widening of the channel are natural occurrences on any river, but it’s been greatly accelerated on the Minnesota. And while much of the sediment that erodes into rivers under normal conditions settles somewhere in the same river, sediment in the Minnesota is flowing out into the Mississippi at a higher rate. “If you go to non-ag watersheds, there is still erosion but no increase in sediment leaving the river.”

Solutions elusive Fisher worries that limited funding to help improve the river may be targeted to a tiny portion of the problem. There are two things involved in looking at suspended solids in the river: the physical sediment (dirt) and the biological. The biological side includes things such as algae blooms created by excess phosphorus in the river. Much of the focus has been on reducing phosphorus, which comes from fertilizers and city wastewater treatment plants. With treatment plants having been

Upcoming: Day 2: Monday Muddy Minnesota impacts Lake Pepin Lake Pepin resident Mike McKay pored through research on the Minnesota River and upper Mississippi and was amazed at the large scope of scientific research done. He’s also amazed so little has been accomplished when the research is clear on most of the causes. Minnesota River sediment is filling Lake Pepin at a pace 10 times the natural rate.

“We don’t know absolutely everything. But post-World War II to about 1980 is when we see the biggest uptick in sediment, the biggest uptick in Lake Pepin filling in. It’s the time of increased mechanization in agriculture.” NORMAN SENJEM, retired researcher with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

upgraded all along the river — including in Mankato and St. Peter — that source of phosphorus has been significantly reduced. Still, Fisher said, much of the funding is being aimed at further improving Twin Cities metro area wastewater treatment and storm water storage. “The MPCA studies are calling for 1 percent of the problem to be fixed in the metro area for $850 million. I struggle with spending that to fix 1 percent of the problem,” Fisher said. “I understand they want

everyone to do their part. Politically, (farm) producers say urban areas need to do their part. I understand that.” Fisher said he’d rather see metro-area cities and the state put some funding into upgrading municipal systems, but put a majority of the money into projects that reduce sediment loading and erosion along the river valley. One way to do that is to create systems that store water so it can be released more slowly into the rivers. A project near Mapleton, for example, creates an overflow basin alongside drainage ditches. Other projects use farm tile drainage systems that, through a series of smaller tiles or mechanical gates, slow the rate of water draining from fields. The mechanical tile systems are, however, more expensive to install and maintain and don’t work well on sloped farm fields. The storage basins along ditches take crop land out of production. Anything taking land out of row-crop production runs up against skyrocketing farmland prices. In fact, the amount of land in grass and vegetation is likely to lessen in coming years as it is pulled out of the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP pays landowners to keep environmentally sensitive land out of production for a set num-

ber of years. Statewide, about 128,000 acres of CRP contracts will soon expire, while only about 33,000 acres were enrolled during the recent spring sign-up period. In the next three years, more than 550,000 acres of CRP are scheduled to expire. Conservationists believe much of that land won’t be re-enrolled in the program because of high farmland and crop prices. Another partial solution, which does not take farmland out of production, is to shore up steep bluffs to slow erosion. On the Le Sueur River, crews are using a mixture of trees, sand and dirt to weave a protective barrier over the surface of steep bluffs and river banks. It’s similar to the traditional stone rip-rap but costs about three-fourths less. Fisher would like to see more focus on similar projects in the Le Sueur and Blue Earth river basins — both of which contribute mightily to the sediment in the river. “For less money we could target some higher-priority areas more intensely. We know, bluff by bluff, where the problems are. If we want to make an impact, why not take big chunks of money and hit those areas hard?” Dennis Frederickson, a former Republican state senator from New Ulm who is now the Department of Natural Resources director of southern Minnesota, is known for his support of the river and keen ability as a conservative senator to get environmental projects approved in the Legislature. “Certainly drainage off the landscape, from fields and other lands, is a contributor to some of that impairment,” Frederickson said. “Agriculture is a huge economic factor in the Minnesota River watershed and the state, so what we do needs to make economic sense for the farmers and make sense for the river.” Frederickson said every-

River podcast on the web To hear a podcast with Editor Joe Spear and Staff Writer Tim Krohn discussing this series, go to www.mankatofreepress.com and type “river podcast” into the search bar at the top of the page. one needs to focus on solutions that can make a difference rather than spending too much time arguing about fault. “It’s important not to square off in issue groups or stakeholder groups one against the other. Every segment in society contributes to the impairment of the river. We need to spend our time and money determining how to improve those impairments instead of arguing about where the faults are.” Frederickson said dealing with issues related to agriculture may be thorny but not impossible. “We’ve dealt with issues with herbicide and pesticide and genetics over the years. Let’s use that same creativity to find how we can farm and raise the abundant crops we do without impairing the waters.” While agriculture is a powerful economic and lobbying force, pressure from urban policymakers and those around Lake Pepin are increasingly calling for more regulation of agriculture drainage. “The question from urban residents is, why do we need to control anything more than an inch of rain off our landscape when the rural areas don’t have to?” Fisher said. “We have an urbanized Legislature that is pushing this more and more. The discussion is will there ever be a requirement for more water storage on the landscape. It would be huge amounts of land taken out of production,” Fisher said. “It’s a fair question, but there are no easy answers.”

FARMING: No one knows how many miles of plastic and tile exist make sure they are not tiling in a designated wetland area. Ryan Braulick of the the 1850s stepped in to Mankato NRCS office said speed up tiling. They they get 250 to 300 such offered tax credits for buyrequests each year with the ing tile and sold marshland number of requests up some at a steep discount on conthis year. dition it be tiled and “Farmers aren’t required drained. At the same time to (file the form), but many states began organizing of them do because it’s in local elected drainage supertheir best interest. If they visory boards — which contile where they shouldn’t, tinue today as Soil and they could jeopardize their Water Conservation enrollment in the Farm Districts in Minnesota. Program.” The pace of drainage Braulick said his office accelerated at the end of the does not do any 1800s and into the early enforcement. 1900s, including during the “We’re not wetland cops. Great Depression when the We don’t go out and look Civilian Conservation Corps for those who are out of was deployed to expand the John Cross compliance.” drainage system in the Drainage tile now comes in large rolls of plastic tile that are quickly laid in the ground behind large trenching machines. He said the counties — Midwest. under the state’s Wetland Still, hand-laying heavy that farmers can purchase lations associated with tiling when they tile, but they can Protection Act — are sections of clay or concrete crete tile end to end, responsible for any enforcetile in trenches — dug first installers only have to unroll their own trencher and plas- are those that prevent farm- be held accountable if it’s a continuous section of light- tic tile, allowing them to ers from draining an existing found they drained a wetland ment actions against impropby hand and later by backer tiling. weight flexible plastic tile. install their own drainage wetland, which can be a area. hoes — remained labor But with so much of The plastic tile has small systems. year-round marsh or a soFarmers can and many do intensive and relatively southern Minnesota so thorholes in it to bring the water No one knows how many called “seasonal wetland” go to the USDA Natural expensive. oughly tiled — much of it Resources Conservation The introduction of plas- inside the tile line. GPS sys- miles of the plastic and con- that has historically filled before wetland protection tems guide the installers as crete tile exist on farm fields with some water during wet Services office and file a tic tile pipes in the late laws were enacted — there they lay the tile. across the Minnesota River periods. form of their tiling plans. 1970s changed all of that. The process has become watershed. Farmers are not required The NRCS then reviews the are few cases of violations or Rather than having to lay enforcement. advanced and simple enough The only significant regu- to inform any agency if and farmer’s land records to individual sections of conContinued from Page A1

The Free Press / Sunday, December 4, 2011

F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S A SPECIAL REPORT

SEDIMENT: ‘We are looking at mud all day’ Continued from Page A1

But not long ago, scientists found the answer — “radiometric fingerprints.” Shawn Schottler, senior scientist at the Science Museum of Minnesota, said the process allows researchers to collect sediment samples downstream and identify whether it came from farm fields or banks and ravines. Schottler, however, plays down any CSI comparison. “After all, we are looking at mud all day.” There are several kinds of radioactive isotopes that are naturally occurring and fall to earth each time it rains. There are also radioactive isotopes that fell to earth because of above ground nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s and early ’60s. Tilled farm fields, that are directly exposed to rain, have more isotopes and the tracers in them are different than those buried deeper in the soil in ravines, bluffs and river banks. So, when scientists took deep core samples of dirt in Lake Pepin — which is being filled in with Minnesota River sediment — they could study dirt that was deposited there going back many decades. And by looking at the ratio of farm field versus non-farm radioisotopes, they could also tell where the sediment originally

Submitted photo

Shawn Schottler, a scientist at the Science Museum of Minnesota, with core samples of sediment pulled from the bottom of Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River. Much of the sediment is coming from the Minnesota River. came from. Schottler said the process lets them quantify farm field and non-farm field sediment in Lake Pepin, but so far they can’t analyze how much of the

non-farm sediment came from lower river banks, upper bluffs or nearby ravines. “Work is continuing on ways to separate those nonfield sources.”

