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Federal water data

County water report

Jackson County Water Report

Drinking-water compliance, watershed health, monitoring records, and river conditions for Jackson County, Minnesota.

Water grade

F

Water score

34.2

State rank

#76

of 87

Health violations

3

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

0.0%

1 water bodies assessed

Monitoring sites

25

7,237 recent measurements

Live streamflow

114%

DES MOINES RIVER AT JACKSON, MN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Jackson County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

F

Score: 34.2 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

3

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

0% impaired

1 bodies assessed

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

114% of mean

DES MOINES RIVER AT JACKSON, MN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

25

7,237 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

F

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

34.2/100

Health violations

3

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

49.4

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Jackson County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Jackson County's water systems carry a failing grade, scoring 34.2 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 3 health-based violations — a small cluster that warrants attention.

Watershed Conditions

EPA ATTAINS

Under the Clean Water Act §303(d), EPA ATTAINS tracks whether waterways meet quality standards for drinking, recreation, and aquatic life (reporting cycle: 2022). None of the assessed waterways are listed as impaired (0 of 1 water bodies) across Jackson County's watersheds. Impairment does not mean tap water is unsafe — it measures ambient waterway conditions upstream of treatment, not finished drinking water.

River & Streamflow Status

USGS NWIS

USGS NWIS gauge data (as of 2026-05-14T14:00:00.000-05:00) puts DES MOINES RIVER at 547.0 cfs — flowing above its historical average at 114% of mean. Streamflow is a leading indicator of drought stress, sediment load, and dilution capacity: low flows concentrate pollutants and warm water temperatures, stressing aquatic life and, in surface-water-dependent systems, the source water quality for treatment plants.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Jackson County has moderate coverage with 25 active monitoring sites with 7,237 recent measurements on record. Predominant monitoring categories include organics, pesticide and physical. More monitoring sites generally indicate greater scientific attention to local water conditions — and provide the baseline data that regulators use to set future impairment listings.

Editorial advisory

What the data suggests for Jackson County

Water Verdict

Jackson County receives a poor water quality assessment with a grade of F and a score of 34.2 out of 100. The water supply has documented quality issues. Residents are strongly encouraged to use filtered or bottled water for drinking and to stay informed about utility improvement plans.

Violation Context

Jackson County has recorded 3 health-based violations, indicating multiple instances where federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements were not met. At 49.4 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues.

Consumer Guidance

Drinking-water compliance in Jackson County is rated Grade F, reflecting significant health-based violations in the recent reporting period. Jackson County's drinking-water compliance score is 34.2 out of 100. The violation rate for Jackson County is 49.4 per 100,000 people served. An NSF 53 or NSF 58-certified filter is recommended for drinking and cooking water. Check the Consumer Confidence Report from your utility to identify the specific contaminants and required corrective actions — utilities are legally required to notify customers of violations. With 25 active water-quality monitoring sites in Jackson County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the DES MOINES RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Jackson County has poorer water quality than the average county in Minnesota. Its water score is 33 points lower than the state average, suggesting more challenges with contamination control or infrastructure than neighboring counties.

Advisory text summarizes county-level public records and is not a replacement for your utility's current Consumer Confidence Report or direct local notices.

Contaminants & Resources

Key issues flagged in Jackson County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Jackson County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Jackson County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Jackson County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Minnesota

Clean Water Act §303(d)

Watershed Health

Impaired Water Bodies

0.0%

0 of 1 assessed

Mostly healthy

Top Impairment Causes

No specific impairment causes reported for the assessed water bodies in this county.

Source: EPA ATTAINS · Reporting cycle 2022

Impairment is determined under the Clean Water Act §303(d): a water body is impaired when it fails to meet state-defined quality standards for designated uses (drinking, recreation, aquatic life). Assessment coverage varies by state; counties without assessed water bodies are not shown.

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

25

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

7.2K

7,237 total readings

Most Measured

  • Organics, Pesticide
  • Physical
  • Nutrient

Categories measured most frequently

Data from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), aggregating monitoring records from federal, state, and tribal sources. Each measurement represents a single sample analyzed for a specific characteristic (e.g., E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen).

Live USGS Streamgage

River & Stream Conditions

Current Discharge

547cfs

May 14, 7:00 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

114%

Above typical

Primary Streamgage

DES MOINES RIVER AT JACKSON, MN

USGS site
05476000
Drainage area
1,250 sq mi
Long-term mean
481 cfs

One representative streamgage (the one with the largest drainage area in the county). Many counties have multiple gauges; this view summarizes the primary one. The long-term mean is the full-record annual average; the percent-of-typical value compares the latest reading against that average.

