Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Stephen Mikkelson, 218-316-3887 Brainerd, Minn. -- Monitoring crews are beginning the second year of an intensive 10 year effort to assess the condition of rivers, streams and lakes in Minnesota. The work is being funded by the Clean Water Legacy Act that was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Pawlenty in 2006. The majority of the monitoring activities will focus on watersheds. There are 81 major watersheds in Minnesota, each comprised of a network of largely interconnected streams, lakes and wetlands. The intent of this monitoring effort is to develop a complete picture of the conditions of the various water body types within each watershed. The monitoring in rivers and streams will be carried out by two biological monitoring units. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency biological monitoring staff are divided into a north team located in Brainerd, and a south team in St. Paul. This summer, the north team will be working in the watersheds of the St. Louis River, Buffalo River and the Elk/Clearwater/Rice Rivers. The south team will be working in the watersheds of the southern St. Croix, Cedar and Chippewa Rivers. In addition to these crews, several local partners will assist with stream monitoring, funded by MPCA grants. The stream monitoring is designed to measure and evaluate the condition of rivers and streams by studying the biology, including fish, aquatic invertebrates, and plant life as well as habitat and water chemistry. Examples of aquatic invertebrates include insect larvae, crayfish, snails, small clams, worms and leeches. Stream water chemistry is monitored to provide information about the quality of the water in which these fish and insects are living. Lake monitoring crews will sample more than 50 lakes in the same watersheds. The lake monitoring teams will focus on nutrient concentrations and other water chemistry parameters to assess lakes for their ability to support recreational uses. There are certain expectations for what the biology and water chemistry should look like at a given sampling location. If actual samples differ significantly from those expectations, the sampling location could be considered impaired. If that happens, the MPCA would look more closely at what could be causing impairments and find ways to correct problems. In addition to these watershed activities, the south biological monitoring team plans to sample 65 wetlands around the state as part of a multi-year, interagency effort to better understand wetland water quality and quantity in Minnesota. Other MPCA monitoring teams will track water quality trends at major rivers, and work with the Department of Natural Resources to establish permanent flow and water quality sampling stations at the outlets of most major watersheds in Minnesota. The MPCA also relies on a large contingent of volunteers and local partners statewide to collect water quality data on lakes and streams, which is used to assess water quality. For more information about the MPCA's condition monitoring program activities, visit www.pca.state.mn.us/water/biomonitoring/index.html.