Farms, stores brighten stalled New York City building lots The Associated Press

called for two towers that would house office space for commercial life science NEW YORK — A remnant of the Great companies. Work began on both towers in Recession is hiding behind a paint-splat2007, and the East Tower was completed. tered wall in Chinatown, in an empty lot But after Lehman Brothers collapsed in where a building was supposed to rise 2008, Alexandria, the developer, decided into the sky. to halt construction on the West Tower. The plywood barely conceals the mess Now the company is taking a wait-and-see behind it: a pile of cement blocks and tan- approach amid continued economic uncergled metal and empty bottles of beer. It is, tainty. in short, exactly the sort of place that Soon the place was a maze of milk draws the ire of Manhattan Borough crates lined with landscaping fabric and President Scott Stringer. soil. Riverpark Farm, which “We thought, we officially opened on Sept. 13, “There’s a lot of bad things that happen in have this bald site isn’t just a bright spot for stalled construction sites,” neighborhood residents in here, this plot of need of greenery. It also supsays Stringer, whose office issued a report earlier this land in the middle plies fresh produce for year cataloguing the more restaurant, which of New York. Why Riverpark than 600 stalled sites that is located next door in the are scattered throughout don’t we figure out East Tower. New York City. “Especially Zach Pickens, the farm how to make if everybody sort of ignores manager, likes to watch peoit productive?” ple do a double-take when the site and lets it grow in a very unpleasing way.” they walk along the low SCARLET SHORE, Instead of allowing wooden wall that separates executive director of corporate these lots to become eyethe farm from the street. strategy for Alexandria Real sores, some developers are “They’ll look in the first Estate Equities, Inc. coming up with creative window and they’ll be like, ways to use them tem‘Oh my gosh, there’s plants porarily until construction can begin. growing in there,”’ he said. Grow vegetables in milk crates? Sure. The crops are being covered in plastic Sell doughnuts out of a shipping contain- as colder weather moves in, but the farm er? In New York City, where open space will continue to grow vegetables like is a precious commodity, just about any- spinach, carrots and beets. thing goes. The developer charges no rent for the In a lot near the East River, an urban farm project. It’s unclear when construction farm sprouted last summer on the spot will begin on the West Tower, but when where the construction of a life science that does happen, the goal is to transport park is in limbo. At roughly 15,000 square the moveable farm to a new location. feet, it’s a patch of green in the shadow of Developers say the beauty of these sites the tower next door. lies in their easy portability. And it does“We thought, we have this bald site n’t get much more portable than the shops here, this plot of land in the middle of at downtown Brooklyn’s DeKalb Market, New York,” said Scarlet Shore, executive which have been fashioned out of giant, director of corporate strategy for colorful shipping containers of the variety Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. carried on cargo ships. The market is situ“Why don’t we figure out how to make it ated on a city-owned plot of land that will productive?” eventually become a massive mixed-use The original design for the project retail development.

With candy and cash, al-Qaida flows into Africa

With almost no resistance, terror group moves into one of the poorest nations on Earth The Associated Press SOKOLO, MALI — The first time the members of alQaida emerged from the forest, they politely said hello. Then the men carrying automatic weapons asked the frightened villagers if they could please take water from the well. Before leaving, they rolled down the windows of their pickup truck and called over the children to give them chocolate. That was 18 months ago, and since then, the bearded men in tunics like those worn by Osama bin Laden have returned for water every week. Each time they go to lengths to exchange greetings, ask for permission and act neighborly, according to locals, in the first intimate look at how alQaida tries to win over a village. Besides candy, the men hand out cash. If a child is born, they bring baby clothes. If someone is ill, they prescribe medicine. When a boy was hospitalized, they dropped off plates of food and picked up the tab. With almost no resistance, al-Qaida has implanted itself in Africa’s soft tissue, choosing as its host one of the poorest nations on earth. The terrorist group has create a refuge in this remote land through a strategy of winning hearts and minds, described in rare detail by seven locals in regular contact with the cell. The villagers agreed to speak for the first time to an Associated Press team in the “red zone,” deemed by most embassies to be too dangerous for foreigners to visit. While al-Qaida’s central command is in disarray and its leaders on the run following bin Laden’s death six months ago, security experts say, the group’s 5-

Above: A nomad from the Tuareg tribe of the Sahara Desert brings his herd for vaccination to a team of U.S. Special Forces in the Sahara Desert handing out aid near the town of Gao in northeastern Mali. Left: A boy in Sokolo, Mali, rides a donkey cart. A majority of Sokolo’s population make their living either in the fields of rice to its south or in the forest to its north, where they take their herds to graze. The Associated Press

year-old branch in Africa is flourishing. From bases like the one in the forest just north of here, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, is infiltrating local communities, recruiting fighters, running training camps and planning suicide attacks, according to diplomats and government officials. Even as the mother franchise struggles financially, its African offshoot has raised an estimated $130 million in under a decade by kidnapping at least 50 Westerners in neighboring countries and holding them in camps in Mali for ransom. It has tripled in size from 100 combatants in 2006 to

at least 300 today, say security experts. And its growing footprint, once limited to Algeria, now stretches from one end of the Sahara desert to the other, from Mauritania in the west to Mali in the east. The group’s stated aim is to become a player in global jihad, and suspected collaborators have been arrested throughout Europe, including in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, England and France. In September, the general responsible for U.S. military operations in Africa, Army Gen. Carter Ham, said AQIM now also poses a “significant threat” to the United States. The answer to why the

group has thrived can be found in this speck of a town, where homes are made of mud mixed with straw and families eke out a living either in the fields of rice to the south or in the immense forest of short, stout trees to its north. It’s here, under a canopy stretching over an area three times larger than the city of New York, that Sokolo’s herders take their cattle. They avoid overgrazing by organizing themselves into eight units linked to each of the eight wells, labeled N1 through N8, along the 50mile-long perimeter of the Wagadou forest. They pay $5 per year per head of cattle, and $3 per head of

sheep, for the right to water their animals. When the al-Qaida fighters showed up about 1 1/2 years ago with four to five jerrycans and asked for water, they signaled that they did not intend to plunder resources. They stood out in their tunics stopping a little below the knees, small turbans and beards, a foreign style of dress associated with the Gulf states and bin Laden. “From the moment you lay eyes on them, you know that they’re not Malian,” said 45-year-old herder Amadou Maiga. They started to come every four or five days in Land Cruisers, with

Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders. At first they stayed for no more than 15 to 20 minutes, said the villagers, including herders, a hunter and employees of the Malian Ministry of Husbandry who travel to the area to vaccinate animals and repair broken pumps. If on Monday they took water from one well, on Wednesday they would go to another, always varying their path. Fousseyni Diakite, 51, a pump technician who travels twice a month to the forest to check the generators used to run the wells, first ran into the cell in May 2010, when he saw four men in Arab dress inside a Toyota Hilux truck, all with AK-47s at their feet. He said the men come with medical supplies and try to find out if anyone is sick. “There is one who is tall with a big chest — he’s Arab, possibly Algerian. He’s known for having an ambulatory pharmacy. He goes from place to place giving treatment for free,” Diakite said. They venture into the camps where the herders sleep at dusk and hand out cash to villagers who join them for prayers, he said — bills of 10,000 West African francs (about $20), equal to nearly half the average monthly salary in Mali. Most of the herders sleep in lean-to’s in camps at the forest’s edge. Because these are temporary settlements, they do not have mosques, unlike most villages in this nation twice the size of France that is 90 percent Muslim. In Boulker, a hamlet near the forest, the fighters left 100,000 francs (around $200), instructing locals to buy supplies and build an adobe mosque, Diakite said. Along with its poverty, Mali has an enormous geography and a weak central government — not unlike Afghanistan, where bin Laden first used the charm offensive to secure the loyalty of the local people, said Noman Benotman, a former jihadist with links to alQaida, now an analyst at the London-based Quilliam Foundation.

