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County water report

Yellow Medicine County Water Report

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

Water grade

C

Water score

51.0

State rank

#66

of 87

Health violations

1

EPA SDWIS, 5-year lookback

Watershed impaired

Not reported

EPA ATTAINS coverage varies by state

Monitoring sites

57

24,538 recent measurements

Live streamflow

No gauge

MINNESOTA RIVER AT HWY 212 IN GRANITE FALLS, MN

Water at a glance

Key Water Indicators for Yellow Medicine County

EPA SDWIS

Safety Grade

C

Score: 51.0 / 100

EPA SDWIS

Active Violations

1

5-year health-based lookback

EPA ATTAINS

Watershed Health

Not reported

Coverage varies by state

USGS NWIS

Streamflow Snapshot

No gauge

MINNESOTA RIVER AT HWY 212 IN GRANITE FALLS, MN

EPA WQP

Monitoring Sites

57

24,538 recent readings

Source: EPA SDWIS · Safe Drinking Water Information System

Drinking Water Compliance

Compliance grade

C

Based on EPA SDWIS compliance history.

Water score

Higher scores indicate cleaner recent compliance records.

51.0/100

Health violations

1

Health-based violations

Violations per 100K served

14.8

Population-normalized SDWIS rate

Editorial analysis

Understanding Yellow Medicine County’s Water

Drinking Water Quality Overview

EPA SDWIS

Yellow Medicine County's drinking water earned a C grade, scoring 51.0 out of 100. Over the past five years, EPA SDWIS records 1 health-based violation — a single incident worth monitoring.

Monitoring Network

EPA WQP

EPA's Water Quality Portal (WQP) aggregates monitoring data from federal, state, and tribal agencies. Yellow Medicine County has extensive coverage with 57 active monitoring sites with 24,538 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 Yellow Medicine County

Water Verdict

Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota receives a below-average water quality assessment with a grade of C and a score of 51.0 out of 100. Residents should review their utility's Consumer Confidence Report and may want to consider additional water filtration for drinking. The county's primary USGS gauge drains roughly 6,390 square miles of upstream watershed, giving local source waters a regional footprint.

Violation Context

EPA SDWIS records for Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota show 1 health-based violation, meaning a water system experienced at least one exceedance of federal contaminant limits or treatment requirements. At 14.8 violations per 100,000 people served, this rate is high and signals significant water quality management issues. This compliance record sits alongside an unusually deep monitoring archive: 24,538 water-quality results have been logged across the county in the EPA Water Quality Portal over the past five years.

Consumer Guidance

Tap water in Yellow Medicine County meets baseline standards but the compliance record shows room for improvement, with a Grade C rating. Yellow Medicine County's drinking-water compliance score is 51.0 out of 100. The violation rate for Yellow Medicine County is 14.8 per 100,000 people served. Residents who are immunocompromised, pregnant, or have young children may benefit from using an NSF 53-certified filter. Contacting your local utility for the current Consumer Confidence Report will confirm which specific violations were recorded and whether they have been resolved. With 57 active water-quality monitoring sites in Yellow Medicine County, data coverage is strong. A pipeline streamflow snapshot from the MINNESOTA RIVER gauge is also available on this page.

Regional Context

Yellow Medicine County has poorer water quality than the average county in Minnesota. Its water score is 16.2 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 Yellow Medicine County's water environment

Official EPA Resources for Yellow Medicine County

EPA How's My Waterway

Interactive watershed health data for Yellow Medicine County

EPA ECHO: Drinking Water Systems

Search water utilities and violation records for Yellow Medicine County

Consumer Confidence Reports (MN)

Annual water quality reports from utilities in Minnesota

Past 5 years

Water Quality Monitoring

Monitoring Sites

57

Active in the past 5 years

Measurements Recorded

25K

24,538 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

1,920cfs

May 14, 6:15 PM UTC

vs Long-Term Average

Long-term average not yet available.

Primary Streamgage

MINNESOTA RIVER AT HWY 212 IN GRANITE FALLS, MN

USGS site
05311150
Drainage area
6,390 sq mi

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 Yellow Medicine County:D — Poor

Elevated violations or significant watershed impairment.

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 Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota?
Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota has a drinking-water quality grade of C with a score of 51.0/100, based on EPA SDWIS compliance data. The county has 1 health-based drinking water violation over the past 5 years. Watershed health, monitoring records, and streamflow snapshots are reported separately on this page.
Are there any water violations in Yellow Medicine County?
Yellow Medicine County has 1 health-based drinking water violation 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 much water-quality monitoring happens in Yellow Medicine County?
EPA's Water Quality Portal records 24,538 measurements from 57 monitoring sites in Yellow Medicine 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 Yellow Medicine County right now?
Yellow Medicine County's primary USGS streamgage on the MINNESOTA RIVER has a pipeline snapshot of 1,920 cubic feet per second. Flow is within typical range for this gauge. For the latest gauge feed, visit waterdata.usgs.gov.
How does Yellow Medicine County water compare to the Minnesota average?
Yellow Medicine County's SDWIS water quality score of 51.0/100 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 Yellow Medicine County?
Based on EPA SDWIS data, Yellow Medicine County has a water quality grade of C (51.0/100). This indicates moderate compliance. Some violations have been recorded but overall standards are maintained. 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 Yellow Medicine County have clean drinking water?
Yellow Medicine County has 1 health-based drinking water violation according to EPA records. With a water quality score of 51.0/100 and grade C, 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 Yellow Medicine County rank for water quality in Minnesota?
Yellow Medicine County ranks #66 out of 87 counties in Minnesota by SDWIS water quality score (1 = best). With a score of 51.0/100, 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

McLeod County

Minnesota

C

50.9

Water score

Martin County

Minnesota

C

52.3

Water score

Chisago County

Minnesota

D

49.0

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.

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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