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The Des Moines River - Headwaters Watershed is located in southwestern Minnesota and covers approximately 1,334 square miles, including parts of Lyon, Pipestone, Murray, Cottonwood, Nobles, Jackson, and Martin counties.
The Duluth Urban Area Watershed is a focused geographic area designed to recognize the complexity and challenges in an urban center with a water-rich environment. It is defined by a series of small watersheds that are portions of three major watersheds.
The Snake River begins its 50-mile course in Marshall County and drains an area of 611,800 acres. The Snake River Watershed lies within Marshall, Polk, and Pennington Counties in NW Minnesota.
The Kettle River Watershed covers 672,235 acres in northeast Minnesota, covering parts of Aitkin, Carlton, Kanabec, and Pine counties.
The Rum River Watershed covers 997,060 acres in east-central Minnesota, covering parts of Aitkin, Crow Wing, Morrison, Mille Lacs, Kanabec, Benton, Isanti, Chisago, Sherburne, and Anoka counties.
The Minnesota portion of the Roseau River watershed covers 774,197 acres; an additional 594,560 acres are across the U.S. border in Canada.
The St. Louis River Watershed covers 3,584 square miles at the head of the Great Lakes and represents the extreme headwaters of the St. Lawrence River.
This Winnebago River consists of a stream and lake system in southern Minnesota that flows into Iowa. The water resources here face several water quality challenges, including high nutrient and bacteria levels.
The Cannon River Watershed is located south of the Twin Cities and encompasses areas of Dakota, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Steele, Rice and Waseca counties.
We Are Water MN travels to Chisago County, where Dawn White has served as an educator and policy team member focused on preserving waters.
The North Fork Crow River Watershed covers 949,107 acres.
The Shell Rock River begins at Albert Lea Lake in Freeborn County in south-central Minnesota, a few miles from the Iowa border. It flows 113 miles into Iowa, where it enters the Cedar River. In Minnesota, the Shell Rock drains 246 square miles (160,000 acres), all in Freeborn County.
Cleaner water is taking hold across Minnesota this Earth Day as farmers and communities scale up solutions that protect rivers, strengthen soil, and build resilience from headwaters to downstream lakes.
The Bois de Sioux River Watershed covers 718,685 acres, and includes the drainage basins of Lake Traverse and the Bois de Sioux River.
MPCA studies shows 75% of Minnesota lakes meet standards for recreation. Clean Water Fund dollars help answer water quality questions.
Water scientists from the MPCA published four watershed reports in 2025, updating the data we need to keep Minnesota’s waters clean and protected.
A water quality variance is a temporary change in a state's water quality standard for a specific pollutant and its relevant criteria, allowing deviation from meeting a water quality-based effluent limit for a particular discharger.
A TMDL to address E. coli aquatic recreation impairments in five main-stem reaches of the Minnesota River.
Minnesota rivers are shrinking in the drought; some have their lowest flows in decades. What will be the long term effects?
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) today announced a new initiative to monitor water quality throughout the entire Mississippi River within Minnesota’s borders for the first time in a single year.