A Brief History of the Water Resources Conference
The current Minnesota Water Resources Conference was created from the merger in 2005 of two separate water conferences—the Annual Water Resources Conference and the Minnesota Water Conference.
The annual Minnesota Water Resources Conference dates to 1968, when a seminar on flood plain management was held at the University of Minnesota. A similar seminar was held in each of the following years on various water resource topics. These annual one-day events assumed the Annual Water Resources Conference title starting in 1984 and continued under that name through 2004. Sponsorship varied, but most commonly included the Minnesota Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center, and the University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education (now CCAPS). One-day pre- or post-conference workshop was also frequently held.
Minnesota Water was held nine times on a biennial basis, in the spring of even-numbered years, from 1988 to 2004. Sponsors varied over time, but the event was always led by the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center. Minnesota Water was meant to reach a somewhat broader audience than the Annual Water Resources Conference and usually included nationally known speakers.
In 2005, the two conferences were combined and renamed Minnesota Water 2005 and Annual Water Resources Joint Conference. Beginning in 2007, the conference title was shortened to the Minnesota Water Resources Conference. In 2005–2006, the conference was held at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center; starting in 2008, the conference moved to its current location at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. All conferences since 2005 have been two-day events held in mid- to late-October. Registration has grown steadily, exceeding 800 participants in 2018. Exhibitors have been invited to the conference since 2014, adding 25–32 participants each year.
Story Collection
Thanks to the efforts of many in the water resources community, we have been able to assemble a complete historical collection of conference brochures from the separate conferences as well as the current Minnesota Water Resources Conference. Like any other scientific collection, there are insights to be gleaned from these brochures. How have critical water issues changed over time? How have policies and approaches changed? Has the slate of presenters become more diverse and equitable? It is our hope that the brochure collection will allow present and future water professionals to browse for insights into Minnesota’s evolving water issues and solutions.
Past Programs
2022
2022 Presentations
Listed below in order of Session ID. Only presentations with permission to post have been listed here.
- Wastewater Treatment.pdf
- Leveraging Minnesota’s Stormwater Monitoring Data
- Simultaneous Removal of Phosphate and Nitrate.pdf
- Improving Water-Quality and Habitat in Minnesota.pdf
- Transforming Water Management through the Arts.pdf
- A Thousand BMPs.pdf
- SAM Tableau tool.pdf
- MN 103E Drainage Process .pdf
- MN Climate Action.pdf
- Minnesota Drought of 2021.pdf
- Advancing Water Quality and Conservation.pdf
- High Nitrate.pdf
- Cover Crops and Living Mulches.pdf
- Groundwater Governance.pdf
- Climate Adaptation.pdf
- Climate Action.pdf
- Cleanwater Legacy.pdf
- Can Biofilters Remove Phosphate.pdf
- Agricultural Conservation Practices.pdf
- Adapting Stormwater Infrastructure in the face of Climate Change.pdf
- Ag Drainage and Water Storage in MN.pdf
- Stormwater Retrofits.pdf
- Urban Green Infrastructure.pdf
- Minneapolis Pond Survey.pdf
- Wet Detention Pond .pdf
- Pond Treatment .pdf
- Stormwater Pond Management.pdf
- Priority Waters List.pdf
- Water Quality Goals.pdf
- MS4 Program.pdf
- Pricey or Practical.pdf
- Experimental Field Trial.pdf
- Linear Reconstruction GI.pdf
- Solar Energy Benefits.pdf
- Little Fork River.pdf
- Ten Year Follow Up.pdf
- St. Croix River Project.pdf
- Norway Lake Dam Removal.pdf
- Phosphorus Stormwater.pdf
- Lower Salt Future.pdf
- Water Storage in Minnesota.pdf
- MN Water Storage.pdf
- Lyon County Case Study.pdf
- Nitrogen and Water Use.pdf
- Economics of Winter Crops.pdf
- Integrated Modeling.pdf
- Barriers to Adoption.pdf
- Nitrate Pollution.pdf
- Nitrogen Fertilizer.pdf
- Water Storage Benefits.pdf