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FIRST BIG SNOW A PUTIN’S PARTY TEBOW TROUBLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE LOSING FAVOR FOR VIKINGS CNHI

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of the Year

Trouble at the mouth of

Energy task force points out potential

Postal cuts to slow first-class delivery

LAKE PEPIN

Reductions would eliminate next-day mail

Group scouting sites for small wind turbines

The Associated Press

By Brian Ojanpa bojanpa@mankatofreepress.com

MANKATO — A Mankatoarea renewable energy advocacy group is looking to harness the wind, albeit on a modest scale. The Region Nine Renewable Energy Task Force is courting prospective small developers for a wind turbine bulk-buy project that would place windmills on farms and other rural properties in south-central and southwest Minnesota. “We’re not out to make money; we’re just here to provide the technical assistance,” said Jon Hammel, economic development specialist for Region Nine Development Commission. “What we’re trying to show is that renewable energy makes sense for our region because we’re completely dependent on others for our energy resources.” The citizen task force has been scouting potential area sites to accommodate small turbines of under 40 kilowatts that could provide much or all of an owner’s energy needs. Task force members said a small-scale effort is more viable than large wind energy projects that employ mammoth turbines of 1.5 megawatts and above, an often problematic scenario due to prevailing local ordinances and public NIMBY Please see ENERGY, Page A8

Pat Christman

Scenic Lake Pepin, on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, is popular with boaters. Parts of the lake are filling in with sediment flowing out of the Minnesota River.

Lake takes in what Minnesota River sends it By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

he rapidly eroding banks and muddy river water are the obvious signs of problems for those along the Minnesota River. But it’s near Red Wing that the Minnesota’s problems end up. “About five years ago the From neighborhood people at the amber waves mouth of Lake Pepin to noticed places you used to be muddy able to jet ski across or take boat across to Wisconsin — waters your you can’t get there anymore,” said lake resident Mike McKay. The northern one-third of The environmental threat Lake Pepin is filling in with the of the Minnesota River Minnesota River’s sediment so Part 21 ofofa 55 Part quickly that it will disappear by the end of the century. If nothing changes, the entire lake will disappear within 300 years. Experts say the lake is filling with sediment at 10 times the natural rate that occurred before white settlement. Besides making the lake shallower, the sediment is reducing the light penetrating the water from Fort Snelling to Lake Pepin, choking off growth of aquatic plants. Please see LAKE PEPIN, Page A2

Submitted photo

Mike McKay, a Lake Pepin resident and head of the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance, believes more needs to be done to slow the water flow and erosion on the Minnesota River, which he believes is being driven in large part by farm drainage.

River podcast on the Web To hear a podcast with Editor Joe Spear and Staff Writer Tim Krohn discussing this series, go to www.mankatofreepress.com and type “river podcast” into the search bar at the top of the page.

WASHINGTON — Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day. The estimated $3 billion in reductions, to be announced in broader detail today, are part of a wideranging effort by the cashstrapped Postal Service to quickly trim costs, seeing no immediate help from Congress. The changes would provide short-term relief, but ultimately could prove counterproductive, pushing more of America’s business onto the Internet. They could slow everything from check payments to Netflix’s DVDsby-mail, add costs to mailorder prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities. That birthday card mailed first-class to Mom also could arrive a day or two late, if people don’t plan ahead. “It’s a potentially major change, but I don’t think consumers are focused on it and it won’t register until the service goes away,” said Jim Corridore, analyst with

Please see PROBLEMS, Page A8

Shock waves from commodities trading firm collapse felt on farms

Many of farmers who traded with MF Global used futures markets to reduce risks of volatile prices

feed to hog producers. That makes it possible to for the company to plan two or three years ahead. Now, The Associated Press Many of the farmers who been doing for a century — though, Mouw estimates he’s out about $250,000. traded with MF Global, allows them to plan ahead “I’m praying that I get it MINNEAPOLIS — The which is being investigated while knowing what their back,” he said. shock waves from the colover what federal regulators costs will be. Farmers, ranchers and lapse of commodities trad- say is an estimated $1.2 bilMike Mouw, co-owner of ing firm MF Global Inc. are lion that may be missing Mouw’s Feed and Grain Inc. rural businesses such as grain elevators and feed hitting hard across rural from customer accounts, in the southwestern mills were among the hardAmerica, where farmers, used the futures markets to Minnesota town of Leota, est hit when they were cut ranchers and agricultural reduce the risks of volatile said his business relies on off from the cash in their business owners are nervprices. Locking in prices the futures markets both hedging accounts at MF ously waiting to learn how through the futures market when it buys grain from Global, which sought bankmuch money they’ve lost. — something farmers have farmers and when it sells

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ruptcy protection in October after making a disastrous bet on European government debt. The number of people harmed and the extent of their losses isn’t clear yet. “This thing should not be taken lightly by anybody,” Mouw said. “This has a far greater trickle-down than people realize.” Federal regulators are investigating whether MF Global, as its financial condition worsened, tapped

See news? Have an idea? Call us Did you witness an accident, fire, or crime? Would you like us to investigate government malfeasance? Do you know Free Press News of a local event other residents would like to read about? If you see news happening in and around the Mankato area or just have a story idea, call The Free Press news tip line at 344-6385. It’s checked seven days a week. It’s not necessary to leave your name and phone number, but it does help us with our stories. News tip line: 344-6385

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client funds that were supposed to be kept safe in strictly segregated accounts. They’re also trying to determine what became of the money — it’s not clear if the cash is parked somewhere or if it’s gone. Violating the rules for segregated accounts can lead to civil and criminal penalties. The chairmen of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the

Please see MF GLOBAL, Page A2

F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S A SPECIAL REPORT The Free Press / Monday, December 5, 2011

LAKE PEPIN: Many find their livelihoods are based on the lake Continued from Page A1

sail boat owner, you’re involved,” McKay said of the Upcoming: Day 3: Tuesday, Dec. 6 McKay, who’s lived on the alliance. “We have a lot of lake for 20 years, said the environmentalists and conSolutions stymied by money shortages, politics alarming changes to Lake servationists and all the peoThe state regulations are clear: If you have land in agricultural use along a stream, Pepin prompted area resiple who realize their liveliriver or lake, you need to have at least a 50-foot grass buffer strip along the river dents, business leaders and hood is based on the lake.” bank or edge of the lake to reduce erosion, runoff and pollution. But enforcement of environmentalists to form McKay pored through the rule has been nearly nonexistent. Many counties say they don’t have the staff or the Lake Pepin Legacy research on the Minnesota resources to enforce the rules, and opposition from landowners can make it an issue Alliance. River and upper Mississippi elected county commissioners would rather avoid. McKay, who manages the and was amazed at the large St. James Hotel, which is scope of scientific research Some make efforts to follow the law owned by the family that that has been done. When Julee Streit got the letter and aerial photo from Blue Earth County showing owns Red Wing Shoes, does He’s also amazed so little a small portion of her property out of compliance with buffer-strip rules, she admits not identify himself as an has been accomplished when to a bit of anxiety. But she sought advice and found local officials easy to work with. environmentalist. the research is clear on most She’s one of the few landowners complying with new buffer strip rules. “We’re not your typical of the causes. environmental group. We’ve “Bank erosion (on the Counties can enforce laws, but many don’t tried to stay away from that Minnesota) is the big cause, When it comes to enforcing the law requiring a 50-foot buffer along streams, rivers brand. We want to be more but it’s a direct result of the and lakes, it falls largely to counties to do the policing. Virtually none have, but some inclusive. energy of water coming are starting to. “If you own a business on down so fast.” Water, he the lake, you’re involved. If said, that is coming from “The only good thing is more (tiling).” McKay hopes flow of water off the farm you’re involved in water intensely farmed — and artithat virtually all the fields technology will help find landscape. issues for cities or counties, ficially drained — waterare tiled, so there won’t be ways to retain and slow the But McKay said state you’re involved. If you’re a sheds.

