Minnesota River Basin: Water Quality Management Basin Plan (Volumes I and II)

This plan was created to coordinate and direct water pollution control activities to achieve national water quality goals within the Minnesota River Basin. To accomplish this the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency proposed the use of the following programs: Water Use Classification. Water Quality Standards. State Monitoring Program. Construction Grants Program. NPDES Permit Program. Clean Lakes Program. Nonpoint Source Pollution Potential. Residual Waste Control Program. The management plan also included conclusions and recommendations. The MPCA concluded that the segments of the Minnesota River that were tested had similar water quality properties. These segments were often out of compliance with their water quality standards. It was suggested that some of the water quality standards should be altered due to instream conditions that make sustaining a higher level of quality impossible. An increase in monitoring, especially at the mouths of large tributaries to the Minnesota River, was recommended. Recommendations were also made for the improvement of waste water treatment procedures and equipment in many locations within the watershed.