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The Clearwater River Watershed drains an area of 886,600 acres in the Red River of the North basin. The river flows to the northwest and southwest, eventually emptying into Red Lake River near Red Lake Falls.

A training and certification program for evaluating aquatic life in Minnesota’s rivers and streams.

Industrial stormwater steps to compliance Step 6: Meet requirements

The MPCA is working on both short and long-term solutions to the growing waste problems in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesota is a national leader in keeping mercury out of the environment.

Profile of John Weiss, a volunteer with the MPCA's Volunteer Water Monitoring Program

Sediment is composed of loose particles of sand, clay, silt, and other substances. Sediment flows into Minnesota lakes, rivers, and streams via runoff in both urban and rural areas.

Water scientists from the MPCA published four watershed reports in 2025, updating the data we need to keep Minnesota’s waters clean and protected.

The TMDL is based on 62 impairments for turbidity and total suspended solids along the Minnesota River and its tributaries and in the Greater Blue Earth River basin.

With all the talk about health these days, consider the health of the soil beneath your feet. Farmers in western Minnesota are doing just that, teaming up to improve soil health.

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.

BALMM emphasizes land use practices to improve or protect water quality, particularly in the areas of watershed management, aquifer protection and floodplain management.

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

The MPCA’s Smart Salting program helps cut down on chloride pollution by training snowplow drivers and municipalities to use less salt on the roadways.

Significant restoration work by organizations in the area have made the south branch of the Buffalo River a water-quality success story.

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 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 MPCA is committed to engaging broadly with the public and ensuring that residents affected by its decisions have a voice in its processes.

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.