Convening Across Watersheds

Minnesota’s clean water is one of our most valuable shared resources—essential to our health, environment, and way of life. Protecting it requires shared commitment and informed decision-making. In response, environmentally focused organizations and Tribal Nations across the state have come together around a shared set of principles to help guide how we protect our waters now and for future generations. 

Four of Minnesota’s most important and sensitive watersheds—the Mississippi River, the St. Croix River, the Rainy River (BWCA), and the St. Louis River (Lake Superior)—are under threat from transnational sulfide ore mining companies. We come together in affirmation of the following principles. 

• Water cares for us. Water sustains all life and ties together our lands, animals, plants, cultures, and communities. Everything we depend on ultimately comes back to clean water. Every glass poured, every grain of Manoomin (wild rice) harvested, every walleye caught, and every paddle dipped into our lakes and rivers depends on healthy water. 

• Water is vulnerable.  Water supports our lives every day, but it cannot protect itself from the harms we create. Once polluted or disrupted, watersheds can take generations to recover. Sulfide ore mining can release acid and toxic metals that contaminate surface water and groundwater, harm plants and animals, and degrade ecosystems for generations. This fragility means activities like sulfide ore mining must be carefully evaluated before harm occurs. 

• Water protects our health. When our water is clean, our communities are healthier, too. When water is contaminated, the health of people and ecosystems can suffer for years. Any review of sulfide ore mining should also examine potential health impacts, so we understand how these projects could affect surrounding communities. 

• Water is a shared responsibility. Water is something we all depend on, so we must all help protect it. In Ojibwe and other Indigenous teachings, water belongs to itself and people are called to be its caretakers. Tribal Nations and communities should have the right to consent to proposals affecting their lands, waters, and future—and governments and companies should honor that right in every decision about water. 

• Water cannot be replaced. Although most of our planet is covered in water, only a tiny share is fresh and usable, and climate change is making that supply even more delicate. Once polluted, water is often impossible or extremely costly to restore. Minerals from sulfide ore mining are used in energy-intensive, rapidly expanding sectors—including large-scale data centers, artificial intelligence, and defense infrastructure.  If demand is allowed to grow for these uses, so does pressure to pursue mining in sensitive watersheds, where contamination could be long-lasting and potentially irreversible. Decisions about resource extraction must prioritize protecting clean water above all. 

• Water connects us. Surface waters and groundwater are interconnected, providing drinking water and supporting livelihoods across Minnesota and beyond. Waters flowing from Minnesota to Hudson Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico connect our communities to neighbors downstream. We are stewards of these shared waters and have a responsibility to protect them for our neighbors today and for generations to come. 

Protecting clean water requires shared commitment and informed action. We invite you to review these principles, stand with those working to protect Minnesota’s waters, and stay engaged as decisions are made that will shape our future. 

These principles have been signed by (updated as of April 10):

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA)

Water Over Nickel

Friends of the Boundary Waters

Tamarack Water Alliance

Friends of the Mississippi River

Duluth for Clean Water

Clean Water Action Minnesota