The three major watersheds in the United States just happen to be in Minnesota.

This Minnesota state map delineates the three major watersheds of the United States that happen to lie within Minnesota state boundaries. The Continental Divides delineates where water flows north, south, or east, shaped by geography and glacial melt. Water is governed by gravity and temperature.

In Minnesota rain and snowmelt drain north toward Hudson Bay, south down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, or east through the Great Lakes out the Laurentian Divide to the north Atlantic Ocean.

Enbridge Canadian pipelines cross all three major watersheds. The more northern pipeline carrying tar sands oil is one of six pipelines in the original alignment. Rather than replacing the pipeline in situ, Enbridge is digging a new trough. The new southern pipeline slashes across the most pristine wetlands still existing in Minnesota and cuts through traditional Anishinabe ricing areas on ceded lands.

Map interpretation by Susu Jeffrey