East Lake Invasive Fish Barrier Turned On, Fish Being Removed
VRWJPO and Lakeville staff have initiated a low-voltage electric fish barrier just south of East Lake in Lakeville. The barrier is stationed on a small channel between the lake outlet and North Creek-Vermillion River, deterri […]
Health officials update fish consumption guidance for Mississippi River south of metro
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has new and updated guidance on fish consumption for the Mississippi River from St. Paul to Wabasha, due to a mixture of pollutants — including per- and polyfl […]
New Senior Watershed Specialist: Kelly Perrine
Please welcome Kelly Perrine as Senior Watershed Specialist for the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO)! Kelly will oversee and manage water resource improvement projects, have a lead role in the development of the […]
Welcome Jeff Dunn, Water Resources Engineer
Please welcome Jeff Dunn to the Vermillion River Watershed! Jeff joined our organization on October 23 as the Water Resources Engineer. Jeff will oversee and manage the design and construction oversight of water resource improvement projects, […]
New VRWJPO Administrator: Travis Thiel
Travis Thiel was recently named the new Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO) Administrator following the retirement of the previous Administrator Mark Zabel.
Travis began working at the VRWJPO in 2008. He assisted in wat […]
Dakota County Model Mining Ordinance
Dakota County and the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) developed a Model Mining Ordinance for optional use by cities and townships. The mod […]
Nitrogen reduction, collaboration drive Dakota County’s ACRE Plan
By Steve Christopher and Ann Wessel, Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR) staff
Originally published in BWSR’s Snapshot series […]
Update to Vermillion River brown trout regulations for 2023
As of the start of 2023, the Vermillion River and its tributaries upstream of the Falls are now following the same open season schedule as Southeast Minnesota for stream trout fishing. You can now catch-and-release trout from J […]
Dakota County Monitoring Well Information Available Online
In 2021-2022, as part of the Agricultural Chemical Reduction Effort (ACRE), Environmental Resources had 15 monitoring wells installed in rural areas of the county. This project was a cooperative effort with the Minnesota Departm […]
Keep your goldfish in the tank
Did you see the news this summer about huge goldfish in Keller Lake in Burnsville? A photo of a football-sized fish went viral on social media and even appeared on Good Morning America. While Keller Lake is just outside the Vermillion River Watershed, we a […]
