About the Science of Watershed Health
The science of watershed health is based on a whole-system approach. Ecological processes interact to provide services such as clean air and water, available groundwater, and diverse plant and animal communities. The science of health explores how all the parts system work together to provide a "healthy watershed".
Five component framework
In order to explore the watershed system in a consistent, systematic way, the ecological processes have been divided into 5 different components:
Component health scores
A suite of watershed health index scores have been calculated that represent many of the important ecological relationships within and between the components. These scores are built on statewide GIS data that is compared consistently across Minnesota to provide a baseline health condition report for each of the 81 major watersheds in the state.
- Building a watershed health index
- Download all watershed health scores (PDF, 34 MB)
- Downscaling health scores