Introduction
High Island Creek Watershed is part of three counties - Sibley, McLeod and Renville. The economy is dominated by agriculture with some local businesses found in the communities of Arlington, New Auburn and Stewart. Today a number of support groups are dedicating their efforts to improving recreation opportunities including horseback riding and water-based activities.

Communities
The population of the watershed is estimated at 5,053. Forty-nine percent of the population lives in the municipals of Arlington and New Auburn. No major industries are found within the watershed boundaries.

Arlington is the largest city in the watershed, with just about 2,000 people and location of the Sibley County Fairgrounds. The city also features a modern community center, Sibley East High School and numerous parks. First laid out in 1856, Arlington is recognized by its baseball water tower. For more information and recent photos of Arlington.

To contact the City of Arlington:
* Phone: 507-964-2378
* Email: cityhall@arlingtonmn.com
* Web: www.arlingtonmn.com

New Auburn is located on the west shoreline of High Island Lake and has become a community interested in improving recreational opportunities for the lake. The village was first incorporated on June 6, 1895 and for more recent photos of New Auburn. Today you will find a public access area for High Island Lake, new community water system and numerous rain gardens being built to improve High Island Lake's water quality.

To contact the City of New Auburn:
* Phone: 320-864-5831
* Email: newauburn@embargminal.com

Stewart is located on U.S. Highway 212 and near Round Grove Lake. Today it has a population of almost 600 people and features a former elementary school, a number of businesses and large co-op elevator. To look at some recent photos of Stewart.

To contact the City of Stewart
* Phone: 320-562-2518
* Email: cityhall@mchsi.com

Agriculture
High Island Creek Watershed is located in one of the richest farmland regions in the United States. As a result, agriculture dominates the current landscape with almost 90% of the land devoted to crops of corn, soybeans, small grains and forage, along with livestock. Canning crops of peas and sweet corn are found through out the watershed, with a canning crop located in Arlington. In the western part of the watershed a relatively recent crop has been sugar beets.

Livestock producers are another major component to the agriculture economy in High Island Creek Watershed, including beef, hogs and poultry. As of 2000, there were 194 feedlots equaling 27,612 animal units in the watershed.

To learn more about agriculture support groups and programs go here.

Support Groups
A number of volunteer, community-based organizations support the efforts of the High Island Creek Clean Water Partnership to improve water quality in the watershed.

High Island Lake Conservation Club has been active for many years in the New Auburn area. The club has built a meeting facility and park on the shoreline of High Island Lake. Each year the club hosts a fundraising dinner and helps out with community celebrations. High Island Lake Conservation Club has also provided both financial and technical support to the ongoing assessment and implementation project in the watershed.

Contact: 320-864-6559 (Milt Lindeman, President)

Friends of High Island is a relatively new organization and has been working to draw attention to the lake and watershed through the improvement of water quality and recreational opportunities. Currently the group is providing cost-share funds to install conservation practices including rock tile inlets and working on a conservation drainage project. They have also been involved with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to designate High Island Lake as a wildlife lake to enhance waterfowl habitat and improve fisheries.

Contact: 507-359-2346 (Scott Sparlin, Watershed Coordinator)

Education
Looking for educational material on the various aspects of water quality, agriculture, natural resources and other topics related to High Island Creek Watershed? Check out the links below:

* Minnesota Department of Agriculture: www.mda.state.mn.us/kids
* Minnesota Pollution Control Agency: www.pca.state.mn.us/kids
* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov/kids
* Water Education Foundation: www.water-ed.org/kids
* U.S. Geological Survey: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterquality.html
* U.S. Department of Agriculture: www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids
* Minnesota Project WET: www.dnr.state.mn.us/projectwet
* Leopold Education Project: www.lep.org

For more information about the High Island Creek Clean Water Partnership,
Joel Wurscher, Project Coordinator:
111 Eighth Street
Gaylord, Minnesota 55334
Phone 507-237-4050
Fax 507-237-4099