Navigating Drainage + Water Quality
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Welcome to Rural Waters, ISG's e-newsletter dedicated to supporting rural drainage, lakes, streams, rivers, agriculture, and the environment.
With a balanced approach, ISG designs surface water systems with current technology to mitigate flood damage, minimize maintenance costs, and enhance yields, efficiencies, and water quality—delivering multi-benefit solutions.
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| Televising for Clearer, Safer,
and Faster Solutions
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Following heavy rainfall in 2024, communities across the Midwest have worked hard to resolve flood damage. ISG launched its televising services to quickly and
safely identify and resolve areas where drainage was a concern for multiple rural communities. The pipe crawler televises high-resolution footage of hard-to-reach places within drainage systems and instantly relays conditions back to experts
and clients.
This powerful tool helped ISG's partners, like Blue Earth County (BEC), Minnesota, to quickly determine the most effective and affordable path forward for improvements. As a result of this technology, the BEC was able to complete a survey and create a feasible plan to resolve drainage throughout the affected areas, including County Ditch 25 Branch 3 and Judicial Ditches 21, 22, 23, 64 among others.
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Issues Facing Rural Drainage |
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| Addressing Flooding +
Nutrient Loss With Drainage
Water Recycling
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What is drainage water recycling?
Drainage water recycling is a water management practice that captures, stores, and reuses agricultural drainage water to support crop irrigation and improve water use.
What are examples?
Row crops, specialty crops, and integrated water management practices like buffer strips, wetland, and cover cropping are common drainage water recycling practices.
Why should people care?
Recycling drainage water helps farmers address water scarcity, enhance crop resilience, and mitigate environmental impacts caused by excess water drainage during high flow-events, such as nutrient loss in the land and water quality degradation in nearby water bodies.
In other words, it supports healthy agriculture and healthy water resources—benefits that everyone should care about.
How does ISG help?
ISG helps communities across the Midwest to identify and implement cost-effective opportunities for drainage water recycling. Our rural water professionals are currently working with the following clients:
The State of Ohio cares about advancing the science and practice of agricultural water management. As a result, they have partnered with ISG to analyze and prioritize sites for drainage water recycling throughout five watersheds. ISG is utilizing automated Geographic information Systems (GIS) to limit manual review of site conditions and constraints.
The Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. (EDF) is a not-for-profit organization committed to sustainability and stabilizing the Earth's climate. In partnership with ISG, they are conducting an economic analysis of proposed drainage water recycling systems in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The final report will bring attention to the impact of practices on farmers, drainage districts, and other stakeholders. Insights will help the EDF to understand investment costs, financial returns, and funding required to support drainage water recycling efforts.
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| Procedures for Public
Drainage Projects
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Knowing where to start with a public drainage project is a challenge. ISG's Chuck Brandel, PE, Jacob Rischmiller, PE, Bailey Bocchino, PE, and many others are here to help. On February 4, 5, and 6, these experts will be presenting on the lifecycle of a public drainage project at the 3rd Annual Minnesota Drainage Conference in Alexandria, Minnesota. Can't attend? We hope to connect with you at the
following conferences.
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Let's Connect: Upcoming Conferences
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March 4–6, 2025
Pay Dirt 2025
Goshen, IN
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ISG's funding specialists have secured over $49 million in grants while leveraging over $102 million in public and private funding across the Midwest. Our connections with local, state, and federal agencies ensure swift grant applications that meet criteria and boost acceptance rates. With a focus on legislative awareness, we remain up to date on federal and state funding opportunities to help clients maximize funding and leverage every available dollar to support impactful projects.
This section includes upcoming funding opportunities, success stories, and resources on navigating the complexities of drainage and water quality grant applications.
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Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Homeland
Security, and Emergency Management (HSEM)
Available Disaster Funds
- FEMA to schedule exploratory calls for successful Requests for
Public Assistance (RPAs)
- RPA deadlines have passed for recent disaster declarations
- Match requirements are project dependent
- Refer to County for FEMA categorization (A–G) of repairs and project type (Public Assistance and Program Policy Guidance Document)
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Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR)
Clean Water Funds
Multi-Purpose Drainage Management
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Applications due on a quarterly basis
- 2025 due dates are not yet determined
- 10% match required
- Funds practices that provide water quality benefits to drainage projects
Water Quality + Storage Program
- Next application round anticipated to open early in 2025
(Want to apply, but concerned about deadline? ISG can help!) - Changes to requirements are anticipated due to additional funding for the program being provided by an Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant
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| North America Conservation + Drainage Expo (NACADE)
Westfield, IN
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ISG Civil Engineer Spencer Pech, PE and ISG National Agricultural Drainage Expert Chuck Brandel, PE, Darin Howell, and John Meyer demonstrated how our pipe camera and televising technology can cost-effectively assess damaged agricultural drainage tiles and reverse issues caused by failing systems.
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| Association of Minnesota
Counties Annual Conference
Bloomington, MN
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Minnesota Public Drainage projects have been under scrutiny from many government agencies and non-governmental organization (NGOs). To offset concerns, Chuck Brandel, PE shared how projects are strategically positioned and how the use of grant programs will help these drainage projects move forward.
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| Martin County Ditch No. 28
Project Wins Minnesota
Erosion Control
Association Award
Fairmont, MN
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This project represents the best of what happens when communities come together. Supported by the BWSR and driven by ISG’s expertise, this initiative is more than a rural drainage solution—it's about protecting the City of Fairmont's vital drinking water supply.
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| Conservationist of the Year Award Given to
Lake Washington
Improvement Association
Lake Washington, MN
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Drainage Discussion on the Water Table Podcast
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ISG's Chuck Brandel, PE sat down with Prinsco Application Engineer Trey Allis on the Water Table Podcast to discuss televising and how this technology is transforming watershed and drainage system management in the upper Midwest.
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| Guest Article:
Flexible Pipe in Rural Drainage
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Rural stormwater management depends on reliable pipes. Learn about flexible pipe benefits, characteristics, and best practices for controlling a farmer's most valuable resource—water—in this article from Trey Allis, an Application Engineer at Prinsco.
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Architecture + Engineering + Environmental + Planning
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