Stretch of Cedar entered into contest

Published 6:29 am Monday, July 25, 2011

If the Cedar River gets lucky, it could be the winner of a contest — and a lot of cash.

The river could be another step closer to becoming a recreational resource by way of an innovative contest, which aims to get conservation organizations brainstorming.

The contest is through a new program started by the Minnesota Community Foundation, which holds friendly competitions with incentives to improve Minnesota — in this case, $15,000 to the winner.

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Several weeks ago, the Foundation started the Minnesota Idea Open’s second challenge — to improve one water issue within the state. Though Austin’s chances of winning are one out of more than 100, the goal of the competition is to get communities thinking.

According to mnideaopen.org, “The Minnesota Idea Open is our effort to create a fun and engaging way for Minnesotans to learn about critical issues affecting the state, develop creative new solutions for addressing those issues and be inspired to act.”

So after unexpectedly hearing about the competition, CRWD Watershed Technician Matt Taylor wrote his proposal — “Come on in, the water is fine?” — and entered the contest. His stance: to show how technology and improved water quality could combine to make a stretch of the Cedar River in Austin a great place to spend time.

“I think the river is underutilized, and it has some negative stigmas attached to it,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s proposal includes creating a web page for the Cedar River with water quality information, along with GPS locations and a map of where people can access the river.

The contest caught a lot of buzz on Facebook, and the entry deadline passed July 19 with more than 100 contestants. Now, Minnesota Idea Open judges are busting the entries down to the best 20, then the best three.

“I feel we have a pretty good application, but there’s a hundred of them out there,” Taylor said.

All Minnesota residents 12 and older can vote on the top three contestants. Voting opens Aug. 23 and ends Sept. 5. The winner will be announced the week of Sept. 5. For more information, to view each proposal or to vote, go to mnideaopen.org.