The Zumbro River Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN) project will continue existing efforts to calculate seasonal pollutant loads for the Root River. The Zumbro Watershed Partnership (ZWP) along with Olmsted County Environmental Services will assist the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) with water quality monitoring and pollutant load calculations of four sub-watershed sites. Approximately 50 grab samples per site (total of 200) between ice-out and October 31 of 2016 and 2017 will be collected along with field measurements and observations.
This project will collect water samples at seventeen monitoring locations ranging in size from 23,173 acres (7 Mile Creek) to over 9 million acres (Minnesota River at St. Peter) as a part of the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network (WPLMN). The Minnesota State University - Water Resources Center (WRC) has been directly involved with the program and is familiar with the streams and hydrology of the region. In addition to monitoring, the WRC will review, manage and submit the data in formats provided by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
