The Land of 4,000 Impaired Waters
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
21-4-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
21-4-2014 3:30 PM
Student's Major
Construction Management
Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Mentor's Name
Matthew Durand
Mentor's Department
Construction Management
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Description
When most people think of Minnesota they think of pristine natural resources and beautiful lakes. But is that the truth? Minnesota has a major problem under the surface, 40% of Minnesota’s waters are considered impaired. Being the land of 10,000 lakes don’t we have a responsibility to take care of these great waters? Minnesota is home to three great headwaters the Great Lakes, Mississippi, and Red rivers. Because of our geographical location we have a responsibility to the environment and to our neighbors not to pass off our pollutants. It’s pretty obvious that we have a problem, so I would like to present a possible solution “the Owatonna Tree Pit.” The city of Owatonna is tasked with creating a solution for the trees in their sidewalks. The trees are having trouble collecting rainfall because of the inability of the water to permeate through the concrete. This is causing the tree root systems to push up the concrete above them, as a response to their inability to gather water. Owatonna has thought of a clever way to water the trees and at the same time clean and purify the water before it makes its way into the storm sewer system. The city plans to plant three different trees two of which will use this system and one that will not. They will take trunk measurements to see if they grow faster with this new construction method and they will also test pollutant runoff from the trees.
The Land of 4,000 Impaired Waters
CSU Ballroom
When most people think of Minnesota they think of pristine natural resources and beautiful lakes. But is that the truth? Minnesota has a major problem under the surface, 40% of Minnesota’s waters are considered impaired. Being the land of 10,000 lakes don’t we have a responsibility to take care of these great waters? Minnesota is home to three great headwaters the Great Lakes, Mississippi, and Red rivers. Because of our geographical location we have a responsibility to the environment and to our neighbors not to pass off our pollutants. It’s pretty obvious that we have a problem, so I would like to present a possible solution “the Owatonna Tree Pit.” The city of Owatonna is tasked with creating a solution for the trees in their sidewalks. The trees are having trouble collecting rainfall because of the inability of the water to permeate through the concrete. This is causing the tree root systems to push up the concrete above them, as a response to their inability to gather water. Owatonna has thought of a clever way to water the trees and at the same time clean and purify the water before it makes its way into the storm sewer system. The city plans to plant three different trees two of which will use this system and one that will not. They will take trunk measurements to see if they grow faster with this new construction method and they will also test pollutant runoff from the trees.
Recommended Citation
Holtz, Bradley. "The Land of 4,000 Impaired Waters." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 21, 2014.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2014/poster_session_B/12
