Show All Minnesota Water Stories
In communities throughout Minnesota, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency staff along with other government agencies and citizen groups, are working to protect and restore our rivers, lakes and streams to ensure that our waters are safe for recreation and consumption, and support fish and wildlife ecosystems. Learn more about these efforts by exploring the stories below.
Featured story
"BALMM" a remedy for rivers
The Cannon River is healthier due to state and local efforts to fix small feedlots and improve sewage treatment in small towns in southeast Minnesota. The MPCA is now studying the fish and invertebrates in the watershed to remedy unhealthy streams and protect healthy ones. (MPCA photo)Bacteria levels have dropped by 50 percent in sections of the Straight and Cannon rivers in southeast Minnesota. This drop is likely due to a decade of intensive efforts of the Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota — BALMM — a group of local, state and federal agencies working to protect and restore water quality. The alliance first completed a study that identified feedlots and small town wastewater as two sources of bacteria in area rivers. By working together, the partners have completed 376 small feedlot fixes to date and helped 15 communities achieve complete wastewater treatment, with more projects in the works.
"This could have happened only with basin management ... It's encouraging to see results in the water after a decade of effort," said Norman Senjem, Mississippi River basin coordinator for the MPCA. Read more about this project.
Other water stories
Protection/restoration
Chippewa River 10 Percent Project
In recent years many farmers have changed tillage and fertilizer practices for conservation and economic reasons. Still, in some sensitive areas, greater use of those practices would have a great impact on nearby water quality. In western Minnesota, the Chippewa River 10 Percent Project aims to achieve that by finding profitable ways to encourage farmers to increase the planting of grasses and other crops that do a better job of protecting water quality. Read more about this project.
Freeborn County ditches
Dennis Distad and Phil Tennis have spent the last 20 years working to protect water quality in Freeborn County. Through their efforts, every mile of the 350 miles of public ditches in the county will have grass strips that filter rain and snow melt running off farm fields. Read more about this project.
Sauk River watershed
Several organizations and citizens partner to restore Sauk River Watershed banks and shores.
Read more about this protection and restoration project. - Shoreline restoration
Nancy Carver of Rice, Minn., has led by example by restoring her shoreline on Little Rock Lake to native flowers and grasses during the past two years. She is helping educate her neighbors on how to develop restoration plans for their shorelines.Helping nurse an impaired water back to health: One person can make a difference.
Monitoring/assessment
- Biological monitoring
MPCA biological monitoring crews complete a successful second field season to assess the condition of rivers, streams, and lakes in Minnesota. Read more about monitoring and assessment activities. 
Cannon River Watershed Partnership
Volunteer BJ Norman helps the Cannon River Watershed Partnership — and the MPCA — gauge the health of Belle Creek by measuring its clarity and other parameters. Norman has incorporated the monitoring into her walking routine, sometimes going alone and often bringing family along. Volunteer water monitors make a difference one reading at a time.
Implementation
Willmar's new wastewater treatment plant a vast improvement
With the start-up of Willmar’s new wastewater treatment plant, one of the largest sources of phosphorus is now being greatly reduced in the Minnesota River. The new plant went online in fall 2010, vastly reducing the amount of phosphorus, ammonia, bacteria, and particles entering Hawk Creek, a tributary of the Minnesota River. What’s more, it finished ahead of schedule and under budget. Read more about this project.
West Fork Des Moines River
Jan Voit, left, and Kelli Daberkow point out the location of the West Fork Des Moines River watershed in southwestern Minnesota. Jan is administrator of the Heron Lake Watershed District, a key local partner on the West Fork Des Moines River-Heron Lake Total Maximum Daily Load project. Kelli is a hydrologist and project manager in the MPCA-Marshall office. Read more about the West Fork Des Moines River.- Manure management
A New Ulm dairy farm manages manure and milkhouse waste to better protect the natural environment, including the Minnesota River nearby. Read more about this implementation project. - Soil conservation
A Renville County farmer strategically planted in tree windbreaks, shelterbelts and prairie grass buffers to keep soil and nutrients on cropland. Read more about this implementation project.
