Lower St. Croix Watershed
Conservation Assessment
Foreword |
Executive Summary | Summary
Table | Narrative Table of Contents
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The mission of the St.
Croix Valley Community Foundation is to advance the quality of life in the St.
Croix Valley. Fundamental to that
quality of life is the preservation of the health and beauty of the region’s
natural environment. This understanding
was one of the factors that motivated the Foundation’s founding Board of
Directors to start a community foundation that would serve the Lower St. Croix
region. As women and men who live and
work in the Valley we understand that the Foundation’s commitment to serving
our “community of communities” includes concern not only for human beings but
the for the broader community of life as well.
This understanding is further evidenced by our decision to name the
natural environment as one of the six primary “fields of interest” – areas of
special concern on which the Foundation will focus its outreach and future
grant-making.
With this commitment in place, we, the Board and staff,
then turned to the question of what the Foundation could and should do on
behalf of the environment. With little
money available for grant-making at this early stage in our development, the
most obvious answer was to launch an effort to raise money to build an
environmental endowment fund from which grants eventually could be made. From there it became clear that in order to
make such a fund attractive to potential donors, we needed to possess a clear
understanding of the issues and challenges facing the Valley. Further, a well-articulated plan outlining
the Foundation’s role in dealing with those issues and challenges was also
needed.
This
Watershed Conservation Assessment report, commissioned by the Foundation, is
the first step toward gaining that understanding and developing that plan. It is intended to provide a concise but
comprehensive summary of the environmental issues and problems facing the Lower
St. Croix Valley at the beginning of the 21st Century. The report
also details the considerable organizational assets and resources -- government
and private sector — that are operating in the region and are dealing with
environmental concerns. And, perhaps
most importantly, the report identifies gaps where needs are not adequately
being addressed and points to areas where public opinion remains divided on how
best to balance environmental protection and other competing interests. Dealing
with those gaps and differing opinions presents a challenge to the public as a
whole, if the quality of life we prize is to be preserved and shared with our
children and grandchildren. It also
offers a variety of opportunities for the Foundation as it defines where it
should focus its educational, outreach, and community building activities,
along with its future grant-making.
The Foundation’s Board and
staff wish to thank the researchers and authors for the many hours of planning,
meetings, interviews, research and writing that went into this report. Thanks also to The McKnight Foundation for
providing the challenge grant to the Foundation to cover expenses and to the
individuals whose donations met that challenge. We owe a special thanks to the individuals on the Watershed
Assessment’s advisory panel for their counsel throughout the process of
planning, researching and drafting the report.
They are: Kelly Cain, University of Wisconsin; Bill Clapp, Standing
Cedars Community Land Conservancy; Jim Erkel, Minnesota Center for
Environmental Advocacy; James Johnson, Riverway Consensus Standard; Marybeth
Lorbiecki; Buck Malick, Minnesota Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission; Dan
McGuiness, Audubon Society; Rick McMonagle, Kinnickinnic River Land Trust; and
Paul Roelandt, St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Finally, we wish to thank the more than 75 people from around the
region who agreed to be interviewed. (Their names and affiliations at the time
of the interview are listed in the appendix.) The information, data, and
informed views they offered about the Lower St. Croix Valley provided the
foundation for this report.
— St. Croix Valley Community Foundation Board of Directors
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From the scenic gorges at
St. Croix/Taylors Falls, to its confluence with the Mississippi River at
Prescott, Wisconsin, the Lower St. Croix is considered one of the most
beautiful — and one of the cleanest — large rivers in our region.
The health of the Lower
St. Croix River is closely connected to its watershed, the 1,470 square miles
in Wisconsin and Minnesota that drain into the river. One of the primary
reasons the St. Croix is such a treasure is the fact that, for much of its
journey, the river flows through parks and open spaces. But how long will this last?
The watershed is gaining new residents and developments as
Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area sprawls into western Wisconsin. The amenities of this scenic river valley,
along with the charm of its communities and the pastoral landscapes that
surround them, draw people here to live productive and enjoyable lives.
The migration of people to this region brings new human
energy and growth to some segments of the economy. At the same time, the human settlement and use of the region
requires that we give attention to the impacts of that growth on the natural
environment, scenic character, and quality of life for all who live here —
humans and other animal and plant life as well.
Since European settlement,
the Lower St. Croix watershed has experienced change. Logging of the area’s forests began in the 1830s. As the loggers moved out in the first
decades of the Twentieth Century, much of the land in the watershed was
transformed into active farms.
