Le Sueur River

Lakes and wetlands currently comprise 3% of the watershed. Many of the lakes are shallow and provide wildlife habitat while others are deeper and popular for recreation. The vast majority of the watershed is planted with crops such as corn and soybeans or used for livestock production.

Water monitoring shows some modest improvements in water quality in the Le Sueur River over the past 10 years, though several sections of the river and its streams continue to suffer from many problems, including turbidity, low dissolved oxygen, and excess nutrients. The Le Sueur watershed is a major source of sediment and nutrients to the Minnesota River.

What's being done

Healthier watersheds - embed

Watersheds: Tracking the actions taken

See actions taken in Minnesota’s watersheds to meet water-quality goals and milestones: WRAPS, TMDLs, best practices, wastewater, and money spent.

Monitoring and assessment

The MPCA conducted intensive watershed monitoring in the Le Sueur River Watershed in 2008. Assessing the biology of streams in the watershed is difficult because of the extensive changes in the watershed — drainage ditches, drainage tile, and straightened streams to move water off the land faster. The MPCA will consider a different type of assessment for these altered streams in the future.