- Little Fork River Basin.pdf
- Reservoir Operations.pdf
- Ravine Erosion.pdf
- Coarse Organic Solids.pdf
- Spatial-Temporal Trend Analysis.pdf
- Municipal Wastewater Plants.pdf
- Boot Root Boogie.pdf
- Four Recreational Boats.pdf
- Aquatic Invasive Species.pdf
- Internal Phosphorus Loading.pdf
- Geochemical Augmentation.pdf
- Aluminum Sulfate Treatments .pdf
- Invasive Phragmites.pdf
- Storage Dynamics.pdf
- Wetlands Workshop Intro.pdf
- BWSR Updates.pdf
- Wild Rice Populations.pdf
- Groundwater Protection.pdf
- Cumberland, WI-BIG Vision .pdf
- Diverse Water Values.pdf
- Private Well Testing.pdf
- Land Application of Manure.pdf
- MOSH.pdf
- Improving Minnesota.pdf
- City Regulation of Local Floodplains.pdf
- Everest Lane.pdf
- Parallel Floodplains.pdf
- Wood Lake Outlet Project .pdf
- Soil Health.pdf
- Linn Grove Dam.pdf
- Calibrating the Cannon River.pdf
- Cleanwater.pdf
2021
2021 Presentations
Listed below in order of Session ID. Only presentations with permission to post have been listed here.
- 1002: Agricultural Climate Markets in Minnesota: Analysis and Assistance for Growers and Stakeholders
- 1005: A Tale of Two Models: A case study comparing PTMApp and ACPF
- 1006: Kura Clover and Winter Rye Covers in Irrigated Corn Cropping Systems to Mitigate Nitrate Leaching
- 1008: Processes for targeting water storage and treatment
- 1010: Minnesota Phosphorus Loss: How Soil Quality Is Only Part of the Story and Why Modeling Can Be Improved by Considering Subsurface Phosphorus Losses
- 1011: Refining soil health indicators for diverse users
- 1014: Water dynamics of managed and unmanaged agricultural drainage ditches
- 1015: Seasonal and annual nutrient removal from agricultural drainage ditches using low-grade weirs
- 1016: Characterization and Identification of Microbial Communities in Agricultural Drainage Ditches
- 1017: Assessment of Pesticides across Three Small Watersheds in Southeast Minnesota
- 1027: Environmental impacts of the application of potassium acetate as a deicer
- 1029: Changing the way we view Minnesota lawn watering practices
- 1030: Expanding water testing of private wells by owners-independent managers of Minnesota's hidden resource
- 1031: It's all connected: Pumping deeper aquifers lowers water levels in shallower aquifers
- 1033: Maximizing Benefits of Diversity to Re-structure Green Infrastructure Projects
- 1034: American Institute of Hydrology: Certifying the Practice of Hydrology
- 1035: Adopt-a-Drain in a Post Pandemic World
- 1036: Little Rock Sustainable Groundwater Use: The Intersection of Science and Stakeholder Engagement
- 1040: Regional Assessment of Long-Term Chloride Trends in Select Twin Cities Metro Streams (1999 - 2019)
- 1041: Chloride in Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Rivers and Streams: 147,947 data points initiating a dialog about regional chloride dynamics and inspiring action to alleviate chloride pollution
- 1044: Improving water resource management by automating data collection and data management workflows
- 1046: Strong partnerships create watershed-scale solutions in Lilydale Regional Park
- 1048: What Goes Up Must Come Down ... the Bluff
- 1049: Supporting Community-Centered Planning & Policy for Urban Water
- 1051: From Planning to Projects: Addressing a Chronic Urban Flooding Problem
- 1053: Morningside Flood Infrastructure Project, Part 1 Engagement and Decision
- 1054: Morningside Flood Infrastructure Project, Part 2 Design Challenges
- 1055: Development of a GIS-Based Water Quality Model for the City of Richfield
- 1056: Effects of forest disturbance on streamflow for Minnesota catchments using remotely sensed datasets and the case study approach
- 1057: Creating Dynamic Wetland Maps with Google Earth Engine
- 1058: Enhancing Community Engagement through GIS Story Maps
- 1064: Alternatives to mitigate flooding in the landlocked basin of Lake Barney in southern Wisconsin
- 1065: Assessment of instream temperatures in Little Rock Creek near Sartell Wildlife Management Area
- 1066: Groundwater Flow and Groundwater / Stream Interaction in the Little Rock Creek Area
- 1068: Statistical Comparison of the National Water Model Streamflow Guidance with non-USGS Stream Gages on the Cottonwood River in Minnesota
- 1071: Downscaling Water Storage: Training Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to Downscale Nonlinear Storage-Discharge Relation in Rum River Watershed, MN
