By Jakub Blum / KVSC reporter

Do you care about the water quality and future of the Mississippi River in Central Minnesota?

Here’s a way to help. There’s a planning group working on this issue and they’re asking residents of St. Cloud what their ideas should be to protect the river, area lakes and more.

The Mississippi River – St. Cloud Watershed Planning Group is kicking off an initiative to develop a Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan for the Mississippi River and beyond. It’s called the One Watershed, One Plan program. The group’s primary focus is restoration, protection and preservation. The result they’re aiming for is a a locally driven, long-range roadmap for achieving watershed goals.

ISG, a planning consultant partner, is facilitating an in-person and virtual public open house to gather feedback.

A few examples of watershed priorities include the health of lakes and rivers, soil health and conservation-minded agriculture, stormwater management and drinking water protection as well as improvement within groundwater and the Mississippi River.

The in-person open house is being held on Tuesday, January 31^st, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Sherburne History Center in Becker. A virtual open house will be for two weeks starting January 31^st.

Members of the community with valuable insight encourage residents to voice their concerns about local water resources.