Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID MN_2024_Santelli

Water Chemistry and Manoomin Health; a Snapshot of the Ottertail Watershed

Institute: Minnesota
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2024-09-01 End Date: 2025-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $9,876 Total Non-Federal Funds: $5,019

Principal Investigators: Cara Santelli

Project Summary: Manoomin (Wild Rice) is under threat from climate change as well as the impacts of land use change. Our tribal partners have expressed interest in a “snapshot” study of current Manoomin Health. The goal is to determine which water quality parameters are impacting Manoomin health and provide evidence supporting effective management practices. We will join together traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and academic research methods to compare three groupings of ricing lakes. Knowledge shared by harvesters will allow us to select lakes with rice stands that are: 1) Healthy, 2) Declining, or 3) Recently absent. Sampling will include surface, ground, and porewaters to test for nutrient anions and pesticide concentrations; as well as sediments to determine the substrate chemistry and mineralogy. This study will allow us to understand what factors are beneficial versus detrimental to Wild Rice, allowing us to recommend more targeted and effective land and water management practices.