In 2003, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) completed a multi-year Hydrologic, Hydraulic, and Pollutant Loading Study (HHPLS) to document the physical and biological characteristics of the watershed. Combining monitoring data with complex models, the amount and quality of water moving through the watershed was quantified. In addition, a robust stakeholder process aided the MCWD in identifying problems and potential solutions, which were ultimately integrated into the MCWD 2007 Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan.

In 2003, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) conducted an inventory of all county and judicial ditches within the watershed to inform the development of the MCWD's XPSWMM/PLOAD model and its 2007 Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan.

In 2005-2006, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) conducted a paleoecological examination of several MCWD water bodies to identify historical water quality parameters prior to european settlement.

This information is used to set priorities for water quality improvement projects and programs. Since lake sediments faithfully record changes that have occurred within a lake and its watershed, paleoecology offers a unique tool to determine natural or background nutrient conditions in lakes. Diatoms are microscopic, single-celled or colonial algae that are characterized by an ornamented two-part siliceous (glass) cell wall. They are often referred to as the "golden-brown" algae, a testament to their pigment complement.

In 2003, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) completed a two volume study to evaluate stream quality parameters including bank erosion, in stream habitat, storm sewer outfalls, macroinvertebrate and fish diversity, impoundments, woody debris, and riparian land uses.

In 2001, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) completed the Wetland Buffer Study, the purpose of which was to supplement and update previous work and define the benefits of establishing wetland buffers.

Remote sensing is a method of gathering information about the physical world from photographs taken by LANDSAT satellites. The study, commissioned by MCWD and carried out by University of Minnesota Researchers Marvin Bauer and Leif Olmanson, compiled over 30 years of water quality data for 300 lakes in the MCWD.

As part of an ongoing effort to sample for perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in different settings in Minnesota, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) recently discovered Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) in fish tissue in Lake Calhoun. Low levels of PFOS were found in Lake Calhoun water in 2005.
       
PFOS is one of a class of hundreds of fluorinated compounds (based on an underlying 8 carbon molecule) that are extremely stable in the environment and were used in consumer and industrial manufacturing until it was phased out of production. Products derived from PFOS were used world-wide by a variety of industries beginning in the 1950s. PFOS was manufactured in the United States solely by 3M until it was phased out of production beginning in 2000.

What is Alum?

ALUM (aluminum sulfate) is a nontoxic material used often in lakes to lower the amount of phosphorus in the water. By reducing the nutrient (phosphorus) concentrations in lake water, algae production or growth is limited. Less algae productions can lead to improved water clarity (MNDNR 2011).