The updating of the Public Waters Inventory (PWI) by the Minnesota DNR continues to take shape.  

As part of the 2024 legislative session, the Minnesota DNR announced its plan to update the PWI. It will be an eight-year effort, with the goal to review 12 counties each year. First up (in semi-alphabetical order) are Aitkin, Benton, Blue Earth and Clay counties.  

The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) has raised its concerns with the legislation since it was proposed, warning of unintended consequences. Currently, farmers are about 99% compliant with the buffer law, and this legislation still won’t provide regulatory certainty.  

“We could have found a way to update the maps, let farmers, let landowners have a voice in that process, but then make sure that the maps were the law. Right now, at the end of this process, we’re going to have 8 million dollars’ worth of updated maps and it’s still not going to give us regulatory certainty,” said Joe Smentek, MSGA executive director, in an interview with Linder Farm Network. 

Important landowner information 

For each county, in general, the DNR will update the PWI in the following steps: 

1. Send an initial notice to the county, soil and water conservation district, and watershed agencies. 

1. Prepare a preliminary map reflecting the corrections and any modifications and submit it to the county board with a public meeting date. Potentially affected landowners will receive direct mail notice. 

1. Host a public meeting, in conjunction with a county board meeting, to elicit public feedback on the preliminary revisions to the map. The comment period on the corrections and modifications made in the preliminary map opens 30 days before the public meeting date and closes 30 days after the public meeting. 

1. Review the feedback received during the comment period and make necessary modification to the preliminary map. This revised map, now a provisional final map, will be submitted to the county and made available on the DNR’s project web page. 

1. Provide 90 days for parties (including riparian landowners) or counties wishing to challenge a decision made by the DNR to request Commissioner review of the modified and updated PWI. 

1. Issue the updated PWI list and map for the county, upon completion of DNR Commissioner review. 

Working together 

While MSGA is focused on advocacy, the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council is tasked with sponsoring soy checkoff initiatives that take a closer look at issues facing Minnesota farmers. At the Council’s August 2025 meeting, grower leaders approved a project with Houston Engineering, Inc., to identify how the statutory definition of public waters could impact the total miles of regulated waters across Minnesota on new LiDAR. Results of this study should be available later in 2026.  

Follow this link to sign up for PWI updates.