‘We’ve moved the needle’: How a citizen group is shaping cleanup efforts on the Minnesota River

In 1992, when Gov. Arne Carlson set a goal of improving water quality in the Minnesota River, Tom Crawford hadn’t been born. David Minge, a former judge and lawmaker, had just been elected to his first term in the U.S. Congress, representing much of western Minnesota.

Three decades later, the two are colleagues on the Minnesota River Collaborative (MRC), a citizen group with a broad range of legal and technical expertise that is working to reduce pollution and improve the water quality in the river, long considered one of the most polluted rivers in the nation.

The coalition, which meets monthly with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), focuses primarily on ditch drainage projects, tracking and commenting on specific projects and adding its weight to court cases through amicus briefs.

“We’ve moved the needle within the DNR,” Crawford sai...