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The Clean Water Act established the framework for creating water quality standards and continues to help us protect Minnesota's prized lakes and rivers.
State agencies, counties, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and many others are engaged in protecting Minnesota lakes.
Excess nitrate remains a long-term challenge to manage. In our lakes, rivers, and streams, it is toxic to fish and other aquatic life. In drinking water, it can pose a risk to human health,…
Under the federal Clean Water Act, states must designate beneficial uses for all waters and develop water quality standards to protect each use.
Chloride is a problem for wastewater facilities and stormwater permittees.
The Clean Water Council was created to advise the Legislature and the Governor on the administration and implementation of the 2006 Clean Water Legacy Act
MPCA seeks public comment on two draft industrial wastewater permits for U.S. Steel Corp.’s Keetac mining area and tailings basin in Keewatin, Minnesota. These permits will improve protections for wild rice waters and human health.
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.
We come from the stars Nibi Walks: A prayer for the water
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.
Intense storms of late spring can wash soil and other pollutants into rivers. Producers can use several techniques to protect their soil and water quality.
Projects to prioritize environmental justice areas
Permits help the MPCA protect the environment.
Water quality trading is a market-based approach to the protection and restoration of surface waters, another tool to be used in conjunction with existing voluntary, regulatory, and financial assistance programs.
Wild rice is an important part of the biological community in many Minnesota lakes, streams, and wetlands, and a cultural resource to many, particularly members of the Dakota and Ojibwe Tribal Nations in Minnesota.
The MPCA uses the Environmental Quality Information System (EQuIS) to store water quality data from more than 17,000 Minnesota sampling locations.
New Resource Management Report explores how Minnesota could greatly reduce landfill disposal by 2045 through policy changes, major system investments, and performance from emerging technologies.
Community wastewater treatment facilities and their operators play a critical role in maintaining a health community and preserving and protecting our waters.
Minnesota continues to reduce industrial and transportation air pollutants that have the highest potential health risks. Investment in clean air for all Minnesotans is a top priority for the MPCA and Governor Walz.
The MPCA provides funding to local partners to assist with intensive water quality monitoring at approximately 130 long-term river and stream monitoring sites.