The Lower Minnesota River Watershed District (LMRWD) has a new administrator, Will Lytle, who assumed the role in April. Linda Loomis, who had served as district administrator since 2013, announced her retirement earlier this year.
The district works to solve and prevent water-related issues within an 80-square-mile area that stretches along the Minnesota River valley from Carver in the west to the confluence with the Mississippi River near historic Fort Snelling and Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport in the east. A portion of the Minnesota River runs near the southern edge of Eden Prairie.
Image courtesy of Lower Minnesota River Watershed District
Lytle’s responsibilities at the LMRWD include managing district operations, overseeing the 10-year Watershed Management Plan, coordinating with partners and consultants, and improving internal processes.
He is the founder of Evergreen International Sustainability Solutions, where he advised clients on decarbonization, water quantity and quality, and ecosystem health. Lytle has also paddled past alligators in Louisiana at the end of a solo kayak trip down the Mississippi River and backpacked moose skulls on Isle Royale as part of the Wolf/Moose Project. His fieldwork has taken him from tracking Siberian tigers in Russia to reporting urgent needs to the United Nations during COP25.
Lytle holds a doctorate in environmental and energy policy from Michigan Technological University, where his work focused on perceptions, practices and policies governing food, energy and water consumption in the average U.S. home.