- 1072: Minnesota Evaluation of Hydrologic Change
- 1074: Water Treatment By-Product used to Enhance Phosphorus Reductions
- 1076: Extent of Under-Reported Aquatic Invasive Species Sightings in Northeast Minnesota
- 1083: Wastewater Nitrogen Monitoring and Reduction
- 1084: Successes and Lessons Learned from a Joint City-Watershed District Enhanced Street Sweeping Program
- 1085: Stormwater Retrofit Assessments in Smaller Rural Minnesota Communities
- 1086: The impacts of watershed governance on some costs and benefits of water resource management: plausibly causal estimates from the Twin Cities, MN
- DEI Networking Session Notes
- Facilitating Challenging Conversations on Water Equity and Justice_Jamboard
2020
Program, Wednesday, October 21
2020 Presentations
Listed below in alphabetical order. Only presentations with permission to post have been listed here.
- A Street Sweeping Credit for Stormwater Practitioners and Permittees
- A Subwatershed Account of a Statewide Nitrate Problem
- A Tale of Two Filters
- Becker Park- Local Partnerships Leading to Water Quality Improvements via Underground Infiltration
- Brave New World - Redefining Our Relationship with Water
- Carp Management Results in a Vegetation Response
- Chloride Trend Analysis in an Urban Shallow Lake
- Coastal Engineering Fundamentals
- Community Centered Stormwater Management with Environmental Justice Communities
- Community Incidence of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness
- Comparison between Modified Philip-Dunne and Double Ring Infiltrometers for Basin Performance Verification
- Comprehensive and Systematic Approach to Stormwater Treatment
- Connecting Water Color and Water Quality Properties for Minnesota Lakes Using Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery
- Creating Dynamic Wetland Maps with Google Earth Engine
- Detection of Cyanazine Degradates in Minnesota Groundwater
- Does what we don't know matter
- Down the Drain- Successful Collaborations and Emerging Issues for Decentralized Wastewater Management
- Edina's Flood Risk Reduction Strategy
- Exploring MN Water Resources Conference History
- Freshwater Mussels and Clean Water Regulation in Minnesota
- Geochemical and Mineralogical Processes within Iron Enhanced Sand Filters (IESFs)
- Hot Shots of Roadway Salt
- Hydrogeologic Framework for MN's Pathogen Project
- Hydrodynamics of Urban Ponds and Impacts on Phosphorus Retention
- Infiltration Measurement Accuracy in the Field and in Numeric Simulations
- Learning From Leaders
- Leveraging Wetlands for Climate Resiliency
- Linking Climate Change, Cattail Invasion, and Wetland Management
- Management approach to safe and sustainable drinking water
- Mill Pond Shoreland and Aquatic Habitat Restoration Project
- Modeling Agricultural Best Management Practices for the Minnesota River Basin Sediment Strategy
- Monitoring of Gross Solids in Residential Street BMPs to Determine Performance, Maintenance, and Costs
- Northern Columbia Golf Course BMPs
- Occurrence of Cryptosporidium in groundwater wells with and without surface water influence
- Pathogen Task Force
- QMRA for Waterborne Pathogens in Community and Non-community Wells in Minnesota
- River Nutrient Trends Over the Past 20 Years
- Sand Creek Bluff Erosion Mitigation Projects
- Satellite Remote Sensing
- Slope Stabilization in Unprecedented Wet Times
- Solar Panel Impact on Wetland Quality Project
- Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) Reduction Project at Wetland 639
- Stormwater Quality Retrofit Prioritization Tool
- Strategic Direction of the Clean Water Fund
- The Metro Stormwater Geodata Project
- The Sentinel Lakes Groundwater Network
- Tracking Interactions of Geochemistry
- Tracking Watershed BMP Adoption Progress throughout Minnesota
- Troubleshooting a Stormwater BMP
- Unregulated Contaminants in Source and Treated Drinking Water- PFAS
- Utilizing Machine Learning Techniques for Streamflow Prediction in Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
- Viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens and fecal markers in wells
- Why Accurately Estimating 7Q10 ‘Drought Flows’ Matters
2019
2019 Program and Abstract Booklet
Program, Wednesday, October 16
2019 Keynotes
Listed below in the order in which they were presented.
