Watershed Grants Becoming More Predictable

We secure lots of grants at ACD. They are a mainstay of our funding; we do not levy taxes. For our water quality projects, grants are changing significantly with a recent program called Watershed Based Implementation Funding (WBIF). These recurring grants are providing the foundation for sustained, cohesive programs rather than a start-and-stop approach.

Historically, grants were competitive. And many still are. We complete a lengthy application process and our proposals are scored against others. The grant lasts a few years and is done. This continues to work well for many of our largest, stand-alone projects. In fact, ACD has applied for a half dozen of them in just the last few months. 

Photo: ACD staff installing a shoreline stabilization on Lake George.

New WBIF funding is not competitive, not awarded to one agency, recurs every two years, and the dollars go to a watershed area. Local agencies in that watershed collaborate together to decide how to best utilize the money. The watershed must have one or more locally- and state-approved plans to guide their decisions. Instead of competing against one another, local managers are collaboratively deciding on the projects with the best return on investment.

ACD hosted a Rum River metro-watershed WBIF grant for the last three years. The grant is closing and we're pleased to report on some outcomes that included 9 Lake George shoreline stabilizations; 1 Rum Riverbank stabilization; 6 rain gardens in the City of Anoka; 1 swale stabilization in St. Francis; subwatershed studies that identify and rank projects for Ford Brook, East Twin Lake, and Pickerel Lake; a bunch of water quality public outreach, and more. Additional Rum metro WBIF funds have been received in 2022 and 2024, and work is underway.

WBIF grants are for water quality improvements that are the mutual priorities of watershed managers. ACD continues to utilize a variety of grants for other types of projects, such as pollinator plantings, easements, habitat, and more. For more information contact, Watershed Projects Manager, Jamie Schurbon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  123 Hits

Anoka Conservation District Staff Submit a Slew of Proposals for 2025 Grant Funding

ACD operates largely on grant funding. Securing grants enables ACD to provide beneficial services to the public without significantly impacting local taxpayers. In order to keep things progressing smoothly, we dovetail grants, which each allow three to five years to complete, so some grants are being wrapped up while others are coming on line. To lay the foundation for 2025 and beyond, we recently secured several grants and applied for others.  

Recent Awards ($756K)

  • Soil Health ($20K) – cost share projects that improve water quality and/or soil productivity.
  • Pollinator Pathways ($92K) – cost share for projects that provide habitat and connectivity for at-risk pollinators.
  • Rum River Metro Watershed Based Implementation Funding - Clean Water Fund ($569K) – analysis, outreach, and projects that improve water quality in priority local water resources in the Rum River Watershed portion of Anoka County.
  • Sunrise River Watershed Based Implementation Funding - Clean Water Fund ($75K) - analysis and projects that improve water quality in priority local water resources in the Sunrise River Watershed portion of Anoka County.

Recent Applications ($5,751K)

  • Rum River Enhancement, Phase 3- Outdoor Heritage Fund ($1,974K) – Rum River improvements through projects that stabilize eroding riverbanks, reconnect floodplains, restore wild rice populations, and restore adjacent wetlands, forests and prairies
  • Anoka Sandplain Partnership, Phase 10 - Outdoor Heritage Fund ($2,573K) – ecological enhancement and protection through restoration and preservation programs and projects
  • Enhanced Street Sweeping Integrated into 11-County Sub-Watershed Analyses - Clean Water Fund ($330K) – analysis of street sweeping protocols to identify strategies to improve water quality by strategically redirecting current efforts
  • Ditch 20 Wetland Restoration Benefiting Typo & Martin Lakes - Clean Water Fund ($221K) – restore hydrology in a large wetland complex upstream of Typo Lake to improve water quality
  • Drinking Water Protection Through Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems Fix Ups ($200K) – provide cost share funds to repair or replace failing septic systems to protect surface and ground water quality
  • Targeted Mississippi River Bank Stabilization Focused on Bioengineering, Round 3 - Clean Water Fund ($383K) – provide technical and financial assistance to property owners to address eroding riverbanks on the Mississippi River
  • Protecting Groundwater Quality in Anoka County Through Targeted Well Sealing, Phase 2 - Clean Water Fund ($70K) – provide cost share to seal unused wells to protect drinking water quality
  454 Hits

Lawns to Legumes Grant Application Open Now!