Population growth and development are clearly the newest changes
underway in the watershed. How this
change plays out will determine the kind of river and watershed we leave for
future generations.
The Lower St. Croix
Watershed Conservation Assessment is designed to offer an analysis of the
watershed’s health at this critical juncture: the issues and challenges it
faces, the solution strategies and efforts underway, and areas where stepped up
efforts would benefit the watershed most.
More than seventy-five
stakeholders — including residents, business people, developers, and
representatives of the government agencies and nonprofit organizations working
in the watershed — were interviewed for the report. Throughout these interviews two overarching messages came through
loud and clear: 1) the Lower St. Croix is a precious resource, and action is
urgently needed if it is to remain healthy and 2) there is no single answer to
the challenges facing the watershed — there are a number of inter-related
factors and solutions.
The matrix on the following page offers a snapshot of the ten Issues and Challenges, eight Solutions Strategies and Efforts and how they interrelate. Also included is a brief summary of how each solution is being carried out in the watershed and steps needed to increase the effectiveness of this work.
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1. Introduction and Background
A.
The
Lower St. Croix River and its Watershed
B.
The
Lower St. Croix Watershed Conservation Assessment
2. Issues and Challenges Facing the
Lower St. Croix Watershed
C.
Infrastructure
Issues Related to Development and Population Growth
Air and Water Pollution Impacts to
the River and Watershed
E.
Runoff
Pollution Linked to Development
F.
Water
Quality Problems Linked to Agriculture
G.
Other
Water Quality Concerns
H.
Recreational
Use of the River
I.
Invasive
and Exotic Species
J.
Preserving
the Scenic Value of the River
3. Solution Strategies and Efforts
A.
Land
Conservation and Restoration Programs
C.
Planning
and Design Frameworks for Managing Growth
D.
County,
Township, and Municipal Initiatives
E.
Coordinated
Planning Initiatives
F.
Education
and Interpretive Programs
H.
Research
4. Gaps Identified By Stakeholders
A.
Implementation
of Local Programs to Manage Growth
B.
Increased
Funding and Technical Assistance for Land Acquisition, Protection and
Restoration
C.
Improved
Watershed-Wide Planning
D.
Networked
Citizen-Based Stewardship Models
E.
Establishment
of a Lower St. Croix Nonprofit Organization
F.
Increased
Public Awareness of Watershed Protection
G.
Improved
Mechanisms for Measuring and Synthesizing Data
Appendices
Appendix A. Organizations Working in the Lower St. Croix Watershed
Nonprofit
Organizations
Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farms
Education
Organizations/Interpretive Centers
Appendix B. Contact Information for Units of Government in the Watershed
Federal,
State, and Regional Agencies
Local
Units of Government: Counties
Local
Units of Government: Towns, Townships, and Municipalities
Appendix C. Possible Funding Sources for Initiatives in the Lower St.
Croix Watershed
Foundations
Federal
Government
State
Government: Minnesota
State
Government: Wisconsin
Appendix D. Environmental Data and Resources
Superfund
Facilities in the Lower St. Croix Watershed
Toxic
Release Inventory System in the Lower St. Croix Watershed
Sources
of Additional Information
Appendix E. Environmental Efforts of Major Valley Businesses
Appendix F. Study Framework
People Interviewed
Format for Formal Interviews
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Introduction and Background
This chapter provides background and definition of the Lower
St. Croix watershed, and information on how the Lower St. Croix Watershed
Conservation Assessment was developed and organized.
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A. The Lower St. Croix River and its Watershed
“The graceful curve of the line of shore, the alternative
swelling and sinking of the wooded hills, the deep ravines occasionally opening
between them — the dark shadows thrown by the heights of waters, with a narrow
line of light near shore making the departure of the sun and now and then
projecting headland further out, a dark and shaggy mass — were so beautiful,
that one could not regret the scenery of the Mississippi.”
--Travel author Elizabeth Ellet, commenting on the scenic
grandeur of the
Lower St. Croix River in 1852[1]
The St. Croix River
is renowned for its natural beauty as it flows 164 miles from Upper St. Croix
Lake to its confluence with the Mississippi River. It has been a gathering place, a living and transportation
corridor for indigenous cultures, a key route for the North American fur trade,
and a river highway for logs, people, grain, and coal.
Since nearly the
beginning of European settlement in the area, the St. Croix — particularly the
wider, winding Lower St. Croix — has been a place where people enjoy boating,
swimming, and experiencing the natural beauty of the scenery. It is a river valley that people want to
call home.
