Shoreland Education Program

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Issues and Resources

Development Pressure

Development can enhance the value of your shoreland property and protect your lake’s environmental quality. Understanding how to minimize development impacts is the key. Pressure to develop new and larger shoreland homes and cabins is being felt across Minnesota. With shoreline development, significant changes may occur to landscapes, biological communities, and water quality. Minnesota's waters are sensitive to these changes and have been observed to degrade as natural shorelines are lost. As water quality declines so too can the value of your property.

Developing or redeveloping shoreland properties in an environmentally-sensitive manner is challenging, and getting advice or clear answers about regulations can lead you to what seems to be an overwhelming maze of regulations, authorities, and environmental questions. Lakes, rivers, and wetlands are managed by different state and local authorities, each with their own and set of rules and regulations. To find contacts in your county who can help you through the maze and provide advice about how to best develop your site, visit the "Who to Contact" page on the Shoreland Management Web site.

Understanding how our lakes and rivers work and how they respond to development pressures is critical to making sure that the inevitable development that will continue along our lakes and rivers has the least possible adverse impact on clean water.

Aquatic Invasive Species

Minnesotans enjoy and benefit from our 10,000 beautiful lakes, clean water and great fishing. Unfortunately, one of the key threats to our lakes, rivers and wetlands are aquatic invasive species (AIS). Invasive plants and animals that are not native to Minnesota harm our valuable state water resources, threaten outdoor recreation opportunities, increase costs for industry and agriculture, and diminish the natural heritage of significant sites in the state such as national parks, state parks, and public and private natural areas.

Invaders such as the zebra mussel, Eurasian watermilfoil, curly-leaf pondweed, rusty crayfish, purple loosestrife, ruffe, round goby, and spiny water flea have invaded some of Minnesota's waters. Others like the bighead and silver carp, New Zealand mud snail, European frogbit, hydrilla, and water chestnut have not yet arrived. And, we need to do everything we can to keep these out. The keys to protecting our waters and property are prevention, containment, and minimizing impacts of aquatic invasive species.

For more information, please visit:

Storm Water Runoff

When the snow melts or the heavens let loose with rain, where do you think it ends up? That "storm water runoff" usually ends up in a nearby lake, stream, or wetland. The problem is that storm water can degrade the clean water of your favorite lake or stream by loading it with nutrients and sediment. Shoreland properties with impervious surfaces like roads, driveways, sidewalks, and rooftops don't allow water to soak in. Impervious surfaces increase water flow. When increased volumes of storm water run off the land instead of infiltrating, it warms up and can change the temperature of receiving waters, as well as carrying pollutants. From single properties to large developments, storm water from impervious surfaces can degrade clean water.

To learn how you can minimize impervious surfaces and reduce the runoff from your property, visit http://www.shorelandmanagement.org/quick/is.html

Individual Sewage Treatment Systems

Failing individual sewage treatment systems pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. The University of Minnesota's Onsite Sewage Treatment Program offers several opportunities for training and education. Please visit http://septic.umn.edu/ for more information.

Shoreland Management Rules

The Department of Natural Resources is currently updating the Shoreland Management Rules for the five counties of Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, and Itasca. For more information on this process and its outcomes, visit the following Web site www.dnr.state.mn.us for more information.

LINKS for information on other Shoreland Issues

Shoreland Management
Find your local contacts for water resource issues, browse fact sheets for additional information on specific shoreland topics, and review the latest copy of the From Shore to Shore Newsletter.

Onsite Sewage Treatment Program

Woodland Advisors
Locate information on managing forested lands or
educational opportunities in your area.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Lake Finder
Lake specific information can be found here for maps, lake depths, and stocking reports.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Environmental Data Access
Find out what monitoring has been done in your area and look up the quality of your lake or stream.