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Water Quality Monitoring - Rivers

River Monitoring

In 1927, the Minnesota and Wisconsin Boards of Health declared the Mississippi River a public health hazard. Raw sewage and other wastes were discharged directly into the river. It was at that time when a predecessor agency to MCES began assessing the Mississippi River's water quality.

Today, more than 150 river miles are monitored on six rivers:

• Mississippi
• Minnesota
• St. Croix
• Rum
• Vermillion
• Cannon

Monitoring allows MCES to:

• measure compliance with state water quality standards and criteria
• meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements
• assess the operations of its wastewater treatment facilities
• determine the biological health of large river ecosystems
• obtain information on the sources and water quality impacts of nonpoint source pollutants
• document long-term trends and changes in water quality
• project future water quality conditions.

View the 2007 River Water Quality Summary Report (pdf) for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.