Panel will follow showing of "Troubled Waters"

The Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance the show the documentary film "Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Sheldon Theater. The premiere was Oct. 3 at the Bell Museum.

Filmmakers produced the documentary under contract to the Bell Museum during the past two years with about $500,000 in state lottery proceeds and foundation grants. Among other topics, the documentary details pollution problems in the Mississippi River from farm chemicals and other sources, and profiles both conventional and organic farmers who are making changes to reduce runoff and improve water quality.

A considerable portion of the film focuses on Lake Pepin.

Following the screening, which is free and open to the public, a panel discussion will be held. The panelists will include:

• Dr. Daniel Engstrom, director of the St. Croix Watershed Research Station and adjunct professor of water resources science at the University of Minnesota.

Especially relevant, alliance members said, is Engstrom and his staff's research into the changing water quality of the upper Mississippi River. This research provides much of the scientific underpinning for ongoing efforts to substantially reduce nutrient and sediment runoff and restore ecological health to this impaired waterway.

• Norman Senjem, a planner for the Lower Mississippi basin at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

He currently coordinates the development of a total maximum daily load study for Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River upstream. He has led the development of agency policy on point-nonpoint source pollutant trading.

• Dave Legvold, past executive director of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership.

Legvold has been involved with programs and best management practices that make it easier for farmers to reduce fertilizer use and increase conservation tillage practices while being protected from any potential loss of income.

• Barbara Coffin, coordinator of public programs at the Bell Museum and executive producer of "Troubled Waters."

She has worked for more than 25 years conservation biology-related programs for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota.

• Larkin McPhee, a Peabody and Emmy award-winning director, producer and writer of documentary films.

In addition to the Mississippi River, her subjects have ranged from personal finance to nuclear power to the illness of depression. Meticulous research, outstanding characters and engaging story-telling contribute a timeless element to McPhee's films, Lake Pepin Alliance members said.

• Brandon Schafer, a sixth-generation farmer.

Schafer Farms is located in the heart of Goodhue County.

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