Take a Virtual Tour of the Watershed. This interactive map features photographs of the landscape, waterways and communities within the watershed. The clickable interactive map might take a few minutes to load (size k).
Watershed Description
Rush River Watershed is a rural watershed that drains 257,770 acres (403 square miles) in Sibley, Nicollet and McLeod Counties. The Rush River watershed is a sub watershed of the Lower Minnesota River Watershed, which is located in the Minnesota River Basin. The Rush River Watershed is the largest of the Lower Minnesota River subwatersheds, comprising 22% of the total land area. The Rush River Watershed is significant in that it is one of the few rural subwatersheds in the Lower Minnesota River Watershed.
History
Rush River got its name from the rush plants that used to grow along its banks (more on the history of the name). Prior to European settlement, the primary land cover was grassland, deciduous forest and wetlands. Today, agriculture is the primary land use in the watershed. Over 90% of the watershed acreage is utilized for agriculture, with corn and soybeans as the two primary crops grown. Approximately 9% of the agricultural land is planted with hay or small grains. Lakes, streams and wetlands account for only 1.2% (3,002 acres) of the watershed area. This is only a fraction of the open water that existed before extensive artificial drainage that has occurred over the past 150 years.
Landscape
Three branches of the Rush River drain to the mainstem, the North, Middle and South branches. The stream length of the mainstem Rush is 20 miles. The stream length of the North, Middle, and South branches of the Rush River, are 11.3, 30.1, and 32.6 miles respectively.
The topography in
the watershed is generally flat (slope map).
Approximately two-thirds of the watershed is flat to gently rolling with
deep ravines along the eastern portion of the watershed.
The population of the Rush River Watershed is estimated at approximately
8,500. Four towns are located in the watershed: Gaylord,
Winthrop, and Gibbon in Sibley County
and Lafayette in Nicollet County. There
are twelve lakes, the two largest and most utilized are Clear Lake and
Lake Titloe. There is one large state
park in the watershed, Rush River Park, which uses include camping, picnicking,
horseback riding, hiking, etc.
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Rush River Watershed Assessment Project | 111 6th Street, Gaylord, MN 55334
Phone 507-237-5435 ext. 105 | Fax 507-237-5249