Ambient Groundwater Monitoring and Assessment

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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency collects large amounts of groundwater quality data. Most of this is collected through programs such as Superfund, Petroleum Remediation, and Landfills. This monitoring is considered investigation and compliance monitoring. Only small amounts of data are collected through ambient groundwater monitoring.

Ambient monitoring has two primary objectives:

• to determine the status of the groundwater resources
• to identify trends in water quality over time

Between 1989 and 2001, the MPCA conducted ambient monitoring through the Ground Water Monitoring and Assessment Program (GWMAP). In 2003, the MPCA re-established an ambient monitoring effort.

In 2004, the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the MPCA completed a Memorandum of Agreement that describes monitoring responsibilities for each agency. Consequently, MPCA’s ambient monitoring activities differ considerably from those of our former program, GWMAP.

This webpage contains information about on-going ambient monitoring efforts, historic information from GWMAP, and other groundwater information useful for a variety of audiences. For information on the average concentration of a specific chemical in a particular aquifer or at a particular location in Minnesota, see Baseline Water Quality of Minnesota’s Aquifers.

Contact information

For more information about ambient groundwater monitoring at the MPCA, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call toll free at 1-800-657-3864.