With the Christmas holiday approaching you may have missed this.
On December 22, 2025, Minnesota Public Radio reported that Canadian company Enbridge has agreed to a nearly $3 million settlement for piercing a groundwater aquifer while building the Line 3 oil pipeline in northern Minnesota. The MN Department of Natural Resources said it reached the agreement with Enbridge over the aquifer breach that was discovered in 2022 near Swatara in Aitkin County
This project, part of the MAISRC Lab to Lakes initiative, is testing invasive cattail management across Minnesota lakes; restoring native nearshore habitats, reconnecting lake ecosystems, supporting healthy fish communities, and empowering local management through participatory science.
Groups such as lake associations, watershed districts, lake improvement districts, state park managers, and others can participate.
If you have invasive cattails and want to get involved in this exciting research work, check out the Cattail Collaborative webpage for more information. MN Sea Grant and MAISRC are recruiting participants this winter. They will be hosting a virtual workshop for participants and will help participants find management partners.
MAISRC is seeking proposals for research studies to advance early detection and prevention of the establishment aquatic invasive species (AIS), create and improve options for AIS control, and assess risk and species impacts to prioritize management actions in Minnesota. Through this competitive Request for Proposals (RFP), MAISRC will administer an estimated $2,300,000 to fund high-priority research needs focused on both new lines of research and continuation of existing projects.
Proposals are invited from investigators at any Minnesota-based academic, governmental (federal, tribal, state, local), or non-profit research institution or organization with demonstrated capacity to conduct rigorous scientific research. Proposed work should build capacity within and benefit the state of Minnesota.
The deadline for pre-proposals is March 2, 2026, at 11:59 PM CST. For more information, go to MAISRC’s 2026 RFP webpage.
The DNR’s annual Roundtable was held on January 9, 2026.
Jim Kutzner (MN COLA) and Sue Wolf (President of the Cedar Lake Conservation Club in Wright County) attended the event and have provided a terrific writeup. Their writeup includes links to some of the recorded portions of the program. It’s worth reading! Click here to read the writeup.
Our members rank “enhanced wake activities” as one of their three most pressing issues. To that end, MN COLA has been working for years on the environmental and safety challenges from recreation using enhanced wakes. Finding ways to share and protect our incredible water resources is the goal and it will require several steps.
This special seminar was designed to provide an overview of the DNR petition process.
Here are links to materials from the seminar, including:
Presentation slides in PDF format which you can download
References – these are important links discussed in the seminar
Recorded videos:
Sara Heger, U of MN’s Onsite Sewage Treatment Program set the stage at a recent MN COLA meeting to talk about the connection between septic systems and water quality. She discussed Minnesota’s rules, as well as how a properly operated septic system functions, and what and how things can go wrong. She is the go-to person for all things septic!
Sara’s presentation can be seen HERE.
VRBOs and similar rental situations are raising some concerns among lake residents and one county has set rules and processes for managing rental properties to the benefit of all shoreland owners and users. Chris LeClair, Director of Otter Tail County’s Land and Resource department explained the new rules and led an excellent discussion of Otter Tail County’s Vacation Home Rental Ordinance. The presentation can be seen HERE.
What do Kathryn Hoffman (left), Dr. John Rogers (right), Jeff Forester (top), and Hilarie Sorenson (bottom) all have in common?
They are all speaking about water at the MN COLA Annual Meeting on June 18 from 9 am – 11 am CT. The meeting is guaranteed to be interesting and informative, and we hope you will attend.
Register here for the Zoom meeting.
Meeting topics and speakers:
As always, everyone welcome to attend, so feel free to forward this meeting information.
MN COLA strongly believes in the need for keeping and reclaiming natural shorelines. This is especially important with the trend of turning part-time cabins into full-time homes. We have many resources on our website to make that case, but it is up to us, as shore owners to understand the impacts of making changes at the shoreline and to retain and/or reclaim the elements that favorably affect water quality.
With the permission of Michigan Lakes and Streams Association, we are pleased to provide a link to a terrific article that highlights the important connection between forests and lakes for strong water quality, shoreline stabilization, resistance to AIS, and a strong fishery.
The science supports keeping the forest and lakes connected!
Kirsti Marohn of MPR News, reported on new research that indicates reduced water clarity of lakes in mid-summer, linked to increased rainfall caused by climate change, is affecting the survival of common loons in northern Wisconsin. This is relevant research for Minnesota as well.
Here is the link to the new research.
