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Monitoring History
State and federal agencies have collected water quality data at various
locations and at various times throughout the Minnesota River Basin over
the past thirty years. The most comprehensive study of water quality in
the Minnesota River Basin, the 1994 Minnesota River Assessment Project
(MRAP), concluded that the Minnesota River is impaired by excessive levels
of nutrients and sediment. Since the MRAP report, several organizations
throughout the Basin have taken responsibility for collecting additional
data to better define tributary characteristics and learn more about how
these tributaries affect the condition of the Minnesota River.
In many parts
of the Basin, this information is used to target implementation practices
that reduce nonpoint source pollution, thereby improving the overall health
of the Minnesota River. Monitoring is performed by local watershed projects
(supported by Clean Water Partnership grants administered by Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) as well as state and federal agencies.
Much of the monitoring data is provided through monitoring programs of
the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Metropolitan Council
Environmental Services (MCES), with contributions from the United States
Geological Survey (USGS), Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR)
and the Minnesota State Climatology Office.
Selected
Monitoring Organizations and Agencies
(from 2002 State of the River Report, 2002
Monitoring Sites)
Brown-Nicollet-Cottonwood
Water Quality Board
Chippewa River Watershed Project
Hawk
Creek Watershed Project
High
Island Creek Watershed Assessment Project
Lac
qui Parle-Yellow Bank Watershed Project
Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area
Yellow Medicine River
Watershed
Martin
County Environmental Services
Carver
County Environmental Services
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Metropolitan Council Environmental Services
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
United States Geological Survey
Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources
Minnesota
State Climatology Office
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This
page was last updated 11/15/04
Minnesota River Basin Data Center | Minnesota State University, Mankato
184 Trafton Science Center S, Mankato, MN 56001 | Phone: (507)389-5492
| FAX: (507)389-5493 | Email: mrbdc@mnsu.edu