Debunking myths about raingardens
Unfortunately, although raingardens have become more prevalent in our landscape, many common myths and misconceptions continue to proliferate.
View ArticleWhen Change doesn’t Happen Overnight
By the time our favorite lake hits the tipping point, it usually requires a decade or more of intensive effort to reverse the effect.
View ArticleMaplewood Mall: The next urban forest?
Now, thanks to an ambitious project of the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, trees are sprouting right out of the pavement in the parking lot of the Mall.
View ArticleFarmWise pilot project a winning idea
Earlier this year, FarmWise won $15,000 in the Minnesota Idea Open, a competition that asked people across the state to vote on-line and during the Minnesota State Fair to select their favorite, most...
View ArticleI won’t be home for Christmas
Salt is only part of the equation when it comes to keeping our roads safe in the winter.
View ArticleKeeping pharmaceuticals out of our water
So do you keep medicines in your cabinet forever and risk accidentally poisoning yourself with 15-year old pseudoephedrine, or dump them down the toilet and risk turning a boy fish into a girl?
View ArticleGrassed Waterways
Per acre, lawns and suburban landscapes create as much polluted runoff as farmland, but cropland has a larger overall impact on our St. Croix, Mississippi and Minnesota River systems simply because so...
View ArticleEating fish by candlelight
Minnesota has reduced its mercury emissions by 70% in the last 13 years.
View ArticleOld homes and farms contain secrets – some good, some bad
To help protect groundwater drinking resources, Washington County has a well-sealing program that can cover 50-100% of the cost for property owners to seal abandoned wells on their property.
View ArticleKeeping pharmaceuticals out of our water
Because all vertebrates have virtually identical endocrine systems, Dr. Schoenfuss worries that pharmaceuticals in our surface and groundwater resources, even at negligible concentrations, could cause...
View ArticleHow to cross a river with a baby
Most parents of young children avoid international travel, particularly to locations where treacherous unpaved roads, tarantulas, and rodents of unusual size are common. We are different. When my...
View ArticleHealing from Groundwater Contamination in Washington County
In 2008, the MN Department of Health initiated a study to determine if long-term residents of Oakdale, Lake Elmo and Cottage Grove were impacted by drinking the PFC contaminated groundwater before...
View ArticlePharmaceuticals in Minnesota Lakes
Drug and medicine “Take-Back” events are scheduled for April 26, 10am-2pm, at the County Government Building in Stillwater and June 14, 10am-2pm, at the County South Service Center in Cottage Grove.
View ArticleWearing high heels in the winter and other things you shouldn’t do
We have a growing problem in Twin Cities area lakes, streams and even wells that is almost entirely caused by the 365,000 tons of salt we are putting down on roads, parking lots, driveways, and...
View ArticleHow’s the Water Minnesota? (Part 1 – Lakes)
Deeper lakes fare better than shallow ones, and the lakes in less developed portions of the metro are doing better than those in cities or adjacent to farms.
View ArticleHow’s the Water Minnesota? (Part 2 – Rivers and Streams)
In the Twin Cities metro area, development has impacted most of the rivers and streams and only 37% are meeting water quality standards for aquatic life.
View ArticleAs the Water Drop Rolls
Elsewhere across the east metro, homeowners wielding shovels and pitchforks laid traps, disguised as ornamental landscaping, to keep nutrients and other pollutants out of local waterways.
View ArticleMinnesota Fairytale
By the summer’s end, many of the formerly beautiful lakes in the kingdom were green instead of blue, creating most un-picturesque backdrops for the grand ball the king and queen hosted each year.
View ArticleStormwater Detective
Even now, contractors frequently empty dirty wash water from carpet cleaning or wash cement off of tools straight into storm drains that connect directly to the lakes and rivers we swim in and fish from.
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