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Board of Water and Soil Resources outlines soil‑health grants, water‑storage program and lawns‑to‑legumes results
Summary
BWSR described voluntary, locally led conservation work on private lands, including soil‑health programs, accelerated water storage grants, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program participation and the lawns‑to‑legumes pollinator initiative.
The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) presented its conservation priorities to the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy Committee, describing voluntary programs that work through local partners to deliver soil‑health practices, water‑storage projects and pollinator habitat across private lands.
John Jasky, BWSR executive director, and Andrea Fish, assistant director, said most of BWSR’s work is delivered by local partners — soil and water conservation districts, watershed districts, counties and conservation organizations — and that the agency’s statutory responsibilities prioritize private‑land conservation and watershed‑level planning.
Fish summarized major programs funded in recent biennia: a soil‑health program that supports continuous living cover, no‑till and other practices (funded by state general fund, Clean Water Fund and a $25 million federal award); an accelerated water storage program that funds designs and construction to slow water flow (16 grants totaling $5.5 million awarded last year, plus a $25 million federal contribution awarded in October 2024); and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, where a roughly 3:7 state‑to‑federal funding ratio can leverage state dollars to obtain larger federal participation for wetland and grassland restoration.
The board also highlighted the popular lawns‑to‑legumes program, which it said has supported more than 5,000 local projects since 2019, trained 270 volunteer coaches, supported more than 80 local businesses, and created roughly 14 million square feet of pollinator habitat and about 13,000 trees and shrubs. BWSR said it awarded 42 Pollinator Pathways grants to local partners under that initiative.
Jasky warned the committee that wetland mitigation funding historically delivered through capital investment has been less predictable recently and that BWSR may need policy or funding adjustments to maintain mitigation work that local road authorities and others rely on.
Why it matters: BWSR’s programs mobilize federal, state and local funds to improve water quality, store runoff, restore habitat and provide technical assistance on private lands. The agency’s ability to deploy federal matching dollars depends on state funding decisions and affects project scale across Minnesota.
BWSR offered to provide the committee with additional completion reporting, project lists and program budget details on request.
