Protecting Water Quality in Urban Areas (also referred to as the Blue Book) is a manual of stormwater best management practices published by the Minnesota pollution control agency. Originally published in 1989 and expanded in 2000 under the revised title, Protecting Water Quality in Urban Areas: Best Management Practices for Dealing with Storm Water Runoff from Urban, Suburban, and Developing Areas of Minnesota, this manual was developed to help local government officials, urban planners, developers, contractors and citizens prevent stormwater-related pollution. While concepts described and guidance in this manual are still relevant, much of the information in this document is now outdated and we recommend it not be used for regulatory purposes.
Updated information on many of these topics can be found on this website. In particular updated information for Chapter 6: Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control. If you reference the Stormwater best management practices manual, particularly in ordinances, we recommend updating the references. Please contact us if you have questions.
Links to pdfs of sections from this publication are provided below. Some recommended links in the Minnesota Stormwater Manual wiki are shown below.
- File:Introduction pages.pdf
- File:Chapter 1 Water quantity and quality.pdf
- File:Chapter 2 Best Management Practices.pdf
- File:Chapter 3 Policies and Plans.pdf
- File:Chapter 4 BMPs for Stormwater Systems.pdf
- File:Chapter 5 Stormwater Ponds.pdf
- File:Chapter 6 Erosion and Sediment Control.pdf
- File:Chapter 7 Pollution Prevention.pdf
- File:Chapter 8 Models and Modeling.pdf
- File:Appendices.pdf
For corresponding information, see the following suggested pages in the Minnesota Stormwater Manual (this website).
- Water quantity and quality
- Best Management Practices
- Policies and Plans
- BMPs for Stormwater Systems
- Stormwater Ponds
- Erosion and Sediment Control
- Pollution Prevention
- Models and Modeling