CORRECTIONS Questions or concerns about Free Press news coverage can be directed to Managing Editor Joe Spear at 344-6382.

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News hotline Phone: 344-6397 or (800) 657-4662 Fax: 388-4355 Email: editor@mankatofreepress.com Established 1887, The Free Press is published daily except Christmas by The Free Press, a division of The Free Press Media which is part of Newspaper Holdings Inc. Periodicals postage paid at Mankato, MN, Postmaster (USPS No. 328020). Send address changes to The Free Press, P.O. Box 3287, Mankato, MN 56002-3287. The publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issues or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. The publisher accepts no liability or responsibility for failure to insert an advertisement. Please allow up to three business days for all subscription transactions. Due to contractual obligations we have with our coupon vendor, we will not give out coupons nor re-deliver coupon misses from the newspaper. Publisher JAMES P. SANTORI Managing editor JOE SPEAR Advertising director DAVID HABRAT Facilities and technology director GLEN ASLESON Reader services manager DENISE ZERNECHEL Press/post-press director LON YOUNGERBERG

and particularly county regulators need to enforce existing regulations, such as requirements for a 50-foot buffer strip along creeks and streams. “There are rules and statutes that require a 50foot setback, but they’re often ignored. If those were consistently followed, that would affect nearly one-third of the sediment.” McKay said the alliance doesn’t want a hostile relationship with farmers, but says the responsibility of farm drainage in the sediment problem must be acknowledged and addressed — even if there are not quick, sweeping changes. “We need to find the common ground first and have successes and then build on that.”

MF GLOBAL: Bad bet being felt in small towns across America Continued from Page A1 Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that all those affected should get back at least two-thirds of their money. Dean Tofteland, who raises corn, soybeans and pigs near Luverne in southwestern Minnesota, has about $200,000 tied up with MF Global, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. She said his situation shows how the firm’s $6.3 billion bad bet on European bonds is being felt in small towns across America. Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said afterward that recovering two-thirds of the funds “clearly isn’t good enough” for farmers threatened with deep losses to their life savings. Tofteland said in an interview that he never imagined

money that belongs to him would just disappear. “It’s like having your house burn down without insurance,” Tofteland said. Grain farmer and rancher Marty Klinker of Fairfield, Mont., has lost about $336,000, said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana. Baucus said Klinker got about 60 percent of his money at MF Global back, but his prospects for the rest seem pretty grim. He told CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler that Klinker trusted the system, and it let him down. “You’re absolutely right, the system has to work for the farmers and ranchers and the energy companies and all of the people that need to lock in a price, and segregation is at the absolute core of this system that’s been existent for decades,” Gensler said. But the chairman did not

‘Twilight’ bright but Hollywood snoozes LOS ANGELES — The latest “Twilight” movie cast the longest shadow with $16.9 million for a thirdstraight No. 1 finish during one of the year’s slowest weekends at the box office. Business was dismal, with box-office tracker Hollywood.com estimating Sunday that domestic revenues totaled just $82 mil-

lion. Once studios release final numbers today, this past weekend could come in as the worst of the year if revenues finish even lower. The first weekend of December often presents a lull in between Thanksgiving releases and the onslaught of year-end blockbusters that arrive a bit later. — The Associated Press

NOTICE OF FARM SALE

WASECA COUNTY ST MARY TOWNSHIP JANET ROEGLIN ESTATE LEGAL DESCRIPTION: SW 1/4 SE 1/4; W ½ SE 1/4 SE 1/4 and a parcel in the NW 1/4 SW 1/4 of Section 9, Township 107 North, Range 23 West less approximately 4 acre building site. Property will be surveyed prior to sale to determine exact acreage of building site. Farmland is estimated to be 84 acres. TERMS: 1. Potential Buyers shall submit a sealed bid accompanied by a certified check in the amount of $10,000.00. The check shall be made payable to Byron Law Office, PLLC Trust Account and submitted to Molly Byron, Attorney at Law, of Byron Law Office, PLLC, 122 North State Street, Waseca, MN 56093. The bid and checks shall be received by 9:30 a.m. on December 12, 2011. Checks for unsuccessful bidders will be returned at the conclusion of the sale. 2. The bids shall be opened at the Waseca Courthouse East Annex meeting room, located at 300 North State Street, Waseca, MN, 56093, at 10:00 a.m. on December 12, 2011. All persons submitting a written bid will be allowed to raise their bids, in writing, after the bids have been opened. 3. The successful bidder will be required to execute a purchase agreement and pay 10% of the purchase price as earnest money upon completion of the bidding and the initial check received will be applied to earnest money. The entire remaining balance of the purchase price, without interest, will be due on or before January 15, 2012, at which time title will be conveyed by a Personal Representative’s Deed. 4. Real estate taxes and special assessments due and payable in 2011 and thereafter shall be paid by the Buyer. 5. This property is being sold in an “AS IS” condition and the sellers make no representations as to its acreage, tiling, or condition. 6. An abstract of title indicating marketable title in Sellers shall be furnished. Title shall be transferred by Warranty Deed. Possession shall be given to the successful bidder upon receipt of payment in full. 7. The owners specifically reserve the right to reject any and all bids and to waive irregularities in the bidding process. Any verbal announcement made the day of sale takes precedence over print. Information concerning this land may be obtained from Molly Byron of Byron Law Office, PLLC, 122 North State Street, Waseca, MN, 56093, Phone: 507-835-3355.

venture a guess about when, if, or how much of Klinker’s remaining money — or anyone else’s — might be returned. Agricultural prices frequently fluctuate due to ever-changing supply and demand, which are driven by many factors ranging from the weather to exports. Trading on the futures markets helps farmers shield themselves from the risks of prices for their products falling and costs for things such as feed increasing. Hog producers who rode out tough years in 2008 and 2009 came to rely heavily on risk management tools and were starting to lock in some pretty good profits before MF Global collapsed, said Mark Greenwood, a senior vice president and swine expert at AgStar Financial Services, which serves farmers mainly in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Greenwood estimates that about half of the hog producers his company serves have been affected, with combined losses probably more than $40 million. The 300 to 400 clients have individual losses of $50,000 to over $1 million, he said. They’re wondering if they can trust the futures trading system again — whether

there are sufficient guarantees to ensure that another MF Global doesn’t happen, Greenwood said. “They’re frustrated, angry,” Greenwood said. “I think the word is disgusted. We’re trying to do everything we can to manage a very volatile industry. This was one risk we never thought we’d see.”

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Taxes on rise in North Mankato

BUFFER ZONE Fifty-foot rule not usually enforced By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

By Mark Fischenich

From

amber waves

mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com

he state regulato tions are clear: If you have land in agricultural use along a stream, river or lake, you need to have at least a 50-foot grass buffer strip along the river bank or The environmental threat edge of the lake to reduce of the Minnesota River erosion, runoff and pollution. Part 13ofofa 55 Part But enforcement of the rule has been nearly nonexistent. Many counties say they simply don’t have the staff or resources to enforce the rules and opposition from landowners can make it an issue elected county commissioners would rather avoid. Still, some larger counties are taking action, helped by new technology that makes it easier to find those not following the rules. “There is a lot of shoreline in the county. A lot of it’s not accessible. It’s on private land and there aren’t roads to it,” said Julie Conrad, Blue Earth County’s land use and natural resources planner. The county, in conjunction with the local Soil and Water Conservation District, turned to GIS mapping — including new high-quality aerial photos of the entire county — to first locate all shorelines and then see who was out of compliance. The county identified 368 miles of rivers and streams, 186 miles of unnamed streams and 43 lakes. There also are channelized streams where landowners dug out shallow streams so they would carry more drainage water. Most counties don’t know how many channelized streams on private land exist as most were done many decades ago prior to permitting requirements and oversight. The good news, Conrad said, is that compliance is relatively high with an estimated 94 percent of agricultural shoreline protected by a buffer. That’s a far higher

NORTH MANKATO — The 2012 budget in North Mankato will essentially be a reversal of the current one — general fund spendPage B1 ing will be Mankato frozen and discusses taxes will be trims. going up. A handful of citizens offered opinions at Monday’s public budget hearing on the city’s taxing and spending plans, saying that taxpayers are suffering and asking the council to look to be more efficient. The budget, with its 7.02 percent increase in property taxes and its nearly 1 percent reduction in the general fund, was presented in detail Monday and is expected to be unchanged when it’s approved on Dec. 19. Kim Spears thanked the

muddy waters

Please see RISING, Page A4

John Cross

While a 50-foot buffer between the river’s edge and farm fields is required, some land is farmed Please see BUFFER, Page A7 closer to the river as can be seen in this photo upriver from New Ulm.

