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Welcome to the Poplar River Management Board website.
Land owners along the lower Poplar River in Lutsen have formed the Poplar River Management Board (PRMB) in order
to protect and improve the water quality of this segment of the river. The lower Poplar River is defined as the
section from the falls north of Lutsen Mountains, to where it empties into Lake Superior.
The group formed in response to this section of river becoming listed on the Impaired Rivers List as developed
by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). The group has partnered with key people and organizations from
around the state to learn more about the situation and take action to remove the lower Poplar from the list. 2,274
of Minnesota's waters are classified as impaired. None have ever been removed from the list; PRMB's goal is to be
the first.
According to the MPCA and local studies, the main source of the river's impairment is above-average
sediment levels (or high turbidity), during high-flow, from areas where pronounced erosion has taken place.
According to a recently-released EPA report, the Megaslump contributes 522 tons/year or 26% of the sediment
load from the lower watershed. We have prioritized the Megaslump as our first priority project in the River,
and have raised approximately $400,000 in state and federal funds to address the problem. Remedial
construction activities on the Megaslump and in the River below are scheduled to take place in the first
half of August, 2008. A total of 16 slumps have been identified on the River, and future work may take
place to address some of these as well.
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