Minnesota Buffer Law

Minnesota’s Buffer Law requires a 50-foot vegetated buffer along public waters (lakes, rivers and streams) and a 16.5-foot vegetated buffer along public ditches. The compliance deadline for public waters was November 1, 2017 and was November 1, 2018 for public ditches.

In October 2017, Washington County accepted enforcement responsibility for the Buffer Law. Over the past two years, Washington Conservation District has reached out to people who may not yet be in compliance and will soon be providing Washington County with a list of non-compliant parcels subject to enforcement. The good news is that the vast majority of farms and landowners in Washington County are already in compliance with new buffer regulations.

If you received a letter and believe your property is in compliance, please contact the WCD so we can verify compliance for Washington County.

If you did not receive a letter but want to check if your property is subject to the law, please see the Department of Natural Resources Buffer Map at http://arcgis.dnr.state.mn.us/gis/buffersviewer.

For more information, contact Angela Defenbaugh at 651-330-8220 x 2262 or adefenbaugh@mnwcd.org.