Landowner made changes to comply with law Counties responsible for policing buffer law

By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

AMBOY — When Julee Streit got the letter and aerial photo from Blue Earth County showing a small portion of her property out of compliance with buffer-strip rules, she admits to a bit of anxiety. “I was surprised. I’d never heard of the law.” She contacted the Blue Earth County Soil and Water Conservation District, whose staff came out, explained the rules and marked off two pieces of land — totaling 0.16 acres — that needed to be taken out of crop production and planted into grass. “The Soil and Water This is the aerial image Julee Streit received this summer showing a small part of her people were very easy to property was being farmed too close to the edge of Rice Creek. Blue Earth County is work with. They walked using the advanced technology to identify land not in compliance and notifying landowners. Streit is planting a buffer strip of grass along the creek. Please see LANDOWNER, Page A7

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By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

When it comes to enforcing the law requiring a 50-foot buffer along streams, rivers and lakes, it falls largely to counties to do the policing. Virtually none have, but some are starting to. The reasons for inaction, say county officials, have been a lack of staff and expertise, no easy way to find offenders and no real pressure to crack down. Some counties say they still lack the manpower, but there is growing pressure to enforce the rules, and new technology — including GIS mapping and aerial photography — makes it easier to locate those out of compliance. “We haven’t pushed anything

See news? Have an idea? Call us Did you witness an accident, fire, or crime? Would you like us to investigate government malfeasance? Do you know of a local event other residents would like to read about? If you see news happening in and around the Mankato area or just have a story idea, call The Free Press news tip line at 344-6385. It’s checked seven days a week. It’s not necessary to leave your name and phone number, but it does help us with our stories. News tip line: 344-6385

Please see COUNTIES, Page A7

Mankato man linked to Gaylord, St. Peter shootings By Dan Nienaber dnienaber@mankatofreepress.com MANKATO — Charges filed in Sibley County Monday tie a 23-year-old Mankato man to what investigators are describing as gang-related shootings in Gaylord and St. Peter. Michael Lamont Smith was arrested in Mankato at about 2 a.m. Friday. Gaylord police officers were about to search his house with assistance from Mankato police and regional drug task force investigators. Shotgun slugs were fired into a mobile home in St. Peter’s Green Valley Trailer Court at about 1:15 a.m. Nov. 28. Three days later, at

Please see SHOOTINGS, Page A8

F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S A SPECIAL REPORT

The Free Press / Tuesday, December 6, 2011

BUFFER: About 450 landowners identified as needing strip Continued from Page A1 rate of compliance than a few other counties that have made an effort to track buffer strips. Part of the reason for better compliance is the steep ravines that lead up to many farm fields in this area. “Our streams are so heav-

ily wooded and deeply incised, so getting farm equipment close to the tops of those river banks is dangerous so most farmers stay away,” Conrad said. The land not in compliance in the county is generally where the stream banks aren’t so steep, she said. About 450 property own-

COUNTIES: Tools are getting better to determine compliance Continued from Page A1 yet,” said Bruce Johnson, Watonwan County’s environmental services director. “We did get the aerial information recently, so we could analyze it. But we have a drastic absence of technical capacity,” noting that because of job vacancies, there are only a couple of people working on environmental and water issues. “With small counties like ours, it’s just not easy.” Michele Stindtman, of Faribault County planning and zoning, said it’s frustrating that enforcement of the law has been mostly ignored. “It’s somewhat frustrating when even the DNR doesn’t enforce it.” She said the county is just beginning to develop plans and launch education programs for landowners about buffer and drainage regulations. “It’s been in state statute a long time. Landowners should know. Hopefully the people who are farming too close will get the message that they need to do this or it will be done through enforcement.” Mark Leiferman, planning and zoning administrator in Waseca County, said they just kicked off a three-year plan to deal with buffer and drainage regulation issues. This past year they held forums to educate farmers on the rules. Beginning next year, anytime any landowner

seeks a county permit — for anything from a septic system to a building permit — the county will use the opportunity to check if the property owner is out of compliance with buffer rules and ask them to comply. Beginning in 2013, the county will require they comply with buffer rules before they get a permit for any other projects. “It’s a process we used in the past for septic compliance and it worked well,” Leiferman said. He said prior to the past couple of years, it was all but impossible for the county to identify those out of compliance across the county. “A couple of years ago, we didn’t even have GIS data. The tools are getting a lot better.” Kathy Brockway of Le Sueur County said they so far haven’t made any plan regarding buffers. “We haven’t really discussed that at all.” Mandy Landkamer, director of Nicollet County Environmental Services, said there’s been some discussion about buffer strips, but no plans are in place to begin identifying landowners out of compliance. She said they’ve focused on managing feedlots in the county to prevent manure that is injected in or spread on farm fields from running off into waterways. “The buffers are good, but through our feedlot program we try to catch things before (manure) gets (near waterways).”

ers have been identified as needing to establish a buffer strip with most of the needed buffer areas being less than an acre in size. In total, about 400 acres of land need to be seeded into grass buffer strips. Once identified by the county as being out of compliance, the SWCD staff takes over and contacts landowners. The county, not the SWCD, is responsible for enforcement, said Jerad Bach, manager of the Blue Earth County SWCD. “We don’t mandate anything; it’s all voluntary,” Bach said. “We have the history of working with landowners on cost-share programs for soil erosion, so that’s where we come in.” It will eventually be up to the County Board of Commissioners to enforce

Upcoming: Day 4: Wednesday, Dec. 7 Farmers in the crosshairs Feeling increasingly in the crosshairs for fouling the rivers, farm groups have formed a coalition to tell their story. Warren Formo, executive director of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition, says data linking drainage to much of the sediment problem are based on relatively new science. And he says there may never be enough proof to pinpoint ag drainage as the primary culprit.

Commissioner has a stake in conservation Blue Earth County Commissioner Will Purvis knows firsthand about the erosive power of the river. He lives on the farm site southwest of Vernon Center that has been in his family since 1913. He has taken a leading role on the County Board in waterrelated issues, and the county is one of a handful in the state that is more aggressively identifying land along streams and rivers that need to install required buffer strips. the buffer strip rules on any landowners who don’t come into compliance. Bach said they’ve so far sent letters to 76 non-compliant landowners and have heard back from 26. About half of those said they plan to either seed the buffers in at their own cost or sign up

for the Conservation Reserve Program, which subsidizes landowners for protecting sensitive land. “We’re not trying to go out there and say, ‘You’re a bad person, you’re out of compliance,’” Bach said. “We just want to inform them and work with them.”

So far, only five counties in the state have taken active steps to enforce the state-mandated buffer rules. Dodge, Grant and Olmsted counties have already completed enforcement while Blue Earth and Winona counties are in the process.

LANDOWNER: ‘You can’t tiptoe’ around the law Continued from Page A1 me through it. I never felt threatened about it,” said Streit, who with her husband owns an 80-acre parcel near the border of southern Blue Earth County. The land under till is rented by a neighboring farmer. “They said (the law’s) been around a long time, but I never heard of it. They’re just starting to enforce it.” The law requires a 50foot buffer strip along all bodies of waters, streams and rivers. Blue Earth County, using aerial imagery to identify land out of compliance, is one of just a few counties beginning to pursue compliance. (See related story.)

River podcast on the web To hear a podcast with Editor Joe Spear and Staff Writer Tim Krohn discussing this series, go to www.mankatofreepress.com and type “river podcast” into the search bar at the top of the page. Streit’s little piece of land needing to be put into a buffer runs along Rice Creek, which comes out of a lake in Faribault County and eventually empties into the Maple River in Blue Earth County. She is checking to see if the land can be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, but in the meantime plans to simply seed

it in with a grass mixture suggested by the SWCD. She’s also talked to her renter, who will now be getting a little less land to farm. “He’s a real good renter, but if he wants to

redo the rent contract, he can.” Streit is philosophical about finding herself errant of the rules. “The law’s the law. You can’t tiptoe around it.”

