Two miles, three raingardens, and 100 feet of native buffer: Charting Perro Creek’s journey to cleaner water and better health

Local partners including City of Bayport, the Middle St. Croix Watershed Management Organization (MSCWMO), and even area Girl Scouts have worked to reduce erosion and improve water quality in Perro Creek through a series of projects including raingardens and native buffer plantings.

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What do bugs have to do with it?

One of the best measures of stream health is the amount and biodiversity of macroinvertebrates we can find in the water.

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A crack in the rock & a beach in the forest

Crystal Spring Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) in Scandia was established just four years ago. It contains a crystalline spring that pours out of the side of a rock wall, deep in an emerald chasm.

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Lending a helping hand to Afton’s Trout Brook

South Washington Watershed District partners with Great River Greening and Vail Resorts A coldwater stream flows through the hills of Afton Alps and Afton State Park, bringing life to a valley in the woods. Over the past 150 years, Trout Brook has weathered the rise and fall of logging in region, decades of farming, and…

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Salt levels are rising in Minnesota waters and it’s not just winter to blame

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency would like you to think about salt, and not just because we saw snow on May 19. As chloride concentrations continue to rise in lakes, rivers, and groundwater around Minnesota, the agency is working with partners to develop a Statewide Chloride Management Plan that will help to keep our freshwater…

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Brown’s Creek fish hoping for a big chill

This is a story about trout. It’s also a story about local history, changing landscapes, and people trying to do the right thing. Somewhere in the wetland dappled landscape near the now-closed Withrow Elementary, water begins to gather and form a stream we now call Brown’s Creek. The stream flows through soggy fields in Grant…

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Celebrate water and nature at Brown’s Creek Park – Sept. 29

He’s standing in an open field, late November, and the sun is glowing through the goldenrod and bluestem. Sun kissing son. There are times like this when the natural world is so beautiful, I want to open my eyes just a little bit wider and etch the memory into my heart. When the Brown’s Creek…

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Secrets to success: Cleaner water and healthy landscapes

It shouldn’t be a secret, but you might be surprised to learn that 49% of lakes in Washington County have improving water quality. Trout are surviving and may be reproducing in Brown’s Creek again. Woodbury has cut its annual groundwater use by nearly 35 million gallons in only one year, and Bone Lake in Scandia…

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Statewide Feedback on Water Issues Echoes Local Concerns in East Metro and St. Croix Valley

Data shows that 40% of Minnesota lakes, rivers and streams are classified as impaired, and the East Metro and St. Croix Valley are no exception.

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Minnesotans Call for New Legislation to Promote Smart Salting

Written in partnership with Watershed Partners: http://www.cleanwatermn.org More than ten years ago, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) came to a frightening realization. After testing lakes and streams in the Twin Cities metro area, they discovered that chloride levels in many were climbing, and that some were already too salty to support fish. Further testing…

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