Leech Lake River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report

In 2012, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began an intensive watershed monitoring (IWM) effort of lakes and streams within the Leech Lake River Watershed. Nineteen stream sites were sampled for biology at the outlet of variable sized subwatersheds. As part of this effort, MPCA staff joined with local partners to complete stream water chemistry sampling at the outlets of five subwatersheds. In 2015, lakes and streams with sufficient data to make an assessment were assessed for aquatic life, aquatic recreation, and aquatic consumption use support. During this process, 12 stream segments (AUIDs) were assessed for aquatic life; eight of these were assessed for aquatic recreation use. Eighty-five lakes were assessed for aquatic recreation.