Aggregate mapping helps Minnesota communities build for the future

Minnesota communities make significant investments in infrastructure projects related to roads, bridges, stormwater systems, housing, and disaster recovery. These types of projects rely on access to locally available sand, gravel, crushed stone, collectively known as aggregate resources. 

In support of these efforts, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Aggregate Resource Mapping Program helps communities proactively identify these critical resources and plan for future needs. 

As of May 2026, the program has completed aggregate resource maps for 31 Minnesota counties and is in the process of mapping four more counties. Another 25 counties have also requested maps be created for them. Completing all outstanding requests would put the DNR two-thirds of the way toward its goal of completing aggregate resource maps for all 87 counties in Minnesota. 

“Communities need planning tools that help them prepare for both long-term growth and unexpected challenges,” DNR Mineral Potential Section Manager Heather Arends said. “Knowing where to get local aggregate resources can help a community reduce transportation costs when they need infrastructure repair or rebuilding.” 

DNR geologists use county-scale mapping techniques to identify sand, gravel and crushed stone resources and share information about its quality. The program produces aggregate resource maps, GIS datasets, field observations, and inventories of active and historic gravel mines and crushed stone quarries. The information helps counties, governments, planners, engineers, and the public make informed land-use and infrastructure decisions while ensuring future access to these nonrenewable resources before they are lost to incompatible land use and development. 

“From a planning and zoning perspective, the map and data get used weekly, if not daily, within the Environmental Services Office,” Le Sueur County Deputy Administrator Aaron Stubbs said. “If someone proposes a use in the aggregate map area, we want to be aware, so we don't allow finite resources to inadvertently be covered up by long-term development.” 

Arends noted that the maps also support recovery after natural disasters and severe weather events.  

“Following severe storms or floods, communities often need rapid access to aggregate materials for rebuilding roads, culverts, bridges and streambanks,” she said. “The aggregate maps help allow decisionmakers to act quickly in their responses.” 

The Minnesota Legislature established DNR’s Aggregate Resource Mapping Program in 1984. The Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, provides funding for aggregate resource mapping. Learn more and view completed county aggregate maps at the Minnesota DNR’s Aggregate Resources Mapping Program webpage.