Low Salt No Salt Minnesota

Overuse of de-icers for winter maintenance is a growing problem in Minnesota lakes, ponds, wetlands, streams, and groundwater.

The leading source of chloride pollution is from deicing chemicals (salts) used for winter maintenance. Chloride damages property and the environment, harms aquatic species, and impacts drinking water quality.  About 50 waterbodies in Minnesota already have dangerous chloride levels, and another 75 waterbodies are close to the danger zone. Learn more about chloride pollution from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).

Once chloride is in a waterbody, there is no feasible way to remove it. It takes only one teaspoon of salt to permanently pollute five gallons of water. Further, the alternatives to chloride have other tradeoffs in cost, environmental impacts, and service. Therefore, the leading strategy for managing chloride pollution is to be smart about its use; applying it only when, where, and in the amount needed. This also means that every effort, big or small, helps reduce chloride pollution!

The Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota toolbox is intended for Local Government Units (LGUs) such as cities and watershed management organizations to deliver the program locally, increasing awareness and providing support for private landowners to help them reduce chloride pollution from their properties.

How do we get people to reduce their use of de-icing salts?

Many people believe protecting water resources is important and that education fosters positive attitudes about reducing salt use. But education about chloride pollution, by itself, may not be enough to get people to change their winter salting routines.

The ability to maintain safety while realizing
financial savings and improving sustainability
are key messages conveyed through this program.

People may be unsure of how best to reduce chloride use on their properties or how to address concerns about safety or liability. You can step into this void by offering a friendly face and simple, site-specific advice. Being the local expert on chloride pollution through the lens of water resources management doesn't mean you have to have all the answers. Cultivating a positive relationship, providing support and encouragement, humbly observing their challenges with winter maintenance, and pointing people to the right resources are the cornerstones of this program. You can play a critical role in guiding local community members to help them clear a path to savings, safety and sustainability.

Creation of the toolbox

Water resource professionals led the development of and provided expertise for the Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota initiative. The team worked closely with a Minnesota marketing firm to perform interviews, develop a brand, and design materials. The primary goal of the effort was to provide a toolbox that local units of government (LGUs) may use during conversations with local residents, businesses, and property managers about best practices related to winter maintenance.

How to use the toolbox

You may pull what you need from the toolbox to supplement your existing efforts or start from scratch. Tools such as the PowerPoint presentation are editable, which means they can be customized with your organization's logo and contact information.

Model Winter Maintenance Contract

The City of Edina developed a model contract for snow and ice management that embraces best practices to minimize environmental impacts from salt and other chemicals. Property owners can adapt the model contract to suit their needs and to ensure their contractors are protecting Minnesota waters from chloride pollution.

• Minnesota Model Contract for Snow and Ice Management (pdf)
• Cover Letter (pdf)
• Explanatory Memo (pdf)

Winter Site Maintenance Templates

Share these with people in your community looking for information about developing a winter maintenance plan. Three templates are scaled to meet user needs:

• Basic Winter Maintenance Plan Template (pdf); download the Word version instead
• Intermediate Winter Maintenance Plan Template (pdf)
• Detailed Winter Maintenance Plan Template (pdf)

Download the calculator below to help determine which template would be best.

Calculator for Choosing a Winter Maintenance Template

Download the calculator (Excel file) that will help users select a winter site maintenance template.

Other Resources

Why reinvent the wheel? There are a lot of great websites out there with resources ready to use in your chloride reduction efforts. Check out these sites.

Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota is an initiative developed in 2022 by the Hennepin County Chloride Initiative (HCCI), a collaboration between multiple watershed districts, watershed organizations, and cities in Hennepin County with support from the county and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 

Selecting an Audience

On large developed properties, winter maintenance is typically performed by contractors. When developing an approach for Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota, we wanted to understand if contractors would be a good audience for focusing outreach efforts. Read the full report.

What we found when we interviewed private salt applicators was that they were generally knowledgeable about chloride as a water contaminant. However, their salting practices were primarily driven by client demand and liability concerns. These clients are usually owners and managers of large properties.

Developing the Messages

By focusing outreach efforts on owners and managers of large properties, we hope to drive demand for contractors that practice smart salting. In developing materials for Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota, we focused on homeowner associations, property managers, and communities of faith. These groups are accessible and tend to make decisions about winter maintenance for large areas including hiring of contractors.

To better understand attitudes and other factors of these groups that affect their willingness to adopt best salting practices, a series of interviews was conducted with these groups. The research revealed group concerns related to chloride use and which messages about reducing chloride use best resonated with them. Review the full market research report.

Creation of the Toolbox

Working collaboratively through the Hennepin County Chloride Initiative (HCCI), water resource professionals led the development of and provided expertise for the Low Salt, No Salt Minnesota program. The team worked closely with a Minnesota marketing firm to perform interviews, develop a brand, and design materials. The primary goal of the effort was to provide a toolbox that local units of government (LGUs) may use during conversations with local residents and businesses about best practices related to winter maintenance. While these materials are useful for a variety of audiences, the targeted audiences for this program include faith-based communities, property managers, and homeowners/townhome associations.

Development of this program was funded through a Clean Water Fund grant from the MN Board of Water and Soil Resources.

Main Message

"When performing winter maintenance, you can maintain safety while realizing financial savings and improving sustainability."

Let us know you were here!

We'd love to know who's visited this site, if you plan to use the materials, or if you have any feedback. Please consider filling out this form.