Lake Superior North
Lake Superior North One Watershed One Plan
This is the official website of Lake Superior North One Watershed, One Plan for Cook County, Cook SWCD, Lake County and Lake SWCD.
Over the past year, local partners have worked together to review and amend the Lake Superior North Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan also known as a One Watershed One Plan (1W1P). The original plan was approved by the State of Minnesota in January 2017 and adopted by local governmental partners May 23, 2017. Through the 5-year plan review process, this partnership assessed existing data, resource goals, past accomplishments, and stakeholder input to develop local strategies to protect and restore this cherished watershed. The Lake Superior North Planning Area covers more than 2,000 square miles in 3 Counties (Cook, Lake, and St. Louis). It is located within the 1854 Ceded Territory and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The Lake Superior North Planning Area includes watersheds that flow into Lake Superior from the Knife River Watershed to the Pigeon River along the Canadian border.
The Lake Superior North Watershed partners include Cook County, Lake County, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District, Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District. An advisory committee of watershed stakeholders helped review and amend the plan that included federal, tribal, state, and local partners.
Please contact Lake or Cook Water Planners with questions about the Lake Superior North One Watershed, One Plan (LSN1W1P). Also look for the summary One-Pager of LSN1W1P below.
Lake County and Lake SWCD Water Planner: Tara Solem, Lake SWCD
Cook County and Cook SWCD Water Planner: Ilena Hansel, Cook SWCD
You can also contact Policy Committee members of the LSN1W1P Implementation Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which include:
- Lake SWCD Board Supervisor – Beth Hippert
- Lake County Commissioner – Rich Sve
- Cook SWCD Board Supervisor – Stan Tull
- Cook County Commissioner – Deb White
The LSN1W1P Policy Committee meets regularly four times each year. All Policy Committee meetings are open to the public.
The State of Minnesota’s transition from local water management planning at the County level to watershed-based planning is facilitated by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). Lake Superior North was one of five pilot watershed-based planning efforts at the start of this program transition. Please refer to BWSR’s website for more information on this program, Clean Water Comprehensive Watershed Funding, and for information about other planning efforts statewide.
This recorded webinar provides detail on the LSN Landscape Stewardship Plan (LSP) process
During this presentation, we discuss what an LSP is and the factors that go into its development. The LSP will focus on the important connection between forests and water quality. It develops priority areas to focus forestry work in the watershed, builds collaboration between those working in the watershed, and sets priorities to determine where forestry protection work should occur.
Explore a map of the LSN1W1P Priority Areas (Tiers 1, 2, and 3):
Check out the interactive Story Map presentation about LSN1W1P (Fall 2019):
📄 Lake Superior North One Watershed One Plan Document
