A Water Management Area is a geographical area that for hydrologic reasons requires special management. This designation applies to surface water, lakes and ponds as well as groundwater and groundwater basins.
Water quality issues, such as nutrient loading from intensively-drained agricultural fields, and cultural eutrophication (excessive growth of plants and algae) affect many waters worldwide. These problems often occur in regions of high population density, rapid industrialization and poor wastewater treatment facilities.
Managing a watershed is the most effective way to protect water resources, both supply and quality. A watershed is an area of land where all the water that flows to a stream, river, lake or ocean eventually ends up.
A watershed is a unique and vital resource for humans, animals and other living organisms. Every activity that takes place in a watershed–new land development, runoff from already-developed areas, agriculture, and household activities such as gardening/lawn care, septic system use/maintenance and water diversion–can affect the water quality of a watershed.
Planning for a watershed comprehensively identifies these activities, making recommendations to address them in order to reduce adverse impacts from pollution on the watershed and its natural resources.
Watershed management includes the protection of drinking water sources, which can be particularly vulnerable to contamination on the land surface or in the water. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) works with public water systems (PWSs) to identify potential threats and manage them through Source Water Protection Plans.
In 2013, the Department formed an Ag Water Management Team to support a national effort to increase adoption of practices that reduce nitrate and phosphorus loading to receiving waters, including the Upper Mississippi River Basin and Great Lakes Basin.