Watershed districts are special

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

entities in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

that monitor and regulate the use of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

in watersheds surrounding various

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s in the state. The districts cover the

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...

s of the watersheds, rather than

politically Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

defined regions and thus may have boundaries that cross jurisdictions. They are run by a board of managers, who are appointed by commissions in the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

within the districts. The districts were first authorized by Minnesota state legislation in 1955. As of November 2016 there are 45 districts in the state. District boards coordinate activities with the state, as well as with the counties,

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, and

soil and water conservation district Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s within the watershed districts. In comparison with public bodies in other countries, watershed districts are most similar to the

internal drainage board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management withi ...

s of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, ''

Waterschappen In the Netherlands, a water board, water council or water authority ( nl, waterschap or heemraadschap) is a regional governing body solely charged with the management of surface water in the environment. Water boards are independent of administr ...

'' of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and ''Consorzi di bonifica e irrigazione'' of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

List of current watershed districts in Minnesota

* Bear Valley Watershed District * Belle Creek Watershed District * Bois de Sioux Watershed District * Browns Creek Watershed District * Buffalo Creek Watershed District * Buffalo-Red River Watershed District * Capitol Region Watershed District * Carnelian-Marine Watershed District * Cedar River Watershed District * Clearwater River Watershed District * Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District * Coon Creek Watershed District * Cormorant Lakes Watershed District * Crooked Creek Watershed District * Heron Lake Watershed District * High Island Creek Watershed District * Joe River Watershed District * Kanaranzi-Little Rock Watershed District * Lac Qui Parle-Yellow Bank Watershed District * Lower Minnesota River Watershed District * Middle Fork Crow River Watershed District * Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District * Minnehaha Creek Watershed District * Nine Mile Creek Watershed District * North Fork Crow River Watershed District * Okabena-Ocheda Watershed District * Pelican River Watershed District * Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District * Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District * Red Lake Watershed District * Rice Creek Watershed District * Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District * Roseau River Watershed District * Sand Hill River Watershed District * Sauk River Watershed District * Shell Rock River Watershed District * South Washington Watershed District * Stockton-Rollingstone Watershed District * Turtle Creek Watershed District * Two Rivers Watershed District * Upper Minnesota River Watershed District * Valley Branch Watershed District * Warroad Watershed District * Wild Rice Watershed District * Yellow Medicine River Watershed District

External links

Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts

Enabling Legislation
��Minnesota Statue 103D
Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources
{{Government of Minnesota Local government in Minnesota Natural regions Water management authorities in the United States Watersheds of the United States