Our upper Mississippi River - What to protect, what to fix

A new study takes a look at the river from Lake Itasca to downtown Minneapolis, evaluating pollution, fish and other aquatic life.

  • The study finds the Mississippi to be a largely healthy river in its northern reaches, owing largely to forested and wetland landscapes it flows through.
  • It then aquires significant problems south of St. Cloud, where tributaries from agricultural and more developed landscapes begin to flow into the Mississippi.

Study contact:  Dana Vanderbosch, Manager for Lake and Stream Monitoring, Dana.Vanderbosch@state.mn.us,  651-757-2601