Pine River Watershed Chloride Reduction Strategies

The Crow Wing Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is working to prevent area waters from being contaminated with salt. The Pine River Watershed One Watershed One Plan recommends cities manage chlorides reaching surface and groundwater from roads salts and water softener salts entering surface waters through wastewater treatment systems.

Bolton & Menk created a residential water softener discharge calculator to aid in the understanding of how much salt is being used and how much water is being polluted. We also assisted Crow Wing SWCD with their water softener awareness campaign to educate residents on the impacts their softener has on local waterbodies and offered steps they can take to reduce their chloride input. Our team met with local counties, townships, cities, and resorts to discuss their salt use and offer solutions to lower their use and teach MPCA Smart Salting classes for winter maintenance operators.

The watershed local municipalities are now equipped with the knowledge and resources to use less road salt for winter maintenance operations and dust control. Community members have a better understanding of the impacts of chloride on local water bodies and steps to reduce their salt use.