Blog
Mercury taints wildlife refuge
Water in the restored wetlands of the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge near Crookston, Minn., has extraordinarily high levels of toxic methylmercury, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey research … Read more
Plastic pollutes Great Lakes
Millions of tiny plastic particles – some so small they only can be viewed through a microscope – have been found floating in the Great Lakes. Some are suspected of … Read more
Wells vs. lakes in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is embroiled in a controversy pitting irrigators and other owners of high-capacity wells against shore land owners and other users of declining lakes and streams in the state’s Central … Read more
'Streamer' maps Mississippi watershed
Where does Hawk Creek, southwest of Willmar, end up? How about Cherry Creek, north of St. Peter? Or Goose Creek, near Albert Lea? You can probably guess. They all end … Read more
Good for ducks; not so good for water quality
Artificial wetlands, constructed to create wildlife habitat or to mitigate drainage elsewhere, often do little to improve water quality, new research from the U.S. Geological Survey concludes. The problem is … Read more
Video profiles Dave Legvold
Dave Legvold, a Northfield-area farmer, measures his corn crop’s success in dollars, not bushels. And that often means limiting nitrogen fertilizer use in ways that save him money while also … Read more
Chesapeake clean-up planned
Officials of six states and the District of Columbia whose waters flow into the pollution-damaged Chesapeake Bay are working on a bay clean-up plan they expect to complete this fall. … Read more
Star Tribune editorializes on nitrogen pollution
The Star Tribune, in a July 12 editorial, praises what it calls a “painfully honest” appraisal by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency of our state’s nitrogen pollution problem. The report, … Read more
New USGS report on streams
A new U.S. Geological Survey report on the water quality of rivers and streams across the country describes damage caused by reductions in flows and increased pollution from fertilizers and … Read more
Cover crops work, users say
Cover crops – typically grasses sowed into corn and soybean fields after the fall harvest – could reduce nitrogen losses to Minnesota streams and rivers by 10 percent if the … Read more