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Water Quality

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Water Quality Monitoring

The quality of water in our lakes and rivers affects the health and diversity of fish and wildlife, recreation, aesthetics and human health.   CCWMO staff monitors lakes and streams for a variety of characteristics and pollutants to help determine the health of the water.

    Visit lake monitoring page
   Visit stream monitoring page
 
Benton Lake 4                         
      
Bevens Creek2014Backfull2       

 

Reports

Each spring staff put out the annual Water Report containing information about pollutants, sources, monitoring, each watershed and more. The annual Water Quality Report is available on our Water Quality Report page.

Maps

Water Quality Map is an interactive mapping application designed for citizens to gain easy access to water quality monitoring data on lakes and rivers in the County. Within the map you can select by lake name or stream name to gather information on nutrient levels, rainfall, lake depth, secchi depth and more!


Stormwater

Stormwater runoff is rainwater or snowmelt that runs off of streets, parking lots, rooftops and compacted lawns. It is the leading cause of water pollution in the United States. As stormwater flows over streets and other impervious surfaces, it sweeps up pollutants such as oils, chemicals, bacteria and sediments taking them to lakes, rivers and wetlands.  To reduce pollutants and runoff from reaching waters, counties, cities, campuses or areas of land may be required to have a  Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4).

Total Maximum Daily Loads

Lakes and Rivers that do not meet water quality standards set by MN State are listed as impaired and must complete the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process.  This process determines the sources of pollutants to the lake or river, and creates an implementation plan to improve the water quality and return the water body to its designated use. CCWMO has completed a number of TMDLs that can be found in a Projects & Reports page.

 

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