Web Tool Launched to Monitor Health of Minnesota Waterways

(KNSI) — A new online tool allows users to monitor the health of roughly 3,000 lakes around Minnesota.

The Department of Natural Resources recently launched the Watershed Health Assessment Framework for Lakes. Users can select a specific river and choose lakes within that watershed. They’re graded on things such as water quality and contributing factors like excessive nutrients. Project coordinator Beth Knudsen says this is a more direct way for people to absorb data scientists are gathering.

“The more consistent we can be about helping people get that same information and sit at the table and dive into it, it assists all of us that care about waters in Minnesota.”

Knudsen says while the effort relies on complex data sets, the online tool is easy to understand in figuring out the health of a lake. “It varies from a low score of 45 all the way up to a high score of 90. There’s also a color that indicates where the lake falls within that range.”

Knudsen says gathering some of the findings can be labor intensive, which is why they only have a full picture of 3,000 lakes. But she suggests that other waterways will be added as more information is compiled.

Some of the climate-change effects seen within Minnesota lakes include toxic algal blooms and aquatic invasive species.

See how the tool works and find your favorite lake by clicking here.

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MNC Reporter Mike Moen contributed to this story.
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