General Description

The Blue Earth River Major Watershed is one of the twelve major watersheds of the Minnesota River Basin. It is located in south central Minnesota within Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Jackson, Martin, Watonwan counties and northern Iowa. There are 21 municipalities in the watershed of which the city of Mankato is the largest. The Blue Earth River major watershed area is approximately 1,550 square miles or 992,034 acres. Of the 992,034 acres, 775,590 acres are located in Minnesota and 216,444 acres are located in Iowa. The watershed is subdivided into 115 minor watersheds. The minor watersheds range in size from 2,197 acres to 30,584 acres with the mean size approximately 8,626 acres. Agriculture is the predominant land use within the watershed.

The Blue Earth River and its tributaries, public and private drainage systems, lakes and wetlands, define the drainage network of the major watershed. The Blue Earth River flows north to its confluence with the Minnesota River at the city of Mankato in Blue Earth County. The total distance of the stream network in Minnesota is 1,178 miles of which 414 miles are intermittent streams and 764 miles are perennial streams.

Map of Major Watershed 30

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This page was last updated 5/31/99

Minnesota River Basin Data Center
Minnesota State University, Mankato
184 Trafton Science Center S, Mankato, MN 56001
Phone: (507)389-5492
FAX: (507)389-5493
Email: mrbdc@mankato.msus.edu