Video Welcome from Congresswoman Betty McCollum
Peter Annin: Great Lakes Water Tension in the 21st Century
Kirsti Marohn: Telling Stories About Water
2019 Presentations
Listed below in alphabetical order. Only presentations with permission to post have been listed here.
- A Decision Support Tool to Increase Resilience For the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project
- Advances in Snowmelt Modeling in the Midwest, Red River of the North
- Analyzing Watershed Chloride Loading Patterns to Inform Adaptive Management for Road De-Icing
- Are Stormwater Ponds Effective Sinks for Reducing Watershed Scale Phosphorus Loading?
- Assessing the Response of Eurasian and Hybrid Watermilfoil to Intensive Herbicidal Management In Minnesota
- Bioreactors as a Management Practice for Nutrient Removal from Agricultural Drainage In the Upper Mississippi River Basin
- Collaborative, Interstate Water Quality Monitoring for a Shared Understanding of the Upper Mississippi River Basin
- Combining Conveyance, Infiltration and 12.5 Acre-Ft of Underground Storage to Solve an Historic Urban Flooding Problem
- Comparing SWAT with ACPF and PTMApp Outcomes in the Plum Creek Watershed
- Creative Use of Cross Vanes to Prevent Erosive Head-Cutting on a Steep Roadside Channel
- Developing a Subsurface Sewage Treatment System (SSTS) Risk Assessment in Washington County
- Development of a Rapid Screening Tool for Siting Infiltration Stormwater Control Measures
- Direct and Indirect Effects of Forest Harvesting on Sediment Loading in Minnesota
- Estimating Lake Water Volume Using Scale Similarity Analysis
- Estimating Total Terrestrial Water Storage in Central Minnesota
- Forever Green Initiative: Establishing Living Cover Across the Agricultural Landscape to Protect Soil and Water
- Great Lakes Water Tension in the 21st Century
- How Investing in a 2D Model Helped Shape Decisions for MnDOT D7 for Trunk Highway 30 Improvements
- How Long Has It Been in the Lake? Sediment Reveals Invasion History of Spiny Water Flea
- How Will Climate Change Affect Minnesota's Water Resources?
2018
2018 Keynotes
Listed below in the order in which they were presented.
Ray Archuleta: Healing the Land: One Heart and Mind at a Time
Rosalyn LaPier: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
2018 Presentations
Listed below in alphabetical order. Only presentations with permission to post have been listed here.
