For decades, state and local governments, along with water management organizations, have worked to protect and restore the water quality in Minnesota’s 11,842 lakes and 92,000 miles of rivers and streams.
Perceptions of how all of that is working out may emerge in the work of a task force in the office of State Attorney General Keith Ellison. The Task Force on the Future of Minnesota’s Water membership reflects the many varied interests and complexity of managing water pollution from non-point sources.
“I’m forming this task force to jump-start an important conversation about how we steward our precious water resources into the future, especially in the context of pressures like increasing demand and global climate change,” Ellison said in a news release announcing the panel last spring. “I want it to be not about regulation, but imagination; not about pointing fingers or assigning blame, but about our best thinking for expanding what’s possible for us as stewards of Minnesota’s water.”
Non-point sources
While most of the so-called “point” sources of pollution — municipal and industrial wastewater — have been cleaned up, “non-point” sources — primarily runoff from the landscape — remain challenging.
Water is a relatively simple compound, yet its relation to the environment includes almost every branch of science, including political and social science. Vast amounts of data, almost countless water quality projects, and millions of dollars have improved water quality in general, but the work is continuous, and much work remains.
Major issues include groundwater in sensitive areas, the impact of crop and livestock agriculture, municipal stormwater, recreation, mining and climate change, and more recent impacts like water requirements for data centers, which are on the increase.
These issues are addressed in the regulatory and policy programs of several state agencies, including the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Board of Water and Soil Resources, along with counties and scores of local water management organizations.
The Clean Water Council administered by the MPCA advises the Legislature and the governor on the administration and implementation of the 2006 Clean Water Legacy Act. Its biennial report includes Clean Water Fund and policy recommendations, as well as a progress report. Since 2010, it has distributed about $5.5 million for clean water projects from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment that Minnesotans approved in 2008.
“Minnesota has strong environmental laws that create an obligation for the state to protect natural resources and human health,” task force member Carly Griffith said in an email. The water program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Griffith said, “MCEA believes that the state needs to use the full power of these laws to address major water challenges, from nitrate contamination in vulnerable aquifers to PFAS source reduction to groundwater sustainability.”
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In September, the Ramsey County District Court ruled in a case brought by MCEA, ordering the MPCA and Department of Agriculture to review their rules and regulations to determine if they are sufficient and effective in regulating nitrates in groundwater. According to an MPCA study, in southeast Minnesota about 90% comes from nitrates in fertilizer. MPCA rules address large feedlots and manure management. The MDA has limited regulation addressing nitrates in groundwater.
Task force wades in
The task force first convened in June and will meet every other month leading up to a report by April. Membership is composed of four state lawmakers, four state agency representatives and 15 citizens representing various groups and interests. Task force leaders are creating subgroups to study more specific areas, said Carin Mrotz, senior adviser for policy and special projects in the attorney general’s office.
The task force will bring into focus the ongoing water quality work and “develop a broad set of recommendations for policymakers and regulators, advocacy groups and business leaders, communities and individuals,” according to the spring news release. So far, the task force has heard presentations from the White Earth Nation, Mining Minnesota, Imagine Deliver and Southeast Minnesota Nitrate Strategies.
At the first meeting on June 11, Ellison called it “the beginning of a conversation.”
Peg Furshong, director of constituent relations and special projects with CURE, applauded Ellison for creating the group but said it “may have bitten off more than they could chew” because of the complexity of the issue.
“We are at the headwaters of the Mississippi River watershed, we have multiple watersheds, and what we do here doesn’t just impact Minnesota, it impacts the region and the country,” Furshong said. “In Minnesota, the perception is that we’re a water rich state, but we’re not in the southwest part.”
‘We are water’
A good place to learn about the state’s water quality and what’s being done can be found at “We Are Water,” an extensive exhibit that has been traveling around the state since 2016. About 100,000 visitors have attended the exhibit in 50 communities. The exhibit will be at the Bloomington Education and Visitor Center through Dec. 1.
“State agencies created a Minnesota-version of that nationally touring exhibit and then hatched the idea of a statewide version in which local communities contributed significant content,” said Trygve Throntveit, previously of the Minnesota Humanities Commission. Host communities for the 2026 exhibition tour may include those along the Mississippi River to mark the Mississippi Centennial Celebration.
Volunteers help supply data
With data collection a major part of water quality work, the MPCA’s volunteer water monitoring program has 1,117 volunteer water monitors across the state who take clarity readings on 629 lakes and at 607 stream sites.
The program’s annual “Secchi Social” is scheduled for Oct. 23 in Mankato.
Related: EPA signs off on major changes to Minnesota’s water quality rules
Brad Froland has been a volunteer testing water quality at a location on Hawk Creek in Renville County for more than 15 years. “I enjoy getting out, and if it helps with water quality work it’s worth it,” he said.
About once a week, and sometimes more often after heavy rainstorms, from a bridge Froland dips a small bucket into the creek and pours the water into a 100-centimeter plastic tube. He lowers a small “Secchi” disk into the tube, and records the depth of water clarity, one of the primary measures of water quality.
Over the years of testing, Froland said he has observed water levels becoming “flashier” and with more noticeable sediment. Flowing through farm fields that dominate the watershed, Hawk Creek has significant impairment from sediment. Extensive subsurface drain tile in farm fields contributes to the highly volatile flows.
A new report from the MPCA, “Flowing forward: Trends in Minnesota’s lakes and rivers,” summarizes years of data collection. “There are a growing number of success stories showing real improvements in water quality,” states the report. “Minnesota’s waterways continue to face threats. Ongoing monitoring helps us understand improvements in protection and restoration, as well as impairments, caused by stressors on the landscape.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to restore Carin Mrotz’s first name and title.
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