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Minnesota River water quality improves: But waterway far from clean enough
By Fritz Busch
New Ulm Journal Staff Writer
(First in a series on the Minnesota River)

NEW ULM -- In 1992, Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson talked about his 10-year plan to clean up the Minnesota River and make it suitable for swimming and fishing.

The river looks better now, according to Scott Sparlin, who helped start the first citizens group interested in improving the river. Fishing and boating are on the upswing. One of the Minnesota's rarest fish, the blue sucker, is reproducing again.

However, the river still runs muddy brown, full of soil with farm and lawn chemicals. Swimming still is not popular.

The New Ulm man was featured recently on Minnesota Public Radio's program "Minnesota River: Ten years of cleaning up."

Text from the broadcast described the following: "The Minnesota River is an eye-catcher. High bluffs flank the valley as the river passes by New Ulm. Hardwood trees carpet the steep hills leading to the water. Scott Sparlin loves to explore the Minnesota River. Flocks of migrating ducks flush as Sparlin guides his boat on the river near New Ulm. A bald eagle nest dominates a shoreline tree."

The Minnesota River was listed a few years ago as one of the 20 most endangered waterways in the country.

The river looks better than it did 10 years ago thanks to cover that is more natural and vegetation created by state and federal programs that pay landowners for taking land out of production, Sparlin said.

About 25 percent less sediment infiltrated the river in the 1990s than did in the 1970s, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

By leaving more plant residue in the field, farmers help retard soil erosion and lessen river sediment. The $250 million Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program guarantees payments for 160 square miles of grass and trees in the river watershed. Tree lines and grass buffer strips help prevent wind erosion and filter runoff.

A study by University of Minnesota professor Dave Mulla said sediment declined about 20 percent and phosphorus by 10 percent during the 20-year period. However, bacteria levels exceed clean water limits due to livestock manure and poor sewage systems. Mulla supplied no figures on bacteria, which he said was harder to track due to its many sources.

River sediment would fall another 16 percent if more farmers left more crop residue in their fields after harvest, Mulla said.

One of the most contentious areas of debate is the pollution source. Much of the river sediment and phosphorus come from the City of Mankato and from the Blue Earth and Le Sueur Rivers that join the Minnesota there. More money for clean-up efforts should go to these areas, Mulla said.

The emergence of blue suckerfish in the river -- for the first time in decades -- is another sign that river sediment is decreasing, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

The blue sucker was added to the list of rare North American fish in 1989.

Blue suckers prefer deeper zones of rivers and moderate to swift currents of narrow channels with gravel or rubble bottom. They eat insects, insect larvae, crustaceans, plant material and algae and are intolerant to turbidity and pollution.

Future improvements to water quality will be slower in coming because some communities have resolved the most obvious problems -- industrial waste and sewage plants.

(This is the first in a series of stories about the Minnesota River. Future stories will deal with general water quality concerns, historic perspectives, local water quality goals and standards and regional patterns in sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen pollution).
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Last updated: February 1, 2006