The Lower St. Croix
is the last 52 miles of the main stem of the river — the portion that flows
from the twin towns of Taylors Falls, Minnesota and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin
to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Prescott, Wisconsin. This stretch of the river was designated a
Wild and Scenic River in 1972 (the Upper St. Croix was designated in 1968 when
the original Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed). The lower river itself is managed cooperatively by the states of
Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the National Park Service. A new Cooperative Management Plan is being
revised and is scheduled to be completed in 2000.
The watershed of the
Lower St. Croix River includes all the land areas that drain into this portion
of the St. Croix and its tributaries.
Though not the full watershed, the Lower St. Croix Watershed consists of
1,470 square miles. Approximately 1,053
square miles of the watershed are in Wisconsin and 417 are in Minnesota. Portions of five counties are in the
watershed: Wisconsin’s Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties and Minnesota’s
Chisago and Washington Counties.
Prior to European
settlement in the 1830s, more than half of the Lower St. Croix watershed was
covered in forest. More than 33 percent
of the land in the valley was covered in oak savannah and prairie, and the rest
was a combination of swamp, lake, marsh, and burned areas.[2] Much of what is now eastern Washington,
western Polk, and St. Croix Counties was covered with upland prairies of big
and little bluestem, Indian grass, needle grass, grama grasses, and a variety
of composite forbes.[3]
Following the Treaty
of 1837, the United States obtained the area from the Dakota and Ojibwe, and
the forests in the Lower St. Croix watershed were intensively logged. From 1839 through 1914, more than 15 billion
board feet of timber were removed from the basin. Land use soon shifted to agriculture.
By 1973, more than 60
percent of the land in the watershed was in agricultural use. The amount of forested land had been reduced
by half, representing less than 24 percent of the landscape. Native prairie was nearly nonexistent,
wetlands had been drained, and 2.4 percent of the landscape was classified as
urban. [4] Analysis of 1991 aerial photography revealed
an increased trend toward urbanization, with farmland being converted to urban
uses. The chart below summarizes data collected by the Minnesota-Wisconsin
Boundary Area Commission on these land cover changes.
|
Land
Cover Changes in the Lower St. Croix Watershed 1973-1991 |
||
|
Land Cover Type |
1973 |
1991 |
|
Urban |
2.55% |
5.84% |
|
Cultivated |
60.5% |
56.54% |
|
Grass |
6% |
6.08% |
|
Forest |
23.75% |
23.96% |
|
Conifer
Plantations |
0 |
.44% |
|
Water |
4.44% |
4.46% |
|
Wetland |
2.75 |
2.68% |
The population of the
five counties comprising the Lower St. Croix watershed has nearly doubled since
the designation of the Lower St. Croix River as a National Scenic Riverway 25
years ago. Projections for population
growth for the five counties indicate that more and more land in the watershed
will be converted from farmland and natural areas to developments, roads, and
other uses needed to accommodate growth.
While land cover
changes and trends are well documented, changes over time in the water quality
of the river and its tributaries are more difficult to assess. Overall, water quality tests find the St.
Croix River to be in compliance with most standards, most of the time. Research conducted in 1994 comparing water
quality data from 1950-1975 with data from 1976-1990 found that general water
quality variables did not indicate striking differences over the period of
record.[5] It should be noted, however, that changes in
methodology, detection limits, and missing values added difficulty to this
comparison.
More recent analysis
of the Upper and Lower St. Croix River paints a less positive picture of
current water quality. An assessment of
1998 data found that within the 195 miles of the basin monitored by the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, only 46.4 percent of the water in the St.
Croix watershed is safe for full body contact; areas of particular concern are
the north branch of the Sunrise and Grindstone Rivers.[6] There are also fish advisories for mercury
and PCB contamination in most reaches of the Lower St. Croix River.
The health of the
watershed’s groundwater, from which most residents obtain their drinking water,
is tracked primarily on a county-by-county basis. In certain areas within the
watershed, agricultural runoff has led to contamination of wells and
groundwater resources. Leaking septic
systems and development in geologically sensitive areas have also led to
isolated incidents of groundwater contamination.
The combined, general
data on the health of the Lower St. Croix watershed tells a story of land and
water that have been affected by humans, but not yet severely degraded. However, there is widespread concern that a
new chapter is unfolding — one where increased recreational use, unchecked
growth, and other developments place the great river and its watershed in
jeopardy.
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B. The Lower St. Croix Watershed Conservation Assessment
The Lower St. Croix
Watershed Conservation Assessment was developed for three primary reasons:
·
To guide the St.
