Tips and tales about keeping water clean
Bluegreen algae in lakes are fed by phosphorus and can sometimes grow out of control when the weather gets hot. Lakes with elevated levels of chloride (salt) are also more likely to experience algae blooms.
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“The Mississippi River is my heart. She is everything to me,” says Tara Perron Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ, as she greets our group along the edge of the river at Fort Snelling State Park. It’s a beautiful spring day and there are twenty of us gathered for “Learning from place: Bdote,” a tour organized by the Minnesota Humanities Center, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and We Are Water Minnesota.
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Help gather data that road authorities and local communities can use to design safer roads and wildlife crossings. The Wildlife Casualty Count week of action will take place from May 22 to May 29.
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I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that fishing saved my family during the summer of 2021 when we navigated yet another summer of COVID with no day care and only a few weeks of camp. That summer was Minnesota at its quintessential, and in spite of chaos in the world, life was pretty good.
May 9, 2026 marks the beginning of another year’s fishing season, and with luck, many children just like Charlie will be making lifelong memories. As Minnesotans hit the water with fishing poles and boats, a well-trained team of watercraft inspectors, conservation officers, and even K9 officers will also be rolling out to lakes and rivers to help keep them safe from aquatic invasive species (AIS).
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Over the past year, Taylor Mills has been working with the South Washington Watershed District to document water and habitat restoration projects across the watershed, from Woodbury to Grey Cloud Island. She is a Minnesota-born video, photo, and drone professional who specializes in cinematic storytelling that is filmed from above.
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On a sunny Friday in April, the dog and I hiked at Sunfish Lake Park in Lake Elmo and found rue anemone, wood anemone, and an abundance of violets sprinkled on the forest floor. Higher in the trees, two barred owls enjoyed an extended conversation. Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? I counted 17 painted turtles sharing one long skinny log in the lake, and was excited to see red breasted mergansers and a pair of mallards as well.
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In 1965, protests in Stillwater, Minnesota ignited a national conversation that eventually inspired Congress to pass the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968.
Two years later, Senator Gaylord Nelson (WI) helped to organize the very first “Earth Day” on April 22, 1970. During this inaugural event, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — participated in teach-ins and rallies, calling for sweeping changes to end the environmental destruction they saw happening across the nation.
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At first, the leaves were brown, and the sky was grey, and the air was cold, and I was sad that day.
And then, there was a flower.
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Bluegreen algae in lakes are fed by phosphorus and can sometimes grow out of control when the weather gets hot. Lakes with elevated levels of chloride (salt) are also more likely to experience algae blooms.
Read More
“The Mississippi River is my heart. She is everything to me,” says Tara Perron Tanaǧidaŋ To Wiŋ, as she greets our group along the edge of the river at Fort Snelling State Park. It’s a beautiful spring day and there are twenty of us gathered for “Learning from place: Bdote,” a tour organized by the Minnesota Humanities Center, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and We Are Water Minnesota.
Read More
Help gather data that road authorities and local communities can use to design safer roads and wildlife crossings. The Wildlife Casualty Count week of action will take place from May 22 to May 29.
Read More
I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that fishing saved my family during the summer of 2021 when we navigated yet another summer of COVID with no day care and only a few weeks of camp. That summer was Minnesota at its quintessential, and in spite of chaos in the world, life was pretty good.
May 9, 2026 marks the beginning of another year’s fishing season, and with luck, many children just like Charlie will be making lifelong memories. As Minnesotans hit the water with fishing poles and boats, a well-trained team of watercraft inspectors, conservation officers, and even K9 officers will also be rolling out to lakes and rivers to help keep them safe from aquatic invasive species (AIS).
Read More
Over the past year, Taylor Mills has been working with the South Washington Watershed District to document water and habitat restoration projects across the watershed, from Woodbury to Grey Cloud Island. She is a Minnesota-born video, photo, and drone professional who specializes in cinematic storytelling that is filmed from above.
Read More
On a sunny Friday in April, the dog and I hiked at Sunfish Lake Park in Lake Elmo and found rue anemone, wood anemone, and an abundance of violets sprinkled on the forest floor. Higher in the trees, two barred owls enjoyed an extended conversation. Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all? I counted 17 painted turtles sharing one long skinny log in the lake, and was excited to see red breasted mergansers and a pair of mallards as well.
Read More
In 1965, protests in Stillwater, Minnesota ignited a national conversation that eventually inspired Congress to pass the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968.
Two years later, Senator Gaylord Nelson (WI) helped to organize the very first “Earth Day” on April 22, 1970. During this inaugural event, 20 million Americans — 10% of the U.S. population at the time — participated in teach-ins and rallies, calling for sweeping changes to end the environmental destruction they saw happening across the nation.
Read More
At first, the leaves were brown, and the sky was grey, and the air was cold, and I was sad that day.
And then, there was a flower.
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If I could give you one word of advice to guide your yard care activities during the month of April, it would be “wait.”
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This March, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) issued updated fish consumption advisories for several lakes and rivers statewide that are impacted by mercury and PFAS.
Would you like to learn more about PFAS and its local impacts? Freshwater and the East Metro Water Education Program will co-host an info session for volunteers and local residents on Wednesday, April 8 (6-8pm) at the Oakdale Discovery Center. Dr. Ali Ling of the University of St. Thomas will speak and there will also be time for questions and conversation. Register at minnesotawaterstewards.org/pfas.
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East Metro Water 