Group appeals DNR order removing protections from dozens of Minnesota public waters

ST. PAUL, Minn. –  The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) today (June 9) appealed an order of the Minnesota DNR that removed public water protections from many miles of Minnesota streams and rivers, according to an MCEA news release Friday.

A DNR order in April deleted more than 640 miles of waterways from Minnesota’s public water inventory with no public notice and no chance for the public to comment, according to the release. Because there was no public input, many public waters that should be protected would lose that protection if the DNR’s order is implemented. The MCEA appealed to reverse the DNR’s order and protect those public waters from being filled, drained, dammed or altered without a permit, the release said.

Examples of rivers and streams that the MCEA said were mistakenly erased from the public waters map by the DNR’s order include:

• An over 20-mile stretch of the Lost River near Oklee. Upstream of the deleted section, the river would remain a public water. Two tributaries of the deleted section of the Lost River would remain public waters, but the Lost River itself would no longer be a public water.
• Over 8 miles of Little Badger Creek and Badger Creek upstream of the Blue Earth River in Faribault County. An erased section of the creek flows through the Drinking Water Supply Management Area for Blue Earth.
• A 3.4-mile section of a creek that flows into the Cannon River in Rice County. The creek runs right behind the City of Faribault Public Works and for most of its length is within the Drinking Water Supply Management Area for Faribault. The Cannon River is already impaired by unacceptable levels of E. coli bacteria and low water clarity.

For maps and other information, go to http://bit.ly/MCEApublicwaters.

— Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy