Living on the Mississippi River inspired Donna Bahls to protect water

Donna Bahls has lived along the Mississippi River in Fridley for many years, and water has become an anchor in her daily life. “We just really enjoy having water in our backyard,” she said. “We had a lake cabin until recently, and we enjoyed that very much over the years. We really like having water around us.”

That love didn’t come from childhood; Donna grew up in Renville County, surrounded by corn and soybeans. It wasn’t until she married into an outdoors‑oriented family that she discovered canoeing, kayaking, and the joy of being on the water. “My husband gets a lot of credit,” she said. “I found I really enjoyed all the things that go with being outside.”

Her connection to water deepened through community work. Donna served on the advisory boards for the Coon Creek Watershed District and the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation, where she saw firsthand how essential clean water is for healthy ecosystems and became attentive to threats facing Minnesota’s waters. She monitored a nearby creek through the Izaak Walton League’s Salt Watch program and worries about oversalting, chemical pollution, and the strain of high‑water‑use industries. “Once salt is in the water, you can’t get it out very easily,” she said. “And it all runs to the river, then down to the Gulf.”

Donna knows convenience often hides environmental cost. She remembers hauling water by hand as a child and heating it on the stove for chores. “When you have to go out and get water for everything, you realize how precious it is,” she said. Today, with water coming straight out of the tap, she hopes people remember that even abundant resources need care. “We can live without a lot of things,” she said, “but we can’t live without water.”

Visit We Are Water MN to learn more

Donna shared her story as a part of We Are Water MN, a traveling exhibit and community engagement initiative that explores Minnesotans’ relationship with water. The Anoka County Library in Blaine will host the exhibit from Oct. 8 – Nov. 30, 2026.

Anoka County is home to several regionally significant waterways, including the Rum River, Sunrise River, Coon Creek, Rice Creek, and the Mississippi River. They are part of three major watersheds: the Rum River, Lower St. Croix, and the Mississippi River–Twin Cities.  

Although each waterway is unique, they face many of the same challenges, including excess nutrients and sediment, elevated chloride and bacteria levels, altered water flow, and habitat loss.

There are successes, too. Five waterways in Anoka County have been removed from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s impaired waters list. Three lakes — Bald Eagle, Golden, and Howard — were removed for nutrient impairment. Two rivers — the Sunrise and Mississippi — were removed for pH and E. coli bacteria impairments, respectively.

Visit this traveling exhibit to explore the science, history, stories, and cultures of water in Minnesota.

• Dates: Oct. 8 – Nov. 30, 2026
• Location: Northtown Library, 711 County Highway 10 NE, Blaine, MN 55434
• Visit during library hours:
  • Monday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
  • Tuesday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
  • Wednesday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
  • Thursday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
  • Friday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
  • Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
  • Sunday: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

For more information and a calendar of related events, visit the Anoka County Library website.

About We Are Water MN

We Are Water MN is a project of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension.

The program is funded by the Clean Water Fund, part of the Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment which was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

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