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The Mississippi River - Headwaters Watershed consists of 1.26 million acres (1,961 square miles) and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Itasca State Park. The watershed includes parts of Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard and Itasca counties.
The Pine River Watershed is approximately 502,400 acres in size. The watershed drainage for the Pine River contains parts of Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing and Hubbard counties. Pine River and Crosslake are the major cities in the watershed.
One of 12 major watersheds of the Minnesota River Basin, the Watonwan River Watershed covers 878 square miles in south-central Minnesota.
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 Redeye River Watershed covers nearly 900 square miles and is located the northwestern to north-central part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin in central Minnesota. The watershed encompasses all or parts of Becker, Otter Tail, Todd, and Wadena counties.
The Leech Lake River Watershed consists of approximately 854,659 acres (1,335 sq. miles) in the northern part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The watershed includes parts of Beltrami, Cass, and Hubbard counties and the Leech Lake Reservation (Leech Lake Band of Chippewa).
The Mississippi River - Sartell Watershed covers approximately 652,800 acres (1,020 sq. miles) in the central part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. The watershed includes parts of Benton, Crow Wing, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Stearns, and Todd counties.
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 Crow Wing River Watershed is located in north-central Minnesota and covers approximately 1,946 square miles within the counties of Becker, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Morrison, Otter Tail, Todd, and Wadena.
Partnerships and diversified funding drive the work to restore water quality in impaired streams in the Red Lake River Watershed through science-based interventions.
The Mississippi River - Winona Watershed covers 419,200 acres in the southeast Minnesota counties of Wabasha, Winona, and Olmsted. A majority of the watershed is cropland, with forest and grassland covering large portions as well.
The Sauk River Watershed covers 667,200 acres (1,043 square miles) and extends from the Mississippi River near St. Cloud to within 3 miles of Alexandria.
The Lower Rainy River Watershed is composed of a conglomeration of tributaries to the Rainy River, from International Falls and west to the Rainy River's pour point at the Lake of the Woods.
The Little Fork River Watershed covers nearly 1.2 million acres, the main stem flowing 160 miles through north-central St. Louis County and heading northwest into Koochiching County. It flows more northerly until it reaches its confluence with the Rainy River about 11 miles west of International Falls.
The Cannon River Watershed is located south of the Twin Cities and encompasses areas of Dakota, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Steele, Rice and Waseca counties.
The Mississippi River - La Crescent Watershed drains 95 square miles in Houston and southeast Winona counties, an area defined by wooded bluffs and spring-fed cold-water streams that flow directly to the Mississippi River.
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.
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.
While hundreds of fish kills occur in Minnesota every year, mostly in lakes and ponds, fish kills on trout streams in southeast Minnesota are much less common.
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.