Meeting To Look At Watershed That Includes BWCA

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. (AP) -- Water quality experts will kick off a multi-year water quality study on an important northern Minnesota watershed at a public informational meeting Thursday.

The Rainy River-Headwaters Watershed includes about 95 percent of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and most of Voyageurs National Park. A Canadian portion contains Quetico Provincial Park. The watershed stretches from the Namakan Dam at Voyageurs' National Park on the west to Gunflint and Mayhew lakes on the east.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency invites the public to attend Thursday's meeting at the Gunflint Lodge Conference Center, up the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais. It runs from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Water quality, protection and restoration efforts will be on the agenda, as well as opportunities to volunteer as a citizen lake or stream monitor.

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