Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contacts: Jennifer Groebner, 651-296-7706 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 Saint Paul, Minn. - When Glenn Skuta's family moved to the Oakdale area in 1996, they wanted to take advantage of nearby Tanner's Lake for a summer swim. But after arriving at the lake, the Skuta family noticed it was scummy with algae and not too inviting for swimming. At the time, Glenn was working as a water quality planner at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). In 2002, Tanner's Lake was placed on the state's list of "impaired" waters because of high nutrient levels. Actions by the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District to more effectively treat stormwater emptying into the lake effectively lowered those nutrient levels. Later monitoring showed the nutrient levels had fallen enough so that the lake was taken off the impaired waters list in 2004. Minnesota demonstrated its commitment to restoring and protecting waters resources in 2006, when Governor Pawlenty signed the Clean Water Legacy Act. The CWLA gave state agencies $31 million to assess and start cleaning up the state's polluted waters. In addition to cleaning up polluted lakes and rivers, the funds will also be used to protect waters that are still clean. The investment is making a difference. As of Jan. 1, 2008, seven water bodies have been removed from the impaired waters list because of on-the-ground efforts to clean them up. And that's not all - largely due to CWLA funding, more than 400 impaired lakes and rivers across the state are now being intensively studied. Called Total Maximum Daily Load studies or TMDLs, the analysis makes it possible for plans to be made to clean them up. Many more waters need attention, but more time and money is being invested to clean up lakes and rivers than any other period in Minnesota's history. Of the seven water bodies that have been delisted, three were removed when major wastewater treatment plants upgraded their facilities to reduce the amount of ammonia going into rivers.
· The Red River of the North will be delisted in 2008 after the cities of Moorhead and Fargo made upgrades or changes at their wastewater treatment facilities.
· A portion of the Redwood River will be delisted in 2008 following upgrades at the Marshall wastewater treatment facility.
· Eleven miles of the Chippewa River were delisted in 2006 after Montevideo upgraded its wastewater treatment plant.
Three more rivers were delisted after feedlots and septic systems were upgraded.
· The Clearwater River was delisted in 2006 after feedlot and wastewater treatment facility upgrades resulted in the water body meeting water quality standards for fecal coliform.
· A portion of the Swan River, from the headwaters at Big Swan Lake to the Mississippi River, was delisted in 2006 after a major feedlot improved its operations.
· Cedar Creek was delisted in 2006 after feedlot and septic system upgrades resulted in the waterbody meeting ammonia water quality standards. Though only a small percentage of Minnesota's waters have been assessed, progress is being made. CWLA funding has allowed for more monitoring in the state. Shannon Lotthammer, who oversees water quality monitoring for the MPCA, said extra monitoring means more will be known about water quality in Minnesota in the coming years. "New monitoring data has shown that 19 waterbodies weren't as polluted as we initially thought, so those have been removed from the impaired waters list. But new information also means that more lakes and rivers will be added to the list," she said. Lotthammer went on to say that this doesn't necessarily mean that Minnesota's lakes and rivers are becoming more polluted. It simply means there is better information about the water resources. "Once we have the water quality information, we can work with our partners to assess and clean up waters that are impaired, much like we did with the seven waterbodies that have been delisted." The MPCA will submit the 2008 Impaired Waters List to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this spring, which adds 147 new lakes and 150 more river reaches to the list.