Search
What is the blue-green scum that looks like spilled paint?In lakes that are over-enriched with phosphorus and nitrogen, algae tend to prosper and create algae blooms. Blue-green algae and one type in…
Image Although Minnesota is rich in lakes and streams, Lake Superior is easily the most spectacular waterbody in Minnesota. Despite its immense size…
Surface water assessment grants (SWAG) provide local organizations and citizen volunteers with funds to complete the monitoring needed to meet assessment requirements on Minnesota lakes and streams. Assessment is usually the first step in protecting or restoring surface waters.
Up to $20 million in grants for projects that restore and enhance aquatic resources, wildlife, habitat, fishing, and outdoor recreational opportunities in portions of Washington, Ramsey and Dakota counties and downstream areas of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers affected by PFAS released by 3M.
A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that drains off of it goes into the same place — a river, stream or lake.
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.
The MPCA has important roles in protecting and restoring waters in degraded conditions.
The MPCA studies, monitors, and regulates numerous water pollutants to protect human health and the environment. At the state level, three agencies share the monitoring and control of pollutants:the…
The MPCA provides financial and technical assistance to local government and other water resource managers to address nonpoint-source water pollution.
Hear Josh Krenz's story about protecting water in Minnesota at We Are Water MN, a traveling exhibit and community engagement program that explores Minnesotans’ relationships with water. You can visit the exhibit from March 2 through April 24 at the Sherburne History Center in Becker, Minn.
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.
Community wastewater treatment facilities and their operators play a critical role in maintaining a health community and preserving and protecting our waters.
Francesca Crego, or Frannie, fondly recalls bike rides along the Mississippi River’s edge with her family. Growing up in the city, Frannie appreciated the feeling of mysticality brought by the river’…
Under the federal Clean Water Act, states must designate beneficial uses for all waters and develop water quality standards to protect each use.
For more than 50 years, volunteers have gathered critically important water clarity data on Minnesota lakes and streams.
State and federal permits and regulations that are designed to protect groundwater and surface water (lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands) apply to specific facilities and processes that could pose…
The MPCA works with city and county governments, watershed districts, consultants, and others on monitoring, protecting, and restoring water quality. This is a repository of guidance and technical resources for agency partners.
State agencies, counties, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and many others are engaged in protecting Minnesota lakes.
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) reflect how agency staff and contracted partners complete agency-funded field activities.
Abdirahman Hassan Abdirahman Hassan’s story begins in Mombasa, Kenya, a coastal city where the presence of the Indian Ocean was a childhood highlight. “I grew up…