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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.
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.
The Rainy River - Headwaters Watershed covers nearly 1.9 million acres, starting in northern Cook and Lake Counties and flowing west/northwesterly into St. Louis County and the Canadian border waters.
The Cloquet River Watershed covers approximately 507,858 acres (794 square miles) and is located within portions of Lake and St. Louis Counties in northeastern Minnesota.
The MPCA proposes adding 46 new impaired bodies of water and removing 45 impairments from bodies of water from the IWL, the most removals in a two-year cycle since the state began the IWL program in 1992.
The MPCA issued a new air quality permit for this manufacturing facility in White Bear Township.
Minnesota has a growing salty water problem that threatens its freshwater fish and other aquatic life. Chloride from both de-icing salt and water softener salt gets into lakes and streams, and…
Initial screening information for a contaminant of emerging concern, fluoxetine.
Water scientists from the MPCA published four watershed reports in 2025, updating the data we need to keep Minnesota’s waters clean and protected.
Advising farmers about seeds, fertilizers, and other decisions, crop consultants have potential to promote sustainable practices to benefit water and soil health, and impact climate change.
Excess phosphorus is harming Minnesota waters. Phosphorus comes from both regulated and non-regulated sources. A quarter of Minnesota lakes have high levels of phosphorus, which means that they do…
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.
Determine what type(s) of water quality permit is required at facilities that mine construction sand and gravel; industrial sand; quarry limestone, granite or dimension stone; operate hot mix asphalt production areas; produce concrete block, brick and other products; and/or produce ready-mix concrete.
Water quality trades that have been arranged in Minnesota illustrate many opportunities to enhance pollution reduction efforts while offering flexibility and cost savings to regulated municipalities and industries.
The Upper Iowa River is a 156-mile-long tributary of the Mississippi River that rises in Mower County in southeastern Minnesota near the Iowa border. It then flows south through three Iowa counties before flowing into the Mississippi. It drains nearly 641,000 acres (1,005 square miles).
The Zumbro River Watershed covers more than 900,000 acres and reaches parts of six counties in southeast Minnesota (Olmsted, Dodge, Steele, Rice, Goodhue, and Wabasha). Rochester, one of Minnesota's largest cities, is located in the southeast quadrant of the watershed.
The MPCA recognized 236 wastewater facilities for outstanding operations in 2024.
Biosolids that will be applied to land must meet strict regulations and quality standards.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of thousands of human-made chemicals that do not break down over time. PFAS are sometimes called “forever chemicals” due to their extreme…
A program to provide sustainable, longer-term funding a select number watersheds to make measurable and visible progress.