Free tool

Estimate Your Water Costs

Water Cost Estimate

3

3 people  ·  ~225 gal/day

Annual Total

$558

Monthly

$47

Water Bill

$558/yr

Filter Cost

$0/yr

Safety Grade for Jackson County:C — Moderate

Some violations or watershed impairment detected.

Estimates use the national average residential water rate ($0.0068/gal, EPA/AWWA 2023) and EPA WaterSense per-person consumption baseline (75 gal/person/day). Actual bills vary by utility, usage tier, and local infrastructure fees. For informational purposes only.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the water quality in Jackson County, Minnesota?
Jackson County, Minnesota has a drinking-water quality grade of F with a score of 34.2/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 3 health-based drinking water violations over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Jackson County?
Jackson County has 3 health-based drinking water violations recorded by the EPA over the past 5 years. Health-based violations indicate instances where contaminant levels exceeded EPA Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Violations may have been resolved — check with your local water utility for current status.
How healthy are the watersheds in Jackson County?
EPA ATTAINS assessments under Clean Water Act §303(d) indicate 0.0% of Jackson County's 1 assessed water bodies are classified as impaired (0 impaired). Impairment means the water body fails to meet state quality standards for at least one designated use — drinking water source, recreation, aquatic life, or fish consumption. Note: watershed impairment doesn't always translate to tap-water issues; treatment plants can remove most regulated contaminants.
How much water-quality monitoring happens in Jackson County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 7,237 measurements from 25 monitoring sites in Jackson County over the past five years. The most frequently measured characteristic groups are Organics, Pesticide, Physical, Nutrient. Each measurement is a single sample analyzed for one characteristic (E. coli, pH, dissolved oxygen, etc.). High monitoring density means more scientific evidence behind any reported signal — it does not by itself indicate water quality.
What's happening with rivers in Jackson County right now?
Jackson County's primary USGS streamgage on the DES MOINES RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 547 cubic feet per second — 114% of the long-term mean of 480.93 cfs. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Jackson County water compare to the Minnesota average?
Jackson County's SDWIS water quality score of 34.2/100 is lower than the Minnesota state average of 67.2. The average water quality grade across Minnesota is C, based on data from 87 counties with available SDWIS data.
Is tap water safe to drink in Jackson County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Jackson County has a water quality grade of F (34.2/100). This indicates below-average compliance with significant violations. Residents may want to consider home water filtration or independent testing. The grade speaks to the public water system, not the watershed — for watershed-level concerns, see the Watershed Health zone. For the most up-to-date information, contact your local water utility or review your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR).
Does Jackson County have clean drinking water?
Jackson County has 3 health-based drinking water violations according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 34.2/100 and grade F, the county's drinking water has had some compliance issues but continues to be monitored. Note: drinking-water compliance speaks to the public water system, not necessarily to the watershed itself — check the Watershed Health zone for ATTAINS §303(d) data.
How does Jackson County rank for water quality in Minnesota?
Jackson County ranks #76 out of 87 counties in Minnesota by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 34.2/100, it falls in the bottom third of counties statewide. The ranking reflects EPA SDWIS compliance only — not watershed impairment, monitoring density, or streamflow, which are tracked separately on this page.

Counties with Similar Water Quality

Nobles County

Minnesota

F

35.6

Water score

Polk County

Minnesota

F

31.7

Water score

Marshall County

Minnesota

F

37.3

Water score

Data Sources

Drinking-water compliance data from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) via the ECHO enforcement database. Scores reflect compliance history and health-based violation counts.

Watershed health and impaired-waterway data from the EPA ATTAINS Clean Water Act §303(d) assessments, state-reported and EPA-finalized.

Water-quality monitoring counts from the EPA Water Quality Portal (WQP), federated USGS, EPA, and state agency sampling records over a rolling 5-year window.

Live streamflow from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), continuous discharge measurements from the largest-drainage gauge in each county, compared against the full-record long-term annual mean.

Disclaimer: This data is informational only. It is not health, legal, or professional advice. For concerns about your specific water supply, contact your local water utility.

By Evan Brooks, Data EditorUpdated Reviewed by Evan Brooks, Data Editor

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