Water Monitoring

The East Polk Soil and Water Conservation District monitors streams, lakes and rainfall in their half of the county.

Stream Monitoring

East Polk SWCD participates in the MPCA Citizen Stream Monitoring Program (CSMP). Stream monitoring is done on the Sandhill River, Poplar River, Lost River, and the Clearwater River during the summer months.

The CSMP measures transparency, appearance, recreational suitability, precipitation and stream stage. This information tells us: the amount of sediment, algae, & other materials suspended in the water, potential causes of low transparency, perceived suitability of a stream for fishing, swimming or boating, how rainfall events affect stream transparency, appearance, and stage.

Visit the CSMP website here >

Lake Elevations

Lake elevations are checked monthly during the summer on the following lakes:

Badger Lake
Cable Lake
Cameron Lake
Cross Lake
Hill River Lake
Maple Lake
Poplar Lake
Lake Sarah
Spring Lake
Turtle Lake
Union Lake
Whitefish Lake

Data is available on the Internet at the DNR Lake Finder site: Go to the DNR Lake Finder Site >

Rainfall

East Polk SWCD has a voluntary rainfall monitoring program throughout the eastern portion of Polk County. Please contact our office if you assistance with rainfall data or are interested in becoming a volunteer rainfall data collector.

Data from all of our volunteers can be viewed on the State Climatology Office Website.

State Climatology Office >