Health and Community Indicators and Data Sources
Health Indicators
Indicator Data
Source
Heart Disease Region 9- Regional Health Profile (every 4 years)
Diabetes Region 9- Regional Health Profile (every 4 years)
Organic Food Selection in
Grocery Stores Ask stores for growth/decrease (annual)
Farmer’s Market Participation From Farmers Market (annual)
Feedback-
too hard to measure….
Number
of fast food restaurants (What’s it measure? What’s accurate? )
Access
to healthy food in restaurants (How? And it’s relative- can request no mayo,
etc)
Infant Mortality not a large issues here- heart disease and diabetes make more sense.
Community
Indicator Data
Source
Voter Participation City Clerk (with each election)
Library Resources and Uses BE County Library (available annually)
Number of books
Budget for books
Circulation of books
Number of card holders
Neighborliness MN Student Survey- Caring Neighborhood (every 3 years)
Welcoming diversity School district enrollment (annual);
MN Student Survey (every 3 years)
Recreation and
Physical Activity
Indicator Data Source
Number and miles of biking
And/or walking trails City/county parks depts. (once and add growth)
City park budget City parks dept. (annual)
Number and acres of park land City/County/Minneopa parks (once and add growth)
Amount of park land to built land
In new development City planning dept. (once, unless policy changes)
Community Center Usage Class enrollment from Community Services Number of pool passes
YMCA use
(all available annually)
The coordinator for this group is Chris Johnson
Other members of the group include
Lisa Coon
Al Thompson
Anne Frey
Allen Sigafus
Anne Ganey
The next meeting for this group is
Not scheduled
The Web discussion site for this group is
Not yet developed
For more information contact Anne Ganey (annegy@hickorytech.net )
Pollution prevention
has increased in the last 30 years thanks to innovative programs.
Description
Pollution prevention
is extremely important to a community because of the negative effects pollution
has on the environment. We can also see
how the community is progressing according to how much emphasis officials put
on keeping our towns free of pollution.
The more emphasis that is placed on pollution prevention, the more
progress we will see.
Definition
To measure this
indicator, two different aspects were looked at: First, what is being to done to improve the
air quality in Minnesota? Second have these measures helped to prevent
pollution in our communities? More
specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act was studied, as well as the National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Interpretation
Since the Clean Air Act has gone into effect, air
quality has improved for many parts of Minnesota. Air quality is measured on these
chemicals: Carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur
dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen oxides. As shown in the chart above, these chemicals
have decreased in recent years. The Clean Air Act has helped reduce
pollution in Minnesota.
Evaluation
In the past, not
many things were being done to prevent pollution because of the lack of concern
for environmental health. However,
today, citizens are becoming more conscious of their environment, and so
programs such as the EPA’s Clean Air Act,
have come into effect and helped the situation.
In the future, with more programs such as this, Minnesota will continue
to improve its pollution standards.
Linkages
Pollution Prevention
affects air quality, groundwater quality, and the quality of water in rivers
and lakes. Without preventing the
release of toxic chemicals into the environment, all of these areas can be
damaged in horrible ways. Our drinking
water will be contaminated as well as the air we breathe.
Source: MPCA Monitoring Unit
Description
The Minnesota River is the most polluted river in Minnesota
and is also known nationally as one of the most polluted rivers in the Nation.
The water quality problems in the river have existed for a very long time, but
is finally beginning to show signs of improvement, although levels of pollution
remain at dangerous levels.
Recently many organizations have been formed at both the
local, state, and national levels to assess study the problem and implement
plans to begin to fix it. High levels of water pollution in the murky and
smelly Minnesota River are caused by the discharge of Chlorofluorocarbons or
CFC’s into the water, disease causing pathogens, sediments, phosphorus, and
nitrogen. Phosphorus creates abundant amounts of algae, which takes oxygen away
from fish and aquatic life forms. Nitrogen has unhealthy impacts on drinking
water as well. Sediments come from run off and erosion from agricultural
fields, as well as from stream bank and channel scouring, drainages of streets,
construction sites, and feedlots, which also drain fertilizers and pesticides,
and animal manure run off. Phosphorus results from effluent from wastewater
treatment plants and tile drainages. Bacteria and pathogens originate from
septic systems. In addition, sewer drainages, rainwater run off, snow melt, and
chemical runoff from farms.
Definition
Water pollution is defined as the contamination of water
resources by harmful wastes. The pollution in the Minnesota River is a huge
problem that is finally starting to get the required attention it needs. The
indicators that I’ve presented show the trend of pollutants and water quality
over many years in the Minnesota River basin. I’ve also shown graphs showing
the condition of the river in terms of whether or not the river is swimmable and whether or not you can eat the fish you catch
from the river. I’ve also inserted a table indicating measurements of the main
sources of pollution in the Minnesota River taken at different locations of the
river basin and then compared to the standard amounts.
Interpretation
From studying and researching these indicator graphs and the
topic of pollution in the Minnesota River, it is clear, that pollution remains
a huge problem, but is improving slowly. There are exceeding amounts of harmful
substances in the river. However, with more and more clean up projects working
at cleaning up streets, riverside banks, and streams, along with stricter
regulations for agriculture, septic systems, and wastewater treatment plants,
and other drainage sources and practices the pollution levels are finally
beginning to fall. Other solutions include conservation tillage on erodible well drained lands, sediment basins and animal
waste management facilities, grassed waterways, filter strips, and riparian
buffer strips, soil testing prior to fertilizer or manure applications,
following guidelines for application of fertilizer or manure, improved septic
systems, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants. CREP is another program
that helps both farmers and the river because the funding that CREP gets
importantly from the government goes to the farmer for land near the river, so
that land can be preserved.
Evaluation
With the population rates all around the world increasing
and outstanding rates, it impacts sustainability in many ways, but in this
study river pollution. With the increasing population, more streets will be
formed that will drain more pollutants to the river. The data has proved that
we have certainly not achieved a clean Minnesota River, but it is a realistic
goal. The future of the river lies within the hands of the community. We need
to act to improve the water quality, whether that is getting involved with
clean up events, or contacting your representative, something is better than
nothing. Are we willing to use the river as an easy solution for draining and
sacrifice the river because of it? The booming population may not help gain the
goal faster, but with more and more programs, organizations, and projects being
created to benefit the environment and the river I believe pollution in the
river will continue to decline over time until we will be able to enjoy the
full potential and beauty the scenic river has to offer.
Linkages
Poor water quality is linked directly to human destruction.
Humans polluted the river, and now its up to us to fix the problem before it
gets out of control. Cleaner water means a more healthy environment for
recreation. Poor water quality effects drinking water, fish health and
consumption and aquatic life, and the condition of the river for swimming. A
polluted river takes away from enjoying outdoor activities and interacting with
members of the community. It is unfortunate that we are missing out on the
recreational opportunities that the river basin has to offer, such as fishing,
swimming, boating (murky river leaves residue on bottom of boats) and canoeing.
The river even smells so people don’t even want to hike or have picnics down by
the riverside. As more people become aware of the problem, and action continues
to persist, it’s only a matter of time before we will enjoy what the river and
environment has to offer.