- 1D/2D Urban Flood Modeling with XP-SWMM and PCSWMM
- A Minnesota Resident Survey of Water Values
- A New Look at a Timeworn Problem: Southwest Harriet Feasibility Study
- A Watershed’s Role in AIS: From Committee Concepts to Rapid Response
- Advancing Safe and Sustainable Water Reuse in Minnesota
- Bacterial Source Tracking in the Lambert Creek Watershed: An Integrated Approach to Identifying and Reducing Bacterial Loads to Meet Regulatory Requirements
- Cedar River Watershed—Multiple Scales for Cooperative Management
- Design and Deployment of Design and Deployment of Automated (Pump-Controlled) Iron Enhanced Sand Filter Systems in the Rice Creek Watershed
- Educating for Positive Behavior Change
- Funneling Seven Stakeholders through One Pipe: CSAH 10 Stormwater Management
- Grassy and Woody Riparian Shade Analysis and Implications for Restoring Biotic Health in an Urbanizing Coldwater Stream
- Improving Water Quality, Flood Storage, and Habitat Diversity in New Brighton’s Hansen Park
- Interactive Water Resources Programs for Planetariums in Minnesota
- Minnesota's Runoff Risk Advisory Forecast
- Modeling Mississippi River Dredging Strategies after the Lock Closure at Upper St. Anthony Falls
- National MS4 Stormwater Permitting Program Assessments
- Evaluating the Net Present Value of LID Retrofits in Edmonton
- Overview of Improved Countermeasures in Minnesota
- Pesticide Monitoring in Minnesota Lakes
- Proliferating Blue-Green Algae in Minnesota Lakes
- Reconnecting Fish Habitat on the Sand Hill River
- Regional Progress in Water Quality - A Trend Analysis for Three Major Rivers in the Twin Cities Metro Area
- Restoring the Little Plover River in Wisconsin-A Collaboration to Manage a Trout Stream in an Agricultural Landscape
- Rice Creek Commons Green Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership
- Sand Point Beach Park Pond Improvements
- Sediment and Gross Solids Removal by Pretreatment Practices for Bioretention
- St. Anthony Regional Stormwater Treatment and Research Facility: Monitoring and Operations and Maintenance Overview
- Evaluating Effects of Crop Cover Applications and Perennial Cropland Conversion on Shakopee Creek Watershed Using a Physically Based Distributive Model
- Urban Drainage Pollution Loading Modeling and Results
- Using the Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network Data Viewer to Determine Pollutant Sources and Source Contributions from Select Watersheds throughout Minnesota Sources
- Utility of MGWA White Papers
- Cities + Citizens/Water Management = Strategies for Working Together
- When Urban Stormwater Ponds Release Phosphorus
- White Bear Lake Court Case
- Localized Flood Map Tool for Climate Vulnerability Screening
2017
2017 Keynotes
Amy Skoczlas: Communicating Science for Action
Greg Page: Water Quality and Agriculture
Mike Sadowsky: Water Quality and Microorganisms: Protecting Recreation and Public Health
Nancy Schuldt: Tribal Water Resources Issues
2017 Presentations
Available presentations from the 2017 Minnesota Water Resource are provided below. Presentations are grouped by the session in which they were presented.
- Adapting to Climate Change
- Adaptive Management
- Chemicals of Concern
- Contaminated Runoff and Mitigation Strategies
- Equity, Value, and Capacity Building for Water Resources
- Flow, Floodplains, and Fish
- Go with the Flow
- Groundwater/Surface Water
- Keeping Stormwater on the Land
- Lakes—Miscellaneous
- Lakes—Phosphorus Loading
- Measuring and Managing Altered Hydrology
- Modeling in Agricultural Watersheds
- Sediment and Phosphorus
- Special Session
- Stormwater: Iron Enhanced Practices
- Using Bioreactors for Water Quality Enhancement
- Wastewater Treatment
- Water Management from the Metro's Perspective
- Water Reuse and Conservation
- Wetlands—Benefits to All
2016
The 2016 Minnesota Water Resources Conference garnered local media attention, the year Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton proclaimed October 19−26 Water Resources Professional Week. View the local media coverage and proclamation:
Media and Proclamation
- Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton proclaimed October 19−26 Water Resources Professional Week
- Check out the MinnPost coverage of the conference
- Check out the White Bear Press coverage of the conference
- Minnesota Water Conference highlights: Flint, nonpoint source pollution, and NOAA research
2016 Program and Abstract Book
2016 Conference Presentations
Tuesday:
- Track A: Social Justice in Water Supply
- Track B: Managing Biota of Lakes and Streams
- Track C: Planning Sustainable Practices
- Track D: N&P Measuring, Monitoring, Modeling, and Management
Wednesday: