A watershed is the area of land that drains to a common lake, wetland, stream or river. Watersheds come in different sizes and scales: for example, someone who lives on Lake Minnetonka is part of the Lake Minnetonka watershed, which is also in the Minnehaha Creek Watershed, which is also in the Mississippi River Watershed, which is also in the Gulf of Mexico Watershed. No matter where you are, you are always in a watershed. 

What's your Watershed Address?

What are wetlands?

Wetlands are also known as bogs, marshes, cedar swamps, and potholes. They are characterized by wet soils or standing water for part or all of most years. They often have unique soil conditions that differ from adjacent uplands, and they support different vegetation that are best adapted to moist or wet conditions. Cattails, wild rice, tamarack, and cedar trees all grow in wetlands.

What is Low Impact Development?
LID Manuals and Other Resources
Presentations from the 2006 LID Conference 
Web Resources

What is Low Impact Development?

Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative, ecosystem-based approach to land development and stormwater management. The LID philosophy is modeled after nature: manage rainfall at the source. LID's goal is to mimic a site's natural hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source, resulting in a 'hydrologically functional' landscape and a protected watershed. Techniques are based on the premise that stormwater management should not be seen as stormwater disposal. LID is a versatile approach that can be applied equally well to new development, urban retrofits, and redevelopment / revitalization projects.

There are five basic principles of Low Impact Development:

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District advises people to avoid direct body contact* with the Minnehaha Creek for a period of 3 days or 72 hours, after a rainfall ends. Minnehaha Creek is an urban stream that receives direct storm sewer runoff from streets, which may contain pathogens (disease-causing organisms including bacteria, viruses or protozoa that can cause illness). Pathogen indicators (microbes that indicate the possible presence of pathogens) are present in the creek at all times, but reach higher levels after a storm event.

* To credibly define direct body contact, you are more likely to get sick if you get any water in your mouth during swimming but may include water in your eyes, ears or on the skin. In addition to swimming, direct body contact may be possible during canoeing, fishing and wading.