WETLANDS Seven Mile Creek Watershed Publications An Historical Perspective of Hydrologic Changes - 2004 (pdf 474 k) An Historical Perspective of Hydrologic Changes (Powerpoint presentation 16,524 k) Farming a Different Crop - Wetlands (pdf 413 k) Featured Articles Restored Marsh Helps Clean Creek - November 11, 2004 (pdf 23 k) Website Wetlands in the Seven Mile Creek Watershed |
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Learn how the extent of wetlands have changed through time in the Seven Mile Creek watershed. Let's Go | ||||||
Wetlands
were once a dominant feature of the prairie landscape in South-Central
Minnesota. Today, fewer than 10% of the original wetlands exist as a result
of our intensive efforts to drain the fertile land for agricultural production.
Although not all of the consequences of these changes are understood,
they are thought to include water quality degradation, increased flood
frequency and intensity along rivers and major tributaries, and loss of
critical habitat and diversity for wildlife. |
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Today,
wetland restoration is increasingly favored as a means of providing multiple
natural resource and socioeconomic benefits including flood abatement, water
quality enhancement, and wildlife habitat restoration. Landowners and farmers
are restoring wetlands as a means of treating water from drainage systems
before it is released into nearby rivers or streams. Biological activity
in wetlands can be effective at removing nitrate by converting it to nitrogen
gas through a process called de-nitrification. Researchers in Iowa suggest
that wetlands can remove from 20 to 80 percent of the annual nitrate in
subsurface drainage water depending on the ratio between the areas of drained
land and wetland. Recently, the Seven-Mile Creek Watershed Project with funding from the McKnight Foundation are exploring ways to restore wetlands while maintaining agricultural productivity and profitability. Innovative solutions include linking wetlands to subsurface drainage systems for the purpose of filtering agricultural runoff before entering streams or ground water. |
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Prairie
pothole landscape - poorly drained clay loam soils |
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Restored
wetland - scroll over image for more information |
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For
instance, in one project, a 12-inch public ditch tile (CD 58) draining
200 acres of cropland was petitioned by the Brown-Nicollet-Cottonwood
Water Quality Board and Nicollet Soil and Water Conservation District
through Minnesota Drainage Law 103e.227 to be routed into a newly restored
50-acre wetland. The wetland is expected to remove 4,400 lbs. of nitrate-N
per year and act as downstream flood control by storing up to 55-acre
feet of water during a 100-year, 24-hour storm. (Scroll over image at
left for more information) As an example of our efficiency to drain the land, take a look at the Seven Mile Creek Watershed Historical Wetlands. Historical aerial photos from seven different periods were scanned and geo-rectified to produce digital data for use in a Geographic Information System. Examples of how the information is being used: • Educate
watershed residents and policy makers |
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Farming
a Different Crop: Using Wetlands to Farm Nitrogen out of Agricultural Tile Systems The project is a cooperative project by the BNC Water
Quality Board and other partners in South Central Minnesota with funding
provided by the McKnight Foundation and Clean Water Partnership Program.
The project focus is to reduce the nitrate concentrations to the Minnesota
River and subsequently Gulf of Mexico by intercepting subsurface drainage
systems to drain into restored wetlands. A voluntary program through the
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will be used to retire the cropland
for 15 years. |
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| links | tour | | landowners | educators | site map | Brown Nicollet Cottonwood Water Quality Board 322 South Minnesota Avenue | St. Peter, MN 56082 | Phone: 507-934-4140 | Fax: 507-934-8958 |
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