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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.

Every two years, MPCA creates a list of impaired waters in the state that do not meet water quality standards.

The MPCA will analyze varying background sulfate levels across Minnesota, which could inform our implementation of the wild rice sulfate water quality standard.

The MPCA is developing a sulfate multi-discharger variance (MDV) for wastewater facilities that are currently unable to meet the state water quality standard for sulfate.

The MPCA has started a study intended to understand and document the variation in naturally occurring sulfate levels across the state.

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.

Under the federal Clean Water Act, states must designate beneficial uses for all waters and develop water quality standards to protect each use.

Implementing water quality standards come with tangible costs and benefits. Costs such as taxes to residents, regulated parties, and communities help achieve benefits such as increased property values, tourism, and protecting human health.

The MPCA plans to amend Minnesota Rules chapter 7050, which establishes beneficial uses and water quality standards to protect those uses, and designates where the uses occur in waters of the state.

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.

Planned amendments to Minn. Rules ch. 7050 affect the Class 1 beneficial use, which protects waters (both surface and groundwater) used as a source for domestic consumption.

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.

Minnesota rules allow for specific uses (called beneficial uses) of certain materials that otherwise would be classified as solid waste.

The Mississippi River - Grand Rapids Watershed covers 1,3 million acres and contains 1,908 miles of stream/rivers and 552 lakes greater than 10 acres. The watershed drainage comprises parts of the counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Itasca, and St. Louis.

The triennial standards review offers every Minnesotan the opportunity to comment on essentially every water quality standard the agency defines to protect the waters that they drink, swim in, and fish from.

The MPCA uses the Environmental Quality Information System (EQuIS) to store water quality data from more than 17,000 Minnesota sampling locations.

Minnesota has revised state water quality standards to incorporate a tiered aquatic life use (TALU) framework for rivers and streams.

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 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.

Minnesota rules identify 16 standing beneficial uses for which waste generators or end users can simply follow the applicable rules without contacting the MPCA.