Eight-year project underway
In 2024, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) launched an eight-year effort to update the Public Waters Inventory (PWI)—a critical tool for identifying lakes, wetlands, and streams that meet Minnesota’s legal definition of public waters.
The project will proceed county-by-county, with the goal of completing an average of 12 counties a year. The DNR plans to update four counties at a time, to have one county underway in each of DNR’s four administrative regions at any given time. Counties will be updated on a quasi-alphabetical basis, with adjustment as needed to defer areas with intricate topics such as ongoing trout stream designations. This approach ensures geographic representation and maintains a balance of the resources involved.
Why now?
A 2024 statute revision clarified that public waters are defined by law, not by whether they appear on the PWI. As a result, the DNR is updating the inventory by 2032 to ensure it accurately reflects current legal definitions.
What to expect in each county
For each county, in general, the DNR will:
- Send an initial notice to the county, soil and water conservation district, and watershed agencies.
- Prepare a preliminary map reflecting the corrections and any modifications and submit it to the county board with a public meeting date. Potentially affected landowners will receive direct mail notice.
- Host a public meeting, in conjunction with a county board meeting, to elicit public feedback on the preliminary revisions to the map. The comment period on the corrections and modifications made in the preliminary map opens 30 days before the public meeting date and closes 30 days after the public meeting.
- Review the feedback received during the comment period and make necessary modification to the preliminary map. This revised map, now a provisional final map, will be submitted to the county and made available on the DNR’s project web page.
- Provide 90 days for parties (including riparian landowners) or counties wishing to challenge a decision made by the DNR to request Commissioner review of the modified and updated PWI.
- Issue the updated PWI list and map for the county, upon completion of DNR Commissioner review.
Click here to view the process map »»
Project goals
Update the Inventory: The Public Waters Inventory Update Project addresses known errors identified by the DNR. Key updates include adding trout streams and tributaries identified since the 1990s, and correcting classification errors found during the 2016 Buffer Protection Map initiative. Review will include other DNR-identified errors.
Support Water Protection: Help landowners, agencies, and local governments better understand and manage water resources.
Clarify Regulations: Ensure compliance with state laws, including Minnesota’s Buffer Law, which requires public waters to have vegetative buffers to protect water quality.
About the PWI
The original development of the PWI used a rigorous and robust process. Originally created in the 1980s, the PWI serves as a shared reference for:
- Determining public water locations
- Guiding development and conservation decisions
- Supporting enforcement of state water protection laws
Learn more
Details about the PWI are available on the Public Waters Inventory Program web page.
For details on buffer requirements for public waters are available on the DNR Buffer Mapping Project webpage.
Project updates
The PWI Update Project status for Minnesota counties is shown below.
Important links
A project fact sheet with answers to frequently asked questions is available here :
Click here to view the project fact sheet (FAQ) »»
On Oct. 2, 2024, the DNR hosted a webinar with a question and answer opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about the department's project to update Minnesota's Public Waters Inventory (PWI). The webinar recording is available to view and the DNR has prepared answers to questions submitted by attendees during the webinar.
Click here to view responses to 10/2/2024 webinar questions »»
Questions about the PWI Update Project can be sent to [email protected].