Presettlement
Approximately 50 percent of the watershed is covered in wetlands

• Researchers estimate that approximately 48 percent (11,000 acres) of the watershed was covered by wetlands before settlement. The other half was considered prairie, big woods, and oak openings. The Seven Mile Creek Watershed totals approximately 23,551 acres (36.8 square miles).
  
• A Public Land Survey was conducted in Nicollet County (see image at left). These maps also provide insight of what the watershed once looked like. These maps along with soils and elevation information helped create the 1854 wetlands maps depicted above.
  
• Early settlers’ descriptions indicated that the area was so wetland-rich that one could paddle by canoe from just west of St. Peter to Swan Lake (scroll over map for location).
  
• St. Peter, located just east of the watershed, is one of the oldest cities in Minnesota and was founded by Captain William D. Dodd in 1853.

The photo on the left shows an aerial view of Swan Lake, a large prairie pot-hole wetland located nearby. The image gives insight of what half the watershed may have looked like before it was drained. Next