Winter Salt Awareness Week

Livestreams and events January 27-31, 2025

All the salt that we apply to streets and sidewalks ends up in our freshwater. Excessive application of winter salt damages infrastructure, harms freshwater ecosystems, and threatens our drinking water.

That’s why Nine Mile Creek Watershed District is promoting Winter Salt Awareness Week, January 27-31, 2025: to inform residents about salt pollution, how it affects our health and freshwater ecosystems, what’s being done, and how we can support local efforts.

Experts in ecology, winter road maintenance, advocacy, and policy solutions will discuss facets of this issue that impact your community. A few of these experts come from close to home: staff from Bloomington and Minnetonka will be presenting and providing their insight into salt reduction.

Register online at wintersaltweek.org and tune in daily at 12:30 CT to this week-long series of YouTube live streams. See the list of speakers here: Winter Salt Week 2025 Event Poster

Local day of action

On January 31st, take part in a local day of salt awareness near you. The full list is available at wintersaltweek.org, but here are a few from around the watershed:

Paws and Pavement

Weber Park, Edina (4115 Grimes Ave S, Edina, MN 55416)

Friday January 31 at 1pm

Water Monitoring

MN Valley Chapter House – Izaak Walton League (6601 Auto Club Road, Bloomington)

Saturday February 1 from 11 am – 1 pm

Free to all. Equipment, brief training, and cocoa will be provided. We will meet at the chapter house for a brief training and lesson in submitting data; then go out to a few spots nearby to sample the water.