• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

CURE (Clean Up the River Environment)

  • About
    • Who We Are
    • How We Work
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Annual Report
    • Join Our Team
    • Contact Us
  • What We Do
    • Carbon Pipelines MN
      • Resources
      • Take Action
      • Carbon Pipeline News
      • Support Our Work
    • Climate
      • Sharing Stories | Webinar Series
      • Sharing Stories | Video Shorts
    • Energy Democracy
      • Rural Power
      • CURE Charts Course to Clean Co-ops
      • Rural Electrification 2.0
      • Minnesota Rural Electric Co-op Report Card
      • Energy News
    • Rural Democracy Project
      • Voter Engagement
      • We All Do Better
      • Clean Cars Minnesota
        • Clean Cars Benefits
        • Rural Clean Cars Stories
      • Rural Democracy News
    • Water Sustainability
      • Water 101
      • Water Ethic Charter
      • Water News
        • Legislative Updates
    • Connecting with Nature
      • BioBlitz 2019
      • Connecting with Nature
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action
    • Stay Connected
    • Upcoming Events
    • Social Media
  • Media & Blog
    • CURE Blog
    • CURE Voices | YouTube Channel
    • CURE in the news
    • Press Releases
    • Press Inquiries
    • Newsletter
  • Join/Donate
    • Donate
      • Donation Form | PDF
    • Monthly Donor
      • Monthly Giving FAQ
      • Monthly Donor | PDF Form
      • Monthly Donor: Checking
    • Membership Form
    • Capital Campaign
    • Tributes
    • Leave Your Legacy
      • Appreciated Securities
      • Charitable Trust
      • Bequests
      • Life Insurance Gifts
      • Real Estate
    • Store

Minnesota River Basin

First and foremost, CURE dedicates resources to assure the health and sustainability of the Minnesota River Basin. Staff and members work together to wisely develop strategies that engage partners and decision-makers to take action to protect and restore water quality, biological integrity, and natural beauty.   Though this effort starts in our own backyard, we sometimes find ourselves working to craft and pass both state and federal land and water policy.

For those who call the Minnesota River Basin home, it is a special place.

Water Program

Regardless, all recognize the Minnesota River Basin as a special place.

The Minnesota River Basin is made up of 12 Major Watersheds. For an interactive map and an explanation of this jargon, check out our “What is a Watershed, Anyway?” blog.
The Minnesota River Basin is made up of 12 Major Watersheds. For an interactive map and an explanation of this jargon, check out our “What is a Watershed, Anyway?” blog.

At the same time, the Minnesota River Basin faces special challenges.  The Minnesota River, a mere trickle of its glacial predecessor, collects the water from almost 17,000 square miles (10 million acres) of land that sweeps across southwest and southcentral Minnesota.  By the time this water makes it to the Mississippi River just upstream of St. Paul, it is laden with soil particles (TSS, or total suspended solids, in geek-speak), nitrates and phosphorus, and fecal coliform bacteria.  Often the dissolved oxygen level in the river is too low to support healthy aquatic life.  Floods plague us in the spring, and algal blooms plague us in the summer.

These problems are the symptoms of a drastically changed landscape that has interrupted the water cycle.  We have replaced a prairie ecosystem with an agricultural ecosystem that relies on two predominant annual crops–corn and soybeans.  To return clean water to the Minnesota River and its tributaries, we will need to systemically, thoughtfully, and respectfully address this landscape-level change.  This is a job for all of us, and we look forward to working with you!

Primary Sidebar

We are Water | West Central Minnesota

We are Water button

Learn More:

Water 101 Button

Learn More:

Water Ethic Charter button

© 2022 Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) · 117 South 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265 · 320-269-2984 ·