Notice of Availability of the Draft Crow Wing River Watershed Restoration
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Crow Wing River Watershed Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Report October 22, 2014 wq-ws4-09a Crow Wing River Watershed Report 1 Contributors: Meghan Jacobson and Pat Conrad (Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc.) Bonnie Finnerty (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) Darrin Hoverson (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) Nate Sitz, Julie Kingsley, and Melissa Koebernick (Hubbard SWCD) Anne Oldakowski and Darren Newville (Wadena SWCD) Melissa Barrick (Crow Wing SWCD) Helen McLennan and Lance Chisholm (Morrison SWCD) John Ringle and Kelly Condiff (Cass County) Amy Warnberg and Tim Stieber (Todd County) Dan Steward and Jeff Hrubes (Board of Water and Soil Resources) Luke Stuewe (Minnesota Department of Agriculture) Todd Holman and Kristen Blann (The Nature Conservancy) The science and analysis described in this report began before the passage of the 2013 Clean Water Accountability Act. Thus, this report may not address all elements of the Clean Water Accountability Act. When this watershed is revisited (according to the 10-year cycle), the information in this report will be updated according to the required elements of a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) Report. This document is only the WRAPs report. It summarizes and references, but does not contain, the Total Maximum Daily Load documents. Crow Wing River Watershed Report i Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. ii Key Terms ............................................................................................................................. v What is the WRAPS Report? .................................................................................................. 1 Users’ Guide .......................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5 2. Watershed Conditions .................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Water Quality Assessment ............................................................................................................ 6 2.2. Water Quality Trends .................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1. Lake Trends ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.2. Stream Trends ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.3. Stressors and Sources .................................................................................................................. 12 2.3.1. Stressors of Biologically-Impaired Stream Reaches ............................................................ 12 2.3.2. Pollutant sources ................................................................................................................ 14 2.4. TMDL Summary ........................................................................................................................... 17 2.5. Protection Considerations ........................................................................................................... 18 2.5.1. Long-term Monitoring......................................................................................................... 18 2.5.2. Cold Water Fisheries ........................................................................................................... 18 2.5.3. High Value Sensitive Lakes .................................................................................................. 18 2.5.4. High Value Lakes near Water Quality Thresholds ............................................................... 18 2.5.5. Shoreline Development ...................................................................................................... 19 2.5.6. Wetland Protection ............................................................................................................. 19 2.5.7. Forest Conversion ............................................................................................................... 19 2.5.8. Agricultural Nutrient Management .................................................................................... 20 Crow Wing River Watershed Report ii 2.5.9. Road Culvert Placement ...................................................................................................... 20 2.5.10. Source-water Ground Water Protection ............................................................................. 20 2.5.11. Areas of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................... 21 2.5.12. Sensitive Shorelines ............................................................................................................ 22 3. Prioritizing and Implementing Restoration and Protection ............................................ 23 3.1. Civic Engagement ........................................................................................................................ 24 3.1.1. Steering Committee Meetings ............................................................................................ 24 3.1.2. Public Meetings ................................................................................................................... 25 3.1.3. Accomplishments and Future Plans .................................................................................... 25 3.2. Targeting of Geographic Areas ................................................................................................... 26 3.2.1. Watershed Ranking Tool ..................................................................................................... 26 3.2.2. Lake Ranking & Management Tool ..................................................................................... 26 3.2.3. Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) Model ............................................. 26 3.2.4. Impaired Lake Phosphorus Load Reductions ...................................................................... 27 3.3. Restoration & Protection Strategies ........................................................................................... 31 3.3.1. (0701010601) STRAIGHT RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions ..... 42 3.3.2. (0701010602) FISHHOOK RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions .... 44 3.3.3. (0701010603) BLUEBERRY RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions .. 49 3.3.4. (0701010604) SHELL RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions ............ 51 3.3.5. (0701010605) BELLE TAINE LAKE HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions ... 55 3.3.6. (0701010606) HEADWATERS CROW WING RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions .......................................................................................................................................... 59 3.3.7. (0701010607) BIG SWAMP CREEK HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions . 64 3.3.8. (0701010608) CAT RIVER – CROW WING RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions .......................................................................................................................................... 65 Crow Wing River Watershed Report iii 3.3.9. (0701010609) PARTRIDGE RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions ... 69 3.3.10. (0701010610) GULL RIVER – CROW WING RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions .......................................................................................................................................... 71 3.3.11. (0701010611) CROW WING RIVER HUC 10 Watershed: Proposed strategies and actions 78 4. Monitoring Plan ............................................................................................................ 80 5. References and Further Information ............................................................................. 81 Appendix A: MPCA Water Quality Assessment Results ......................................................... 82 Appendix B: Stream and Lake TMDL Summaries .................................................................. 91 Appendix C: Watershed Ranking Tool ................................................................................ 104 Appendix D: Lake Ranking & Management Tool ................................................................. 115 Appendix E: HSPF Watershed Pollutant Yields .................................................................... 124 Appendix F: Index of Stream Name, AUID & HUC 12 .......................................................... 129 Appendix G: Index of Lake Name, ID & HUC 12 .................................................................. 144 Crow Wing River Watershed Report iv Key Terms Assessment Unit Identifier (AUID): The unique water body identifier for each river reach comprised of the USGS eight-digit HUC plus a three-character code unique within each HUC. Aquatic life impairment: The presence and vitality of aquatic life is indicative of the overall water quality of a stream. A stream is considered impaired for impacts to aquatic life if the fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), macroinvertebrate IBI, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, or