National Wetland Inventory Update
Project overview
The update of the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) for Minnesota is being conducted by a multi-agency collaborative coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The original NWI for Minnesota was created through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife program and was based on aerial photographs that primarily date from 1979 to 1984. The NWI data are used at all levels of government, as well as by private industry and non-profit organizations for variety of uses including wetland regulation and management, land use planning, environmental impact assessment, and natural resource inventories. The NWI is the only spatially comprehensive wetland inventory for Minnesota, but it is now considerably out-of-date.
Updating the NWI was one of three key recommendations from an interagency task force that developed the Comprehensive Wetland Assessment Mapping and Monitoring Strategy (CWAMMS). With recent funding from Minnesota's Environmental Trust Fund, this project is now underway.
This website provides links to key documents, answers to frequently asked questions, and information about the project organization as well as contact information for further inquiries. Links to draft wetland data and a project status map will be added when map production is underway.
Project News
April 18, 2013
Ducks Unlimited submitted an updated wetland inventory data set for the 13-county east central project area for final review. A few minor revisions were requested by the DNR. The data are currently being revised and the final deliverable is expected soon.
February 7, 2013
St. Mary's University of Minnesota submitted draft data for the first ten tiles of draft NWI data for southern Minnesota.
November 7, 2012
St. Mary's University of Minnesota was selected as the vendor for updating the NWI for 36 counties in southern Minnesota. They have begun work on this effort. Final updated NWI maps for this region are expected by December 2014.
December 20, 2011
The first nine tiles of NWI data were submitted, reviewed, and updated. Ducks Unlimited has developed an online status map showing the production status for the east-central Minnesota NWI updates.
May 19, 2011
Project team members from Ducks Unlimited and the DNR completed acquisition of training data for the update of the NWI for the east-central project area. Nearly 500 example wetlands were visited by three field teams.
December 14, 2010
Ducks Unlimited was selected to update the NWI for 13 counties located in east-central Minnesota.
More information
Project documents
- Minnesota NWI Update Project Brochure
- Slides from NWI Stakeholder Meeting (DNR ) and (University of Minnesota )
- Comprehensive Project Plan for the National Wetland Inventory Update of Minnesota
- Requirements for the NWI Update of Minnesota
- Quality Assurance Plan for the National Wetland Inventory Update of Minnesota
- Data Plan for the National Wetland Inventory Update of Minnesota
- Comprehensive Wetland Assessment Monitoring and Mapping Strategy
- Federal Geographic Data Committee – Wetland Mapping Standard
- Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States
