The 319 Small Watersheds Focus program was developed to provide a long-term roadmap to support comprehensive implementation to address nonpoint source pollution loading at a small watershed scale by local government units.

With the MPCA, participants develop a detailed nine-element plan following the EPA’s Handbook for developing watershed plans to restore and protect our waters. The watersheds will be prioritized to receive four, four-year grant awards that will span a total of 16 years. These funds will be used to implement a series of projects outlined in the nine-element plan, provide a steady source of funding, focus implementation efforts, and achieve measurable water quality improvements on a specific waterbody.

Prioritization criteria described in:

Prioritized projects

  • Group A: prioritized for funding in 2020, 2024, 2028, 2032
  • Group B: 2021, 2025, 2029, 2033
  • Group C: 2022, 2026, 2030, 2034
  • Group D: 2023, 2027, 2031, 2035
     
Group Waterbody Sponsors Region
A Dobbins Creek Cedar River WD; Mower SWCD Southeast
A Split Rock, Pipestone, and Mound Creeks Pipestone SWCD Southwest
A Skunk Creek (Nemadji River) Carlton SWCD Northeast
A Green Lake (Rum River) Isanti County North Central
A Willmar Chain of Lakes and Upper Hawk Creek Hawk Creek Partnership Southwest
A Dutch Creek - Fairmont Chain of Lakes Martin SWCD Southeast
A Whiskey Creek (Buffalo River) Buffalo-Red River WD Northwest
A Plum Creek (Cottonwood River) Redwood SWCD Southwest
A Sand Creek (Minnesota River) Scott WMO Metro
A Red Lake River (Thief River Falls - Crookston) and Black River Red Lake SWCD; Pennington SWCD; Polk SWCD; Red Lake WD Northwest
B Tamarack River, Horseshoe, Island, and Minnewawa Lakes Aikin SWCD, Carlton SWCD North Central
B Browns Creek Brown's Creek WD Metro
B Coon and Sand Creeks Coon Creek WD Metro
B Como Lake Capitol Region WD Metro
B Wilkinson, Birch and Tamarack Lakes Vadnais Lakes Area WMO Metro
B Rice Creek (Le Sueur River) Faribault SWCD Southeast
B Twelve Mile Creek Wright SWCD North Central
B West Indian Creek Wabasha SWCD Southeast
B Whitefish Chain of Lakes Crow Wing SWCD North Central
C Rat Root River Koochiching SWCD Northeast
C Cascade Creek (Zumbro River) City of Rochester Southeast
C Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Chain Comfort Lake Forest Lake WD Metro
C Campbell Creek Pelican River WD Northwest
C Amity Creek South St. Louis SWCD Northeast
C Pelican Lake North St. Louis SWCD Northeast
C Devil's Track River Cook County SWCD Northeast
C Bluff and Oak Creeks East Otter Tail SWCD North Central
C Headwaters of Rice Lake North Fork Crow WD North Central
C Knife River Lake County SWCD Northeast
D Green Lake Chisago SWCD Metro
D Necktie River Hubbard SWCD North Central
D Wells Creek Goodhue SWCD Southeast
D Blackduck River Red Lake Nation Northwest
D Hay Creek Watershed Roseau River WD Northwest
D Middle Fork Crow River Middle Fork Crow River WD North Central

SWCD - Soil and water conservation district; WD - Watershed district; WMO - Watershed management organization