HF 978

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; appropriating money for an 
  1.3             agricultural water quality and quantity management, 
  1.4             research, demonstration, and education program. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [AGRICULTURAL WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY 
  1.7   MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE; APPROPRIATION.] 
  1.8      (a) $995,000 is appropriated for fiscal year 2000 and 
  1.9   $1,105,000 is appropriated for fiscal year 2001 from the general 
  1.10  fund to the commissioner of agriculture to establish an 
  1.11  agricultural water quality and quantity management, research, 
  1.12  demonstration, and education program.  The commissioner may 
  1.13  contract with the University of Minnesota or others for the 
  1.14  implementation of parts of the program. 
  1.15     (b) The appropriation in paragraph (a) is for the 
  1.16  establishment of research and education centers at University of 
  1.17  Minnesota agricultural experiment stations.  Additional 
  1.18  outreach, education, and demonstration projects shall be 
  1.19  established at those facilities.  These centers shall research, 
  1.20  educate, and demonstrate the environmental benefits from a 
  1.21  variety of water management methods, practices, and systems that 
  1.22  minimize downstream impacts on water quality, while also 
  1.23  reducing local flooding potential.  Agricultural interests 
  1.24  understand the importance of this project and have offered to 
  1.25  match the first $200,000 with technical expertise, machinery, 
  2.1   materials, and design and layout of systems. 
  2.2      (c) Of the amount in paragraph (a), $250,000 the first year 
  2.3   and $185,000 the second year is for earthwork, construction 
  2.4   materials, irrigation equipment, and well construction. 
  2.5      (d) Of the amount in paragraph (a), $275,000 the first year 
  2.6   and $450,000 the second year is for water quality samplers, data 
  2.7   loggers, shelters, analyses of water, wetland remediation, and 
  2.8   computer modeling assistance. 
  2.9      (e) Of the amount in paragraph (a), $200,000 the first year 
  2.10  and $200,000 the second year is for academic and technical labor 
  2.11  involving design, repair, maintenance, research, and modeling. 
  2.12     (f) Of the amount in paragraph (a), $270,000 the first year 
  2.13  and $270,000 the second year is for project management; on-farm 
  2.14  demonstrations to be paired with an agricultural experiment 
  2.15  station to provide field-testing of station designs, methods, 
  2.16  and demonstrations; training sessions on technical assistance; 
  2.17  and workshops for natural resource agents, producers, and other 
  2.18  agriculture professionals on water management technologies, 
  2.19  resource protection, water storage in small watersheds, nutrient 
  2.20  or pesticide bioremediation, and dryland storage areas.  If the 
  2.21  appropriation for either year is insufficient, the appropriation 
  2.22  for the other year is available.