The MN Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is accepting applications for the Lawns to Legumes grant program through June 30, 2023. Any Minnesota landowner can apply for up to $350 in reimbursements for creating new pollinator habitat on their property. This includes pollinator gardens or meadows, bee lawns, and native tree or shrub plantings.

Grant recipients must contribute 25% match in the form of purchasing materials, hiring contractors, or as in-kind time spent planting and maintaining the project.

Find resources for planning your pollinator planting, choosing native plants, and applying for a grant on the BWSR Lawns to Legumes website. 

  1277 Hits

ACD and Partners are Working to Bring Legacy Funds to Enhance Habitat in Anoka County

Anoka Conservation District recently submitted two proposals, HRE07 Rum River Corridor Fish and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement – Phase 2 and HA02 Anoka Sand Plain Habitat Conservation – Phase 8 to the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council ML 2023 Request for Funding. The proposed activities will enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitat in Anoka County and collaborate with Partners in the Rum River Corridor and the Anoka Sand Plain Ecoregion.  

HRE07 Rum River Corridor Fish and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement – Phase 2
$3.5M request ($3M for Anoka County) includes:

  • Streambank and in-channel stabilization (2,200 linear feet);
  • In-stream fish habitat with a focus on game fish (1,200 linear feet); and
  • Riparian forest, wetland, and prairie enhancement in the Shoreland Zone (118 acres) including wild rice habitat on tribal lands.

Partners:

  • Anoka, Isanti and Mille Lacs SWCDs
  • Anoka and Isanti Counties
  • Upper and Lower Rum River WMOs
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

HA02 Anoka Sand Plain Habitat Conservation – Phase 8
$8.9M request ($2.15M for ACD) includes:

  • Conservation easements (540 acres)
  • Habitat restoration and enhancement (1,736 acres and 2,200 linear feet of shoreline)
  • Rare plant rescue program

Direct Grant Recipients and Partners:

    • Anoka Conservation District
    • Great River Greening
    • Minnesota Land Trust
    • National Wild Turkey Federation
    • Sherburne County Parks
    • Anoka County Parks
    • City of Anoka
    • MN Landscape Arboretum
    • Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve
    • MN DNR Forest Lake WMA
  1185 Hits

Rum Riverbank Stabilization Grants Available

A recent shoreline stabilization project on the Rum River

Grant funds are available to landowners for addressing shoreline erosion on the Rum River. If your shoreline is falling into the river, migrating back over time, or the bottom has washed out leaving an overhang, these funds can pay for a substantial portion of design and construction of a solution. Funding is available to address erosion issues of all sizes, with landowners typically paying 15-25% of the project cost. Shoreline restoration does more than just protect your property. It also protects the water resource you live on and enhances river habitat!

Those interested can schedule a site visit with Anoka Conservation District (ACD) staff to discuss options and see if your shoreline might fit into one of our various grant programs for financial assistance. Because the design and construction bidding can take months, starting in the spring is recommended. Contact Jared Wagner at ACD at 763-434-2030 x200 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Rum Riverbank stabilization projects are a partnership of ACD, Anoka County Parks, and the Upper and Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organizations (URRWMO, LRRWMO) with funding from the Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment.

  1254 Hits

Rum River Watershed Partners Decide on Projects to Fund

The Rum River is a focus for new grant funds aimed at protecting water quality and improving habitat.

