The Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership includes 15 local government partners in Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Pine and Washington Counties who are working collaboratively to improve the St. Croix River, as well as local lakes and streams.
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All articles filed in St. Croix River
Millions of mayflies
There are more than 3000 species of mayflies worldwide and Minnesota is home to 105. Two – the Hexagenia bilineata and Hexagenia limbata – have synchronized hatches and can form swarms so large they actually show up on local weather radars.
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Earth Day is more than just a feel-good event
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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Slowing the nutrient highway
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) recently released a report summarizing ten-years of progress toward reducing water pollution in the state’s rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers. The biggest news is that Minnesota is sending 32% less phosphorus and 6% less nitrogen down the Mississippi River, compared with in 2014. In addition, three-quarters of the lakes assessed by the MPCA statewide show declining phosphorus concentrations.
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Echoes of a ghost town at Point Douglas
Though there are no buildings left to see, Point Douglas remains a unique location to see the confluence of two great rivers.
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Minnesota Water Stewards goes statewide
David, Kim, Barb and Mike are part of an elite cadre of volunteers helping to engage communities across Minnesota and western Wisconsin in grass-roots projects to protect and restore lakes, rivers, and streams.
Beginning in 2026, Freshwater is taking the program statewide and removing the enrollment fee so that more people can participate. Locally, the St. Croix Valley Foundation has provided grant funds to Washington Conservation District (WCD), Freshwater, and North Woods and Waters to train-in a new cohort of volunteers, starting in 2026.
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Stories of the St. Croix
How do you tell the story of a place?
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State funds help to amplify the work of local government partners in the St. Croix Watershed
Nearly 8000 square miles of land in Minnesota and Wisconsin drains to the St. Croix River. Within this larger basin, 915 square miles of land on the Minnesota side is included in the Lower St. Croix watershed. This encompasses 127 lakes, over 1,000 miles of rivers and streams, and approximately 152,000 acres of wetlands.
In its first four years, the Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership reduced phosphorus to local waterways by 10,959 pounds per year, which is nearly double what the group hoped to achieve over the course of its 10-year plan.
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Local officials set sail to learn about shorelines and development
This year’s workshop focused specifically on St. Croix Riverway Rules, strategies for dealing with sticky issues and variance requests, and better site design for development and redevelopment projects.
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Exploring the St. Croix Valley: Adventures on & off the Water
In February of 2022, I took a week off of work, loaded up the dog, a pair of snowshoes, and copious amounts of coffee, chocolate, and wine, then headed up north to Pine County, Minnesota. My goal was to see if I could maybe, sort-of write a book. Now, two years later, this little book of mine finally makes its grand debut to the rest of the world!
The official launch party is next week (YES! You are invited!) and I’ll also be doing speaking events in Marine on St. Croix (July 9) and Lake Elmo (July 13). I’d love to see you in real life!
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East Metro Water 