Minnesota's Impaired Waters and TMDLs
Project: Lake St. Croix TMDL — Excess Nutrients

Background

Lake St. Croix, the lower 25 miles of the St. Croix Basin between Stillwater, MN and Prescott, WI, was designated as an impaired water in 2008 for excess phosphorus. The St. Croix River's headwaters are at St. Croix Lake near Solon Springs, Wisconsin, where it flows west and south over 160 miles until it joins the Mississippi River at Prescott, Wisconsin. Approximately 80% (129 miles) of the St. Croix River forms part of the boundary between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The TMDL will be jointly developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with support from the St. Croix River Water Resources Planning Team; an interagency planning team consisting of federal, state and local members formed to work together to protect and enhance the water resources in the St. Croix River Basin.

Map and location

Lake St Croix is located in the Lower St. Croix River watershed and the Mississippi River - Lake Pepin watershed.

For a map of this impairment, see the 2008 Map of Impaired Lakes in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. More maps are available using the MPCA's Impaired Waters Viewer.

Sources of phosphorus

• Contribution by Land Use (wq-iw6-04m)
• Stormwater (wq-iw6-04n)
• Wastewater (wq-iw6-04o)

TMDL report and implementation plan

• Fact Sheet (wq-iw6-04a)
• Final TMDL Report (wq-iw6-04e)
• EPA Approval Letter (wq-iw6-04g) (August 8, 2012)
• TMDL Implementation Plan (wq-iw6-04c) (October 26, 2012)

Other documents

• Lake St. Croix TMDL Stakeholder Engagement Strategy Communication Plan (wq-iw6-04v)
• Communication Resources for Local Partners (Local partners may add their organization’s contact information in the yellow box on the back of this brochure. To ensure proper orientation, change your print settings to “flip on the short edge” before printing.)

• 2009 Protecting the St. Croix Conference
  • Power Point Presentation SCRB
  • Conference Notes
• Work Plan
• Lake St. Croix TMDL Project Schedule
• Lake St. Croix Stakeholder Participation Strategy
• Nutrient Loading Study

Meetings and events

January 11, 2011 6 pm Final Stakeholder Meeting, Hudson, Wisc. City Hall

• 6:00 pm: Welcome and Sign-in (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency staff available for initial questions)
• 6:30 pm: Presentation, Preliminary Draft Lake St Croix TMDL Report 
• Questions

See the TMDL Meetings, Events and News page for notices of general interest and event-related information on impaired waters/TMDLs.

Links

• St. Croix River Basin (MPCA Basins Page)
• St. Croix River Association
• Wisconsin DNR
• MN Science Museum - St. Croix Watershed Research Station
• National Park Service

Information contact

Chris Zadak
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-757-2837
chris.zadak@state.mn.us