Local entities with a role in managing the Rum River watershed in Anoka County recently decided on a new slate of grant-funded projects. The group was charged with allocating $371,157 in state Watershed Based Implementation Funding grants. The dollars can be used for water quality projects in approved local plans. From an initial menu of 19 projects the group selected five:

  • $176,000 Projects identified in subwatershed studies. This includes urban stormwater and agricultural practices that have been identified, ranked by cost effectiveness, and which drain to one of these priority waterbodies: Rum River, Mississippi River, or Ford Brook.
  • $30,000 Trott Brook riparian corridor restoration study. This stream is impaired for low oxygen and poor aquatic life. The study is aimed at finding out why, and what might be done to address it. Trott Brook is primarily in the City of Ramsey.
  • $65,000  Septic system fix ups for low income homeowners. This will supplement an existing $25-40K per year that the state provides to the Anoka Conservation District. Demand exceeds funding. Properties near priority waterbodies are the focus.
  • $65,175 Critical shoreland area planting. Plantings will improve habitat, prevent erosion, and filter runoff near waterbodies.
  • $35,000 Wetland restorations.

The group selected the Anoka Conservation District to manage the projects. Required 10% grant matching dollars will come from landowners where projects are completed, and the Upper and Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organizations. Work will begin in late 2022.

The group that worked collaboratively to select these projects included the Upper and Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organizations, Anoka Conservation District, Anoka County, and a city representative from Andover.

  1298 Hits

New Grants Secured in Northeast Anoka County

This spring, long time Martin Lake residents Wally and Nancy Olson challenged the other members of their lake associations: donate $3,000 for lake water quality improvement and we'll match it. In just a few weeks $3,600 in donations poured in, including 21 households that donated $100 or more. Total funds raised was $6,600. This followed a similar challenge and response in 2020.

The funds will go into the lake association's Water Quality Fund. In the past, this money has been used for a variety of projects including rain gardens, stormwater ponds, carp management, and aquatic invasive species prevention. In nearly every case the lake association and its partners have used the funds as match for grants, multiplying their cash by 4x to 10x.

Some of the money raised by the Martin Lakers is being used as matching funds toward a new grant secured from the Anoka County Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program for radio tagging carp. Linwood, Typo, and Martin Lake are each receiving $3,000 for carp management from the AIS Prevention Program. The lakes are part of a chain of lakes with active carp management led by the Anoka Conservation District. Carp are being removed where they are abundant, and harmful to water quality and habitat.

Along with matching funds from the Martin Lakers, the grants were supported by $750 in matching funds from the Linwood Lake Improvement Association and Sunrise River Watershed Management Organization.

  1542 Hits

Where the Anoka Conservation District Money Goes

ACD finances historically experience dramatic variability from year to year due to activities being driven by competitive grants, several of which have been in excess of $400,000. Many state grants are from sales tax revenue dedicated to natural resource activities. ACD is committed to accessing these funds so Anoka County taxpayers will benefit from them in proportion to sales tax paid in the county. Also of note is how consistent ACD's operational and personnel costs have been. ACD staff and supervisors strive to keep overhead costs down, while expanding service

Making Sense of the Dollars: Although governed by an elected board, conservation districts do not yet have taxing authority and must secure funds from many sources to maintain programs and services. State grants are the primary funding source for project installation, while the county provides seven times what the state does to support general district operations. County funds are critical because many grants do not cover overhead expenses. Unfortunately, many grants also require matching funds, so county funds must serve as match and cover all costs ineligible under complex grant rules.

Making Dollars of the Cents: To provide comprehensive natural resource management, ACD collaborates with cities, watershed management entities, state agencies, county departments, non-profits, and landowners on projects of mutual interest. The 2019 revenue chart begins to convey this but does not show the 68 projects and programs supported by 26 distinct funding sources, many of which supported multiple projects and programs. For example, County Project Funds alone is comprised of 12 projects, and State Grants were used in part to fund 35 different initiatives 


  1994 Hits