Spring at RPBCWD

The image features young swans (cygnets) resting on a shore, with adult swans in the background, near a calm body of water.

A vibrant orange butterfly perched on a purple flower against a sunny background.

Stewardship Cost Share Program Now Open

The Stewardship Cost Share Program offers financial support and resources for clean water projects to residents and organizations in the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District. Applications are now open for projects such as habitat restorations, shoreline restorations, waterbody buffers, native plantings, and stormwater management structures (e.g. rain gardens).
New this year: We've made it easier than ever for residents to access funding for native plants. Our new Mini-Cost Share Program provides a 95% cost share up to $500 to put native roots in the ground, open to both homeowners and renters.

Aerial view of a suburban area with residential homes, highways, and lakes surrounded by greenery.

Systems Approach Public Meeting

RPBCWD is organizing a series of meetings about the development of holistic watershed and lake management plans for the Mitchell, Red Rock, Ann, Lucy, and Susan sub-watersheds. The first round of meetings provided an overview of the project and its purpose. The second round of meetings will discuss findings of the study and the identification of potential projects and initiatives. Two dates are offered, 6pm on May 21st and May 28th.

A dog on a boat at sunset on Red Rock Lake, with a sky full of scattered clouds reflecting in the water.

2026 Photo Contest Open

We want to see your best photographs that feature our lakes, streams, parks, wildlife, plants, recreation, or anything else outdoors that inspires you! We're looking for photos of our watershed to feature in our 2027 wall calendar. $50 prize will be awarded to the winning cover photograph, and $20 prizes to the 12 monthly featured winning photographs. Submissions are due September 30th, 2026.

The image features water quality updates for Lotus Lake and Lake Ann, including charts and aquatic plant diversity data for 2025.

Updated Lake Factsheets

Our 2025 Lake Factsheets are here! The factsheets are updated each year and summarize waterbody characteristics and water quality trends for our 13 lakes.

A group of people, including kids and adults, are gathered outdoors, smiling, with rakes and bags for a community cleanup in autumn.

Apply for an Action Grant

Want to start a clean water education campaign? Hold a community clean-up event? Get up to $250 to help you make your project a reality. The catch? You can't do it alone! To get an Action Grant, find at least one other person outside your household to join your team. Want to install a free seed library? See if your neighbor has seeds to share. That community clean-up? Invite the whole street out to help clear storm drains.

A hand holding a layered metal object, likely an underwater tool, covered in marine growth, above water.

Become an Adopt-a-Dock Volunteer

Adopt-a-Dock is a volunteer program where RPBCWD residents with lakefront property can help monitor for zebra mussels in their lake. Volunteers hang monitoring plates from the end of their dock, and check them twice a month for the presence of mussels. Early detection of a new zebra mussel infestation or monitoring the abundance of an existing infestation helps guide RPBCWD's management efforts.

A storm drain partially blocked by dry leaves and debris, with a grassy area and water body in the background.

Adopt a Drain

Looking for an easy and meaningful way to have an impact on clean water in our community? Adopt a Storm Drain! Volunteer fifteen minutes, twice a month, to keep your storm drain clear of leaves, trash, and other debris that can pollute our waters. You'll join a community of over 16,500 adopters who've cleared nearly 1 million pounds of debris from their drains. Adopt a drain and get started today!

A rain gauge mounted on a wooden post, with water droplets and a blurred green background.

Become a CoCoRaHS Volunteer

The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a community-based network of more than 20,000 volunteers nationwide working together to measure and map precipitation. Volunteers take measurements of precipitation each time it rains or snows. These precipitation reports are then recorded online and used for water resource analysis.

A person using an uprooter tool to remove a plant from the ground in a grassy area.

Borrow a Buckthorn Puller

To assist with the control of invasive buckthorn within the watershed district, RPBCWD has two Uprooter tools available for loan with a $250 deposit. The deposit will be returned to you when you return the Uprooter in good condition. You may borrow the Uprooter for up to 10 days.

Find a Native Plant Sale

Blue Thumb has put together a list of upcoming Native Plant sales and markets in the Twin Cities Metro and throughout the state. Native plant sales are a great way to find a wide variety of native plants, trees, and shrubs at these sales at a relatively low cost, whether you’re looking to install a rain garden, create a pocket planting, or fortify your shoreline. Some sales offer pre-order options or require you to place an order ahead of time, so be sure to check each link for purchasing details.

Sacred Water Shared Future

In 1926, a water quality study identified severe pollution and found only three fish living in 42 miles of the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities to Red Wing, Minnesota. The results confirmed what scientists and residents already suspected: the Mississippi was effectively dead. The study sparked collective action to restore, and eventually protect, this vital waterway over the next 100 years. Sacred Water Shared Future is celebrating community, storytelling, education, and conservation as part of a year-long campaign in 2026. The campaign honors the central role the Mississippi River has played in our region while acknowledging its deep history, sacredness, and resilience. Connect with the river at an upcoming event near you.

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