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MPCA evaluates water quality by measuring and monitoring the health of fish, macroinvertebrates, and plants.
The MPCA monitors water quality in rivers and streams is several different ways around the state.
Researchers collect samples of sediment from the bottom of Lake of the Woods in 2024. (Photo courtesy of St. Croix Watershed Research Station) After years of study…
Waterways in the northeastern part of the state are generally in better condition than those in the southern, central, and western regions.
The Rainy River - Rainy Lake Watershed covers 583,791 acres. Open water makes up 75,815 of those acres and wetlands occupy another 84,851 acres. The watershed is 64% in St. Louis County and 36% in Koochiching County. The northern boundary is part of the international border waters with Ontario, Canada.
The Mississippi River - Lake Pepin Watershed includes 205,747 acres that drain several small, coldwater streams in bedrock-dominated bluff country.
News releases and featured stories from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
The Red Lake River Watershed, which covers 909,024 acres, is part of the Red River Basin in northwestern Minnesota. The Red Lake River begins its course in Beltrami County at Lower Red Lake.
The Leech Lake River Watershed consists of approximately 854,659 acres (1,335 sq. miles) in the northern part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The watershed includes parts of Beltrami, Cass, and Hubbard counties and the Leech Lake Reservation (Leech Lake Band of Chippewa).
The Lake Superior - North Watershed covers over 1 million acres in the Northern Lakes and Forest ecoregion.
MPCA established a network of long-term biological monitoring stations that represent a variety of stream types in their most natural condition.
The MPCA is currently recruiting volunteers to measure water clarity in numerous lakes and streams across the state and then report the data back to the agency.
A series of new culverts in Lake County reconnect brook trout habitat and provide resilience to climate change for area roads.
The Lake Superior - South Watershed covers 402,371 acres.
Partnerships and diversified funding drive the work to restore water quality in impaired streams in the Red Lake River Watershed through science-based interventions.
MPCA has released the first in a series of reports on industrial uses of PFAS in Minnesota and identifying alternatives.
MPCA studies shows 75% of Minnesota lakes meet standards for recreation. Clean Water Fund dollars help answer water quality questions.
The Upper/Lower Red Lake Watershed covers more than 1.2 million acres and is home to Upper and Lower Red Lakes, the two largest bodies of water within the state.
A new planning effort in northwest Minnesota takes a basin-wide approach to reducing the state's phosphorous contributions to the Red River, and to Canada's Lake Winnipeg.
Water softeners produce much of the chloride that pollutes Minnesota’s waters. An MPCA grant aims to reduce that pollution with water softener replacement rebate programs.