Dayton Pitches Federal Partnership to Boost Water Quality

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton is aiming to set up a program with the federal government to fund water quality improvement efforts in Minnesota.

Dayton submitted a $795 million partnership proposal to the federal government on Tuesday. The effort would help fund stronger requirements for buffers between farmland and waterways passed by the Legislature this spring.

Several states have already employed Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs to help take cropland in environmentally sensitive areas out of production. Minnesota's new buffer requirements will start taking effect in November 2017.

The Democratic governor has made improving Minnesota's water quality a top priority for his second and final term. Dayton says funding through the partnership will help tremendously in his goal of reversing a water quality decline.