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Only a very small portion of the 1.35-million-acre Upper Big Sioux River Watershed is located in Lincoln County in western Minnesota; the vast majority is located in eastern South Dakota.

The Big Fork River Watershed covers more than 1.3 million acres that include some of the state’s most pristine wilderness. The river flows north 165 miles from Dora Lake (45 miles northeast of Bemidji in north-central Itasca County) to the Rainy River, which forms the Minnesota-Canada border.

The Lower Big Sioux River Watershed covers nearly 2.2 million acres, mostly located in eastern South Dakota. A small portion lies in western parts of Lincoln, Pipestone, and Rock counties in southwestern Minnesota. There are several small to medium-sized tributaries.

Minnesota rivers are shrinking in the drought; some have their lowest flows in decades. What will be the long term effects?

Initiatives passed during the 2023 legislative session invest hundreds of millions of dollars to advance Minnesota’s Climate Action Framework.

One indicator of impairment that puts a stream on the Impaired Waters List is its macroinvertebrate population. Here's how that works.

Unauthorized releases of untreated wastewater in October 2024 and January and February 2025, as well as failure to notify the Minnesota Duty Officer in a timely manner.

First of a series of MPCA staff profiles. Kevin Stroom conducts research on streams and has published a report about Straight River.

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The Mississippi River - Twin Cities Watershed is 656,990 acres and lies almost entirely in the North Central Hardwoods Forest ecoregion in the Mississippi River Basin. The watershed contains 1,320 stream miles and 380 lakes. More than 1.8 million people live in this watershed.

Designing stormwater systems to handle the challenges of climate change differs in every community across the state. Here’s how one community is meeting that challenge

Learn what you can do to protect yourself and your community from environmental problems caused by flooding.

Canby Creek now flows into Del Clark Lake and protects Canby from flooding, while providing outdoor recreation and excellent water quality.

Partnerships and diversified funding drive the work to restore water quality in impaired streams in the Red Lake River Watershed through science-based interventions.

The Kettle River Watershed covers 672,235 acres in northeast Minnesota, covering parts of Aitkin, Carlton, Kanabec, and Pine counties.

Thirty TMDLs undertaken in the Mississippi River - Twin Cities Watershed to address excess nutrients, turbidity, bacteria, and more.

The Cedar River Watershed in Minnesota encompasses 454,029 acres in Mower, Freeborn, Dodge, and Steele counties. This watershed covers prime agricultural land with many streams and drainage ditches flowing into the river.

The Vermilion River Watershed, located within northern St. Louis County, covers 662,427 acres, or 1,035 square miles.

The health of Minnesota's large rivers is a reflection of how well we are protecting overall water quality.

The Mississippi River - St. Cloud Watershed covers 691,200 acres (1,080 square miles) in the south-central part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The watershed includes all or parts of the counties of Benton, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, and Wright.