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The Red River of the North - Sand Hill River Watershed covers 708,469 acres and is part of the Red River Basin in northwestern Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota.

Protecting and restoring water quality is one of the MPCA's core areas of focus.

The Cedar River Watershed in Minnesota encompasses 454,029 acres in Mower, Freeborn, Dodge, and Steele counties. This watershed covers prime agricultural land with many streams and drainage ditches flowing into the river.

The Two Rivers Watershed is part of the Red River Basin in northwestern Minnesota. Two Rivers actually consists of three branches: the North, Middle, and South Branch.

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.

Minnesota has 80 major watersheds, each defined by rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands.

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 Mustinka River begins its course southwest of Fergus Falls in southwestern Otter Tail County and flows toward the south into Grant County, where it continues through Stony Brook Lake and Lightning Lake.

Ten TMDL projects undertaken in the Lower St. Croix River Watershed to address nutrient, biota, bacteria, and other impairments.

The Red River of the North - Marsh River Watershed is part of the Red River Basin in northwestern Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota.

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.

Streams of the Upper St. Croix Watershed are among the most biologically intact, healthy, and resilient of watersheds in Minnesota.

The East Fork Des Moines River Watershed covers 839,518 acres, which includes Minnesota's Martin and Jackson counties.

The Wild Rice River begins its course at Mud Lake in Minnesota's Clearwater County, and flows largely to the west through Norman and Mahnomen counties.

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.

Minnesota rivers are shrinking in the drought; some have their lowest flows in decades. What will be the long term effects?

The MPCA is authorized to develop numeric water quality criteria that apply specifically to a water body or region where the pollutant is found, using data from that water body or region.

The Blue Earth River begins in northern Iowa and meets with the West Branch Blue Earth River in Faribault County. The watershed includes parts of eight counties in southern Minnesota and four in northern Iowa.

The Big Fork River Watershed covers more than 1.3 million acres that include some of the state’s most pristine wilderness. The river flows north 165 miles from Dora Lake (45 miles northeast of Bemidji in north-central Itasca County) to the Rainy River, which forms the Minnesota-Canada border.

One of 12 major watersheds of the Minnesota River Basin, the Watonwan River Watershed covers 878 square miles in south-central Minnesota.