News

August 31, 2026

MWMO Newsletter — August 2026 — Planting for Fall Edition

In This Issue: Fall Planting Tips, Green Team's 19th Year, New Exhibits, Upcoming Events, and More Read the Newsletter ...

A rain garden in front of the East Side Storage and Maintenance Facility.

Watch Volunteers Build a Rain Garden in 79 Seconds

’Tis the season for building rain gardens — those bowl-shaped landscape features filled with native plants that help stormwater runoff soak into the ground. Rain gardens are an increasingly popular […]
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A Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed

Plant of the Month: Milkweed

By Marcy Bean You’ve probably heard the buzz about planting plants that are good for pollinators. Milkweed plants are important because they provide nectar and food for larva of a […]
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an interpretive sign explaining one of the stormwater BMPs at the Columbia Heights Library

At the New Columbia Heights Library, a Stormwater BMP Showcase

Managing stormwater runoff used to be a rather unimaginative affair. You dug a hole in the ground, graded the land around it and — presto! — you had a stormwater […]
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A bee collecting pollen from a flower.

Gardening for Pollinators: Six Questions for Heather Holm

Pollinators are in the news — partly because it’s National Pollinator Week, but more importantly because whole populations of bee and butterfly species are in decline. Our food chain depends […]
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Council Approves $900,000 in Water Quality Grants

The Metropolitan Council in June approved six grants to improve surface water quality in several communities across the metro area.
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A worker stands next to the partially constructed St. Anthony Regional Stormwater Treatment and Research System in January 2016.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony July 21 for New Stormwater Treatment and Research Facility

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held July 21 for a new stormwater treatment and research facility near the border of Minneapolis and St. Anthony Village.
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New Columbia Heights library to be unveiled

The Mississippi Watershed Management Organization helped fund all the onsite stormwater management.
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MWMO monitoring team members scout for erosion along the Nicollet Island shoreline.

How We Monitor Water Quality at the MWMO

Here at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, one of the most common questions we’re asked is, “How’s the water quality in the Mississippi River?” It’s an important question, and one […]
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Tamarack trees in the MWMO's tree trench.

Plant of the Month: Tamarack

By Marcy Bean Our front yard at the MWMO Stormwater Park and Learning Center is home to a tree that I had always heard of, but had never seen up-close. […]
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