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Serving rural Benton County, Morrison, Mille Lacs & Kanabec counties.
BENTON AG Plus
Sauk Rapids Herald
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2016
DNR works to draft sustainability plan Model suggests groundwater pumping is depleting Áow in Little Rock Creek by NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER
RICE — It has been nearly a year since the Department of Natural Resources initiated a planning project for sustainable water use in the Little Rock Creek watershed. Progress will continue into the New Year, but the question weighing on interested parties’ minds has been answered. Yes, there is a problem. According to a Dec. 14 update given by the DNR at the Rice Lions Building, groundwater pumping is depleting stream Áow at one location in Little Rock Creek by a year-round average of 1.4 cubic feet per second (CFS) or 628 gallons per minute. In August, when stream Áow is typically the lowest, the average depletion increases to 2.5 CFS (1,122 gallons per minute.) The average maximum monthly stream deplePHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER tion was calculated to be 3.1 Rick Gilbertson, soil agronomist and member of the project advisory team to the DNR’s CFS (1,932 gallons per minLittle Rock Creek Sustainable Water Use Planning Project, asked a question at the Dec. 14 ute.) Groundwater pumping meeting in Rice. is effecting the ecosystem,
AG Connection with Job Title: Benton County bars. In the fall, we ready our Maintenance Superintendent equipment for winter by the Àrst weekend in November Responsibilities include: In and continue with equipment charge of all paved and grav- maintenance throughout the el road maintenance, snow winter season. plowing and highway department equipment maintenance; How many miles of road are and is responsible for running you in charge of? We mainthe county fuel station. tain around 430 miles of road in Benton County, give or take Please tell us about your po- a few miles. The county is sition? I schedule work for 13 about 50 percent blacktop and maintenance workers and one 50 percent gravel. mechanic. We have a daily maintenance schedule which What does a typical work consists of crack Àlling and week look like for you? I’m replacing an average of 30-55 out on the road looking for culverts in the spring of the hazards and work for the guys. year. As the year progresses, I’m inspecting culverts, seeing we gravel roads and try to put what is rusted out and needs down 30,000 yards of gravel to be repaired. I’m looking each year. We seal coat about for roads that need to be refour miles of patched pave- paired, and I bring that informent a year and manage ap- mation to the engineers. I’m proximately a $450,000 bud- spec’ing and ordering equipget, which is used for patch ment and communicating with work until county engineers the mechanic on a daily basis. are able to resurface or recon- And then there is training and struct roads. We clean ditches classes that you always try to from time to time and top- keep up with. cut road right-of-way ditches over a 14-day period toward When did you get into gradthe middle of June. By the ing and snowplowing and middle of August, we are able why? I was hired in 2002 as a to mow the ditches complete- highway maintenance worker. ly. We also maintain signage I always wanted to work for on the roads, as well as stop government because I always
wanted to better the community. I worked one year at that position, and when this position opened I applied for it. Initially, I plowed snow for my brother-in-law for a few years and then for myself besides working out. I got my feet wet working construction for my uncle and always liked running heavy equipment. I like the winters. I like the snow. And I like plowing the snow which I don’t do because I’m kind of the weather guy. I stay up in the wee hours of the night, watch the radar and the weather coming in, and make the decision of what time to calls the guys in to send them out on the road to start plowing and stuff. As far as maintaining the gravels, it’s just a maintenance routine. In the highway department we deÀnitely work as a team. We are one gigantic team. I always look at it as we’re more like a family because we spend so much time together.
and therefore something must be done to address the problem. Over the last 25 years, groundwater use in the Little Rock Creek area has increased signiÀcantly faster when compared to the statewide average. Because of the risk of overuse and possible contamination, the DNR was taxed with determining whether usage would result in unintended consequences such as harming ecosystems and aquifers, or creating negative impacts to surface waters. They began a planning project in January 2016, created an advisory team of Benton and Morrison County residents, and developed a groundwater Áow model to aid in their decisions. “The only way we could do this experiment in real life [without the model], is if we had climatic conditions in 2017 that were exactly the same as 2016. And everybody turned off their wells,” said Ellen Considine, DNR Groundwater Specialist, Hydrogeologist
3, of the importance of using a model. “We’re never going to produce those same climatic conditions — the intensity of the rainfall, the hot days the cold days — and I’m very sure nobody wants to turn off their wells for 2017. So that’s why we use the model — to solve this problem and to look at how much [water] is getting into the creek.” Documented well locations, water levels, land geology, soil conductivity and water usage were all used in creating the groundwater Áow model. The information determined by the model and DNR will guide groundwater management in the Little Rock Creek watershed for the next Àve years. The DNR hasn’t yet Ànalized a drafted plan. More analysis and work will continue in the coming month, but they are getting closer to delivering their thoughts. “We are pretty sure we are lined up here,” said Steve Colvin, DNR Ecological and Water Resources Deputy Director. “We don’t think the residual work we have left is going to change in a substantial way, based on DNR continued on pg. 2B
M ark E bnet
PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER
Benton County Maintenance Superintendent Mark Ebnet is in charge of approximately 430 miles of roads in the county.
snow plow operation, as well as chainsaw safety and operation. We have monthly safety meetings, too. Safety is a big What kind of training is re- factor, including being alert quired? We are required to be to potential distracted drivers trained in First Aid/CPR; the who we share the roads with. OSHA AWAIR and Right to Know programs; construction What are the greatest chaltruck, heavy equipment and lenges of your job? The
biggest challenge is making the right decisions. It can be challenging depending on the weather, but there is no storm or job too small or too big. We always get it done. What do you enjoy most about it? Being outside is the biggest thing. I’m an outdoors
guy. I like being outside. I like taking on challenges. In one fashion, stress is kind of good. I don’t mind it. There are times you can be overwhelmed with stress, but I enjoy having a challenge day-to-day I guess. Mark Ebnet continued on pg. 2B