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MUDSLINGING University of Minnesota soil scientist Satish Gupta (standing) points to erosion along the Le Sueur River south of Mankato during a tour he led last summer. Gupta said his research suggests much of the increased ravine and bank erosion is caused by more precipitation.

tkent@mankatofreepress.com

Science is not settled, says farmer advocate By Tim Krohn

may never be enough proof to pinpoint ag drainage as the From primary culprit. “The (river basin) system eeling increasingly in the is continuing to change, so crosshairs for fouling the to will we ever know? The need rivers, farm groups have to do research on the system formed a coalition to tell their will never stop because the story. changes will never stop,” “All of us who live in the Formo said. Minnesota River Valley have a “Farming is a part of it, I’m stake in this,” said Warren not saying we shouldn’t look Formo, executive director of The environmental threat of the Minnesota River at agriculture. But we’ve the Minnesota Agricultural Part1 4ofofa 55 Part changed the landscape with Water Resources Coalition. cities, roads and bridges. But The group was formed in 2008 by all of the state’s major farm-indus- it is all going toward one issue (agriculture).” try groups. Formo said the public is not up to speed Formo argues that data linking drainage to much of the sediment problem are based Please see FARMERS, Page A5 on relatively new science. And he says there tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

amber waves muddy waters

Warren Formo is executive director of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Resources Coalition.

Glacier carved out deep river valley 12,000 years ago By Tim Krohn

known as the prehistoric River Warren. Creation of the You can blame Warren for a lot of the sediment valley started about 12,000 years ago as washing into the Minnesota River today. the last glaciers in River Warren that is. this area melted and created the The beautiful The Minnesota River basin Minnesota River Valley massive Lake is deep and wide — but Agassiz that cov- was carved out when Lake because it was carved so ered parts of the Agassiz drained beginning 12,000 years ago. Dakotas and deep, the streambanks, northern ravines and bluffs are than all the present say something cataprone to sloughing into Minnesota, up through central Canada Great Lakes combined. clysmic happened about the river when water to Hudson Bay. The lake That big lake drained 11,000 years ago. Lake comes pouring in. in various directions The deeply cut valley — 400 feet deep in Please see VALLEY, Page A6 over time, but geologists was the work of what is places — was bigger tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

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Behind the dancers Mankato Ballet adds new backdrops for ‘The Nutcracker.’

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WEATHER, PAGE B4

Twenties Mankato, Minnesota

School calendar options approved By Tanner Kent

Pat Christman

Volume 125, No. 248

Times of clouds and sun. High 26. Low 9.

Blue Earth Co. commissioner Purvis taking a leading role By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

VERNON CENTER — Blue Earth County Commissioner Will Purvis knows firsthand about the erosive power of the river. He lives along the Blue Earth River on the farm site southwest of Vernon Center that has been in his family since 1913. “We have a 1938 photo of the river channel and compared it to 2009. The river has moved onto our property 350 feet in that time,” Purvis said. The land along the river was put in the Conservation Reserve Program and now is covered with grass and trees. “We’ve slowed (the erosion) but haven’t eliminated it.” Purvis has taken a leading role on the County Board in water-related issues, and the county is one of a handful in the state that is more aggressively identifying land along streams and rivers that need to install required buffer strips. “We have 94 percent compliance, which isn’t bad, but 100 percent is what we’re shooting for. Most people are very receptive when they’re notified they’re out of compliance.” Purvis and Commissioner

Follow us 24/7 on Twitter Developing and breaking news from The Free Press can be tracked by going to twitter.com/mankatonews. Sign up to “follow” us and have news updates sent to your cell phone in real time via text messaging. You may follow other Free Press staffers on their own Twitter accounts. Editor Joe Spear can be followed by going to twitter.com/jfspear. Sports reporter Shane Frederick can be followed by going to twitter.com/puckato.

MANKATO — The Mankato Area School Board approved a series of options for the 201213 and 2013-14 school calendar’s during Tuesday’s meeting. In the coming days, the calendar options will be posted on the district’s website — www.isd77.org — and public feedback will be welcomed. The school board will hold a public hearing on the options during its Dec. 19 meeting and will take final action during its Jan. 3 meeting. School calendars are subject to a number of legal and contractual requirements. Cindy Amoroso, the district’s curriculum director, said there is little flexibility in the calendar outside of the “end dates and a few days in between.”

Please see SCHOOLS, Page A2

Minneapolis settles on Metrodome for stadium The Associated Press ST. PAUL — Minneapolis city leaders on Tuesday put their weight behind a proposal to rebuild a new Vikings stadium at the current site of the Metrodome, saying it would be $215 million cheaper than the team’s preferred plan to build a $1.1 billion stadium in the suburbs. The pitch by Mayor R.T. Rybak came at a hearing of two state Senate panels focused on funding possibilities for a state share of building the stadium. The hearing also touched on proposals to expand gambling as a state funding source, including a new proposal from northwestern Minnesota’s White Earth Tribal Nation to build a Twin Cities-area casino and put some of its proceeds into the stadium pot. It’s the second such hearing in a week on the subject of a Vikings stadium, as the team

Please see PURVIS, Page A6

Please see STADIUM, Page A6

F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S A SPECIAL REPORT

The Free Press / Wednesday, December 7, 2011

FARMERS: One study says precipitation key erosion contributor Continued from Page A1

{

Upcoming: Day 5: Thursday Protective buffers are rare, but coming

River podcast on the web

Few argue there are benefits to grass buffer strips alongside open drainage ditches. They filter out fertilizer and chemicals and can slow erosion and sediment getting into waterways. But across the countryside there are very few of the recommended 16 1/2-foot strips of grass next to ditches.That will begin to change as more counties begin taking an action that will trigger language in a state law requiring buffers.

Carp defense not happening on Minnesota Add giant flying carp to the list of potential dangers to the Minnesota River. Intense efforts are under way to keep the invasive Asian carp out of Minnesota waters. The fish, which can reach monster size, are moving up the Mississippi. Officials, with a mandate by the Legislature, are devising plans to halt or at least slow their migration. But some say the plans largely ignore keeping the carp out of the Minnesota River.

Alliances may help move the river cleanup discussion For the past year, a group of conservationists has been inviting farmers to “Friendship Tours” along the Minnesota River and down to Lake Pepin on the Mississippi. The idea is simple: Get the two sides to talk to each other, find some common ground and lay the groundwork for a working relationship to help determine the problems of the Minnesota River and work together for solutions. roads, parking lots and other urban development that increases impervious surfaces. And Gupta said moisture-saturated soil — from increased precipitation — also is causing upper slopes of ravines to slough off into the river. “Some people believe that additional water from drained agricultural land is increasing river flows and

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contributing to sediment production,” Gupta said. “Our data indicate that’s probably not true.” Many scientists who’ve studied the river basin accept some of Gupta’s observations but not his core analysis that farm drainage has had little effect. “The farm groups have come up with reasons why drainage is good. Some

To hear a podcast with Editor Joe Spear and Staff Writer Tim Krohn discussing this series, go to www.mankatofreepress.com and type “river podcast” into the search bar at the top of the page. He said increased precipitation of about 8 percent since 1940 doesn’t account for the rate of flow increase in rivers. And, he said precipitation has not increased in May and June, but river flows have.

While farm groups are taking a more active role in have merit and some are a scape and drainage are the the debate, there is little disstretch,” said Norman primary drivers of increased cussion by anyone of requirSenjem, who recently river flows and sediment ing farmers to alter drainage retired after many years problems. practices. The federal EPA with the Minnesota Dan Engstrom, a sciendoes not regulate non-point Pollution Control Agency. tist with the St. Croix sources such as farm Senjem said the MPCA Research station, said much drainage nor does the state. did include Gupta’s views in of the water now delivered “I wonder sometimes agency studies. to rivers via drainage used And the latest compreto lie across a landscape of why there’s so much concern by farm groups hensive study, presented vegetation and wetlands because there is no regularecently, analyzed 70 years and slowly found its way of data and concluded that into rivers or simply evapo- tory enforcement,” Senjem said. changes to the rural landrated.

