To the editor:
In the course of conducting research for a book about the Minnesota River, we canoed every single mile of it, from the headwaters at the South Dakota border to the mouth of the river at Fort Snelling, and we drove countless miles to investigate more than three dozen lakes in the basin. We saw firsthand the eroding banks of the river and the deleterious effects of excessive nutrients in the water. The Minnesota River is in trouble! By plowing up virtually all of the original prairie, draining and filling the vast majority of wetlands, installing drain tile in farmland and storm sewers in urban areas, we have altered the way water flows across cities and farms. More water moving faster means the river channels are becoming wider, collapsing bluffs and eroding ravines. But there is hope. Decades of scientific study have led to agreement on the first steps necessary to clean up our rivers and lakes. The top priority, and one that is within our grasp, is to begin the long