League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (LCV Education Fund)
www.mnaction.org and www.lcvef.org

About the organization
The LCV Education Fund is dedicated to unleashing the power within all of us to make a difference for the environment. We work to help environmentalists and leaders of environmental organizations recognize and take full advantage of their ability to make a real, significant and lasting improvement in the quality of our lives and the future of our world. By empowering people and promoting collaboration among environmental, conservation and other allied groups, we can, and do, help transform popular support for the environment into lasting environmental policy.

Respondent: Marty Broan, program manager

How important to you is the river or stream nearest your home, and why?
The Mississippi river is important to me because my children's drinking water comes from it and it is an emblem for the pride Minnesotans take in their clean waters. I also like to recreate in it and to relax along its banks.

How can citizens find out about the condition of the river nearest their homes or communities?
Look into area watershed districts and other nonprofits whose work it is to protect river water quality. One good web site to find lists of such organizations is www.MEPartnership.org.

What can homeowners do to make their land and property more river friendly? What can farmers do? Business owners?
Homeowners should be very careful not to let household toxins (like oil) or fertilizers (especially those containing phosphorus) into city storm sewers.

Farmers should engage in organic farming and sustainable crop rotation as well as prevent top soil runoff. Livestock farmers should have sealed, self-contained waste management systems that do not run the risk of runoff.

Business owners should carefully follow state laws relating to point source emissions and wastewater releases.

What are the most important actions citizens can take to help clean up Minnesota's rivers?
Refrain from releasing any waste into areas that drain into area rivers. Get involved by joining and volunteering for environmental organizations working to protect your favorite rivers. Contact your legislators to ask them to pass legislation that protects the state's rivers. You can get involved in the state's biggest e-mail environmental action network, which often deals with water quality, at www.mnaction.org.

What are policymakers doing to enhance the current and future health of Minnesota's rivers? What should they be doing?
They should be fully supporting the state's environmental community's "Protect Our Water" package. This year, they have passed legislation to ban phosphorus in fertilizers in the metro area and help citizens monitor the state's water quality. They are not committing enough funding to essential water quality programs such as Stream Restoration, Red River Flood Damage Reduction, Shoreland Buffers, Removing Obsolete Dams, and many others.

River policymakers must address diverse and often competing elements such as the environment, commerce, flood control, recreation, and land use—but from your point of view, what overarching values should guide how we use, treat, and manage rivers?
Can we swim in it? Can we drink from it? Can we eat the fish from it?

Back to rudimentary criteria...

What programs are available—and are more needed—to educate and inform citizens, river users, river property owners, and policymakers about river issues?
Go to www.MEPartnership.org to learn more about "Protect Our Water."