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on changes that have been made in modern agriculture. “We have such different starting points on the conversation, a different understanding of what’s ag today. We need to bring that out so we’re not arguing about what happened 40 years ago.” He said the most dramatic change has been in using more conservation tillage. “Tillage is much less than 20 or 30 years ago. We’ve increased the water-holding capacity of the soil.” Farm groups argue that getting water off the landscape through tile drainage allows farm fields to absorb more water after rains — in essence reducing the flow of water into rivers and limiting erosion. Farm advocates also point to a study done by University of Minnesota soil scientists Satish Gupta. The report attributes much of the streambank erosion to increased precipitation, changes made to the river channel such as channelizing parts of it, as well as

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F R O M A M B E R WAV E S T O M U D DY WAT E R S A SPECIAL REPORT The Free Press / Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Blue Earth County Commissioner Will Purvis has seen hundreds of feet of land along his farmsite on the Blue Earth River erode away over the decades. Purvis has taken a lead role in dealing with water quality issues with the County Board.

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PURVIS: Lake Pepin group invited to view erosion reduction projects on the Mississippi River, where much of the Drew Campbell also have Minnesota River’s sediment been involved in outreach is filling in the lake. with conservationists and “They invited us to Red residents around Lake Pepin Wing in September and we Continued from Page A1

talked about the sediment and we developed a good dialogue,” Purvis said. They invited the group to Blue Earth County recently to view projects aimed at

reducing erosion, including drainage ditch designs near Mapleton aimed at releasing water more slowly and a project to restore and protect riverbanks.

“I think we’re all going in the same direction. We don’t like our soil washing into the river and ending up in Lake Pepin, and they don’t want it.”

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VALLEY: Prehistoric river named for Gen. G.K. Warren Continued from Page A1 Agassiz broke open near the present day Browns Valley on the Dakota/Minnesota border and began sending torrents of water toward present-day Mankato where it hit limestone bedrock that sent the water heading toward what is now the Twin Cities. River Warren drained Lake Agassiz for thousands of years. (The prehistoric river got

its name from Gen. G. K. scape for geologists who oldest rock formations in by the deep cut into the Warren who, in 1868, while can easily study some of the the world that were exposed earth. looking for railroad routes studied the river valley and first explained how it was created.) After Lake Agassiz drained, the flow of water in the Minnesota River became a relative trickle in the bottom of the deep valley. Besides creating appealing but erosive bluffs, River Warren also made the river valley a dream-

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STADIUM: Mayor offers $300M

At Tuesday’s hearing, Ramsey County’s chief financial officer, Lee pushes for state help in Mehrkens, said county replacing the Metrodome. Vikings chief financial offi- leaders would seek to cer Steve Poppen said in a meet with Gov. Mark presentation that the team Dayton and lawmakers on the possibility of raising is $42 million below the county sales taxes on speNFL average in local revenues, a lag he attributed to cific items including food and beverages, or motels Metrodome deficiencies. and hotels, for a local conState Sen. Julianne tribution. Ortman, who chaired the hearing, stressed the point of the gathering was not to get behind specific funding or location proposals but rather for lawmakers to gather information. Even though the team’s lease at the Metrodome expires at the end of the current season, Ortman said she was not yet convinced that replacing the Metrodome is as urgent as the Vikings and some of their allies have portrayed. “We’re being told this is very urgent, and frankly I’m not yet convinced,” said Ortman, a Republican from Chanhassen. Rybak, in response to a request last week by senators that the city narrow three possible downtown sites to one, said Tuesday the current Metrodome site would be most cost-efficient, could use existing infrastructure, and that the city could bring local contribution to the table in the form of $300 million from an existing city sales tax. “We believe the Vikings could get into the site more quickly than anywhere else, giving them faster access to the higher revenues they seek,” Rybak said. The Minneapolis offer of $300 million could give it a leg up over the Ramsey County proposal, on the site of a former Army ammunition plant in suburban Arden Hills. Ramsey County board members It’s hard to keep up with everything going on in t h e w o r l d t o d a y, hoped to raise a half-cent i n c l u d i n g t h e p a r t t h a t ’s r i g h t around you. That’s why people look to sales tax to pay a local the newspaper, print or digital, to give them the community news and share, but dropped that insights they can’t find anywhere else. And besides, that gallery opening could be the icebreaker you’ve been looking for. approach because it would have required a vote of P R I N T D I G I T A L T O D A Y T O M O R R O W approval by the public. Continued from Page A1

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“They’re not my forces. They are military forces (who) belong to the government. I don’t own them.” IN NATION & WORLD, A3

December 8, 2011

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CHRISTMAS TRAIN

of the Year

More buffers likely to be required for

DRAINAGE DITCHES Takes farmland out of production

Blue Earth County ditch and tile systems

By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com ew argue From there are benefits to grass to buffer strips alongside open drainage ditches. They filter out fertilizer and chemicals and can slow erosion and sediment getting The environmental threat into waterways. of the Minnesota River But across the Part 15ofofa 55 Part countryside there are very few of the recommended 161⁄2 -foot strips of grass next to ditches. That will begin to change as more counties begin taking an action that will trigger language in a state law requiring buffers. With farmland fetching $6,000-$10,000 an acre, few farmers are volunteering to add buffer strips, thereby taking land out of production. A 1977 law requires the buffer strips along open drainage ditches in just two cases. One is if a ditch is “improved,” which means it is made larger than originally designed. Such improvements very rarely take place. But Tom Kalahar, who’s been with the Renville County Soil and Water Conservation

muddy waters

The Associated Press

State or U.S. Highway Stream or River Lake

County ditch type Open ditch Tile ditch

Source: Blue Earth County Environmental Services Blue Earth County has hundreds of miles of drainage ditches that Please see DITCHES, Page A5 carry water from farm field tile lines. Some experts point to the extensive drainage system as a threat to river health.

Conservation, farm groups look for common ground For the past year, a group of conservationists has been inviting farmers to “Friendship Tours” along the Minnesota River and down to Lake Pepin on the Mississippi. The idea is simple: Get the two sides to talk to each other, find some common ground and lay the groundwork for a working relationship. But Patrick Moore, director of Clean Up the River Environment, which sponsors the program, admits it’s an uneasy

New approach for breast cancer Drug combos shine in trials

amber waves

By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

Volume 125, No. 249

IN THE VALLEY, B1

IMPROVING ‘THE WILKINSON NUTCRACKER’ OUT FOR YEAR CNHI

20 pages

alliance and mistrust is increasing as the science increasingly points to farm drainage as a major problem in the river. “We’re doing a canoe float with members of the Corn Board. It’s pushing them to the edge of their comfort zone,” Moore said of the farm-industry group. “And it’s pushing my people to the edge of their comfort zone. People on both sides are saying, ‘What the hell are you doing?’”

Please see CANCER, Page A2

File photo

Patrick Moore is co-founder of Clean Up the River Environment, which has been Please see CONSERVATION, Page A5 making an effort to open up better communications with those in the farm sector.

Minnesota State University students Adam Nickel (left) and Brett Nelson, with the Water Resources Center and Department of Biological Sciences, process bottom trawl samples near the mouth of the Blue Earth River. The students, with adviser Shannon Fisher, will be assessing fish community relationships with habitat and water quality in the Minnesota River.

Keeping Asian carp from Minnesota River will be difficult By Tim Krohn tkrohn@mankatofreepress.com

to halt or at least slow their migration. But some say the plans largely ignore keeping the carp out of the Minnesota MANKATO — Add giant flying carp to River. the list of potential dangers to the “Their planning process has had no Minnesota River. real consideration for the Minnesota Last month, officials found DNA River,” said Scott Sparlin, a river advofrom Asian carp in water samples taken cate from New Ulm who fishes the river from the mouth of the Minnesota River. often. They have not confirmed the carp are in “I just get the impression they’re writthe Minnesota or upper Mississippi ing the Minnesota River off.” rivers. But Jack Lauer, Department of Intense efforts are under way to keep Natural Resources regional fisheries manthe invasive Asian carp out of Minnesota ager in New Ulm, said there aren’t any waters. The fish, which can reach monfeasible ways to block the carp from getster size and some which jump into the ting into the Minnesota River. air when startled, are moving up the The existing plan, developed by state Mississippi. and federal officials and supported by State and federal officials, with a mandate by the Legislature, are devising plans Please see CARP, Page A5

Pat Christman

SAN ANTONIO — Breast cancer experts are cheering what could be some of the biggest advances in more than a decade: two new medicines that significantly delay the time until women with very advanced cases get worse. In a large international study, an experimental drug from Genentech called pertuzumab held cancer at bay for a median of 18 months when given with standard treatment, versus 12 months for others given only the usual treatment. It also strongly appears to be improving survival, and follow-up is continuing to see if it does. “You don’t see that very often. ... It’s a spectacular result,” said one study leader, Dr. Sandra Swain, medical director of Washington Hospital Center’s cancer institute. In a second study, another drug long used in organ transplants but not tried against breast cancer — everolimus, sold as Afinitor by Novartis AG — kept cancer in check for a median of 7 months in women whose disease was worsening despite treatment with hormone-blocking

Pearl Harbor survivors continue to dwindle The Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII — In wheelchairs and on walkers, the old veterans came Wednesday to remember the day 70 years ago when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. But FDR’s “date that will live in infamy” is becoming a more distant memory. Fewer and fewer veterans who experienced the attack on Dec. 7, 1941, are alive to mark the anniversaries and most of them are in their 90s, many prevented by health problems from traveling to Hawaii. One survivors’ group said it would disband because age and infirmity made it too difficult to carry on. “People had other things that they wanted to do with the remainder of their lives,” Pearl Harbor Survivors Association president William Muehleib said. “It was time.” The 2,390 Americans who died in the attacks are not forgotten. Besides Pearl Harbor, there are remembrances elsewhere.

Please see SURVIVORS, Page A2

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Early show A young artist has a show at the Emy Frentz.

Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D3 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Corrections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C6 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4-C6 Nation-World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D3 TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 WEATHER, PAGE B4

Colder Mankato, Minnesota

High near 20; low near zero.

Comics, horoscope have moved The comics Doonesbury and Mallard Filmore have been moved to the comics pages in The Free Press, and the horoscope Astrograph has been moved from the comics page to The Free Press classified section next to the crossword puzzle and Word Sleuth.

Online puzzles, jumble now up The Free Press website offers users the ability to do crossword puzzles and the jumble word puzzle online. Go to mankatofreepress.com/puzzles and you’ll be able to play the daily crossword puzzle or the daily jumble in an interactive format that tells you when you’re right or wrong. The feature also has a timer to see how quickly, or not, you can complete the puzzles.

The Free Press / Thursday, December 8, 2011

CARP: No natural barriers on Minnesota River Continued from Page A1 Gov. Mark Dayton, is focusing on taking a stand against Asian carp near St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But the Minnesota River ties into the Mississippi several miles south of St. Anthony, leaving it wide open for any carp that make their way up the Mississippi. Lauer said St. Anthony was chosen because it’s the one place the carp could possibly be held back. “The St. Anthony falls is a natural falls and a natural barrier (to fish),” Lauer said. But state officials face a hurdle because there is also a lock and dam there that lifts and lowers boats to navigate the Mississippi. That lock carries water from the lower falls to the river above — along with any fish in the water. State officials are asking Congress to have the Army Corp of Engineers close that lock and dam if Asian carp are detected in the area, creating a permanent natural barrier. “But that runs up against boaters and commercial interests,” Lauer said. If the lock can’t be closed, Plan B focuses on an area nearby on the Mississippi at the Coon Rapids dam. A barrier — possibly using a wall of constant bubbles that deter fish from swimming through — would be erected there. “But barriers aren’t completely effective,” Lauer said. As for the Minnesota River, some work has been done looking at possible places to use a barrier. But with no dams — except near the start of the river — it’s not very feasible, Lauer said. “There aren’t any natural barriers (like waterfalls) and no dams.” Another issue is that there is barge traffic on the lower end of the Minnesota. And he said, frequent and increasingly larger floods on the Minnesota would work against any barrier efforts as water often flows up over the banks, creating temporary lakes and wetlands that could give carp a way in. Still, Lauer said it may be possible to erect some type of barrier on the Minnesota. “But should we spend so much money to try to stop one species?”

And, he said, any barrier would also keep native fish from coming into the Minnesota River. “Sturgeon and sauger are species that need to travel long distances to find spawning.” Fisheries workers are checking the Minnesota River for any sign of the four species of Asian carp, including the silver carp, which is the one that flies above the water. “We’ve been out electrofishing this summer and fall. There’s no presence of the carp.” Fisheries workers also recently took 50 water samples from different spots on the Minnesota River to do “environmental DNA” testing, which can indicate whether Asian carp may already be present in the water. This spring similar testing on the St. Croix River showed the presence of silver carp DNA. Later netting turned up none of the carp. Officials said samples could have been unreliable because of high flood waters at the time. Besides the Minnesota River, the new round of DNA testing includes more samples from the St. Croix and the Mississippi. Early results from that round of testing found Asian carp DNA in the Mississippi River and in the mouth of the Minnesota River. Sparlin said that if the Minnesota River isn’t protected, the river does have one thing working in its favor — there are a lot of native fish and fish species in the river. There isn’t much research on the subject, but some think that areas with healthy native fish populations may make it harder for Asian carp to get established — or at least slow their spread — because the native fish will feed on small carp. “The Minnesota has a lot of fish,” Sparlin said. “The lower 25 miles of the Minnesota isn’t too hot for fishing, but you get above that and there’s tons of fish,” Sparlin said. Lauer agreed. “With the existing game fish, with flathead and channel catfish, walleye, sauger, some predator species, it’s in pretty good shape to keep the Asian carp in check for a while,” he said. “The thing is we really have no idea what effect Asian carp would have on the Minnesota River.”

Photos by Pat Christman

Staff and students from the Water Resources Center and Minnesota State University set out on the Minnesota River recently to net and survey fish.

DITCHES: More buffers to come Continued from Page A1 District for 30 years, said another part of the law will bring more buffers. “If there is a re-determination of benefits, the 161⁄2 -foot buffer (requirement) kicks in.” Determination of benefits is a complex formula that determines all of the farm land that drains into a ditch and how much farmers who own those acres benefit from the drainage system. They then pay their share of costs — based on those determinations — when a ditch needs to be cleaned out or otherwise maintained.

A young channel catfish exhibits a significant lesion potentially caused by a parasitic infection. Physical abnormalities, such as this open wound, are often used as a measure of water quality.

CONSERVATION: ‘Pitched battles don’t go anywhere’ Continued from Page A1

work well on level land. While he applauds those Moore, who helped found the efforts, they account for a minuscule amount of land being Montevideo-based group two drained. decades ago, has spent his life “There’s very small progress advocating for the river while building alliances with disparate being made. There’s a lot of pattern-tiling going on, and that’s groups. “We at CURE have suspended what society rewards farmers to do. judgment and are just listening “Farmers have to feed the to farmers. But tensions are ramping up. Farmers are saying, world. They’re going full-speed ‘You don’t give us credit for what ahead, especially with the crop prices the way they are and with we’ve done.’ We say fine, we’ll the way we subsidize farm prolisten.” duction,” Moore said. The tours visit farmers who “It makes total economic are using new types of farm sense to drain your farm fields. drainage to slow the flow of Any rational human being would water off the land and to hold do the same thing. We have an back nutrients. But the conag system that has monocultures trolled drainage systems are and encourages drainage. That’s more costly to install and only

just the way it is. We have to look at whether that’s what we want, and that’s where you get into the arguments and discussions.” Moore hopes that technological improvements to managed drainage systems and changes in farm programs may help. “It’s like the greening of WalMart. Something comes along that puts a self-interest into it. All that nitrogen going into the water is a waste. Capturing that waste and increasing profits is in farmers’ interests. How can they

work with scientists and fix that issue?” Until then, Moore said the two sides need to get to know each other. “We need the working relationship — the pitched battles don’t go anywhere. “My board has 15 members. They’re farmers, tree huggers, biologists and housewives. They want a way to have an intelligent conversation. The cultures in our valley, we don’t talk to each other.”

“What’s happening is a lot of ditches are being re-determined because the benefits were originally determined 70 or 80 years ago,” Kalahar said. With more land now under till and changes made to drainage systems over the years, those benefit determinations are out of date and aren’t fairly dividing costs among affected landowners. Many area counties are beginning the process of redetermining ditch benefits across the entire county. When that process is done, the buffers along ditches will need to be added.

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