Croix Valley Community Foundation in setting its agenda for its grant-making
and other possible projects it may initiate regarding the natural environment
of the region;
·
To elevate in the
minds of the public the major environmental issues facing the watershed; and
·
To enhance the
dialogue among stakeholders as the foundation seeks solutions that have strong
public involvement and support.
With the guidance of an advisory panel, researchers developed a list of stakeholders in the Lower St. Croix watershed, including citizens, government representatives, non-profit organizations, education and research organizations, developers, businesspeople and others. In all, more than 75 stakeholders were interviewed for this project. These individuals were asked to define what they consider to be the issues and challenges facing the watershed as well as some of the solutions and resources in place. They were asked for success stories and suggestions for what could be done that is not being done.
The
results of these stakeholder interviews form the basis for Chapter 2, “Issues
and Challenges” and Chapter 3, “Solution Models and Efforts.” The recommendations for “What the Watershed
Needs Now” (Chapter 4) were also gleaned from a qualitative compilation of the
opinions and assessments of stakeholders interviewed for the report. In addition, these chapters include
information supplied by stakeholders and from some of the extensive research
that has taken place around the watershed.
The
report’s appendices include a range of data and contact information, including
organizations, units of government, and potential sources of support for
efforts in the Lower St. Croix watershed.
Environmental data and resources are also listed as are examples of
environmental initiatives by some of the St. Croix Valley's major businesses.
Individual stakeholders interviewed for the report and their affiliations can
be found in Appendix F.
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Issues and Challenges Facing the Lower St. Croix Watershed
In this section, we highlight some of the key challenges and issues
identified by stakeholders in the Lower St. Croix watershed, as well as those
explored in research studies, polls, and other projects around the watershed.
There are ten specific topics included below.
Each topic includes a “case in point” as an example of how one issue or
challenge is playing out in the watershed.
To clarify these issues and challenges, topics are grouped into three
main categories: Land Use in the Watershed (topics A, B and C);) Air and Water
Pollution Impact to the River and Watershed (topics D, E, F and G); and
Riverway Issues (topics H, I and J).
How land is
used in the watershed has a significant effect on the health of the Lower St.
Croix River. Whether land is a park or
natural area, a residential or business development, industrial area or farm
field, each acre of the watershed has an impact on the environment — and the
character — of the area. Three key
stakeholder concerns connected to land use are covered here: sprawl and
development, the loss of agricultural lands, and the infrastructure needed to
accommodate population growth in the watershed.
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A. Sprawl and
Development
Sprawl
is a pattern of development through which urban centers expand unchecked into
areas that have been converted from farmland, natural areas, or open
space. The new residential
developments, business districts, roads, sewer systems, and other infrastructure
that go along with sprawling growth lead to financial stresses on the
community, environmental problems, and abandonment of existing core cities.
Many
communities in the United States and around the world are experiencing the
problem of urban sprawl, even in areas that are not experiencing population
growth. For example, between 1970 and
1990, the population of Cleveland, Ohio area fell by 11 percent. Over the same period the urbanized area
around Cleveland — the housing developments, shopping centers, and business
districts — grew by one third.[7]
Not
all sprawl occurs around large urban areas.
Rural sprawl is also a concern as small town populations grow and people
begin building houses far apart from one another on what was once the open
countryside outside of town. As more and
more “baby boomers” retire, and technological advances lead to decentralized
workplaces, many people are flocking to areas that were once considered too
remote for commuting to large centers of employment.
Both
urban and rural sprawl are concerns for the Lower St. Croix watershed, as is
the rapid population growth which is taking place in Minnesota’s Washington and
Chisago Counties and Wisconsin’s St. Croix, Pierce, and Polk counties.
In
the thirteen years from 1985 to 1998, St. Croix County’s population grew by 27
percent. Over the same period of time,
Pierce and Polk grew by 11 and 13 percent respectively. St. Croix County’s
growth rate leads Wisconsin’s 71 counties.[8] While much of the population growth in the
Wisconsin portion of the Lower St. Croix watershed is made up of people who
commute to the Twin Cities, data indicate a rise in businesses as well. For example, Hudson, Wisconsin recently
completed a 45.5-acre industrial park occupied by 30 businesses, and is
planning a new 140-acre industrial park next to it. Wisconsin’s workers compensation and tax rates on business real
estate — which are significantly lower than those of Minnesota — are cited by
many as reasons for this business boom.
In
Minnesota, Chisago County was the third and Washington County the fifth
fastest-growing counties in the state based on percentage of growth between
1997 and 1998. Washington County gained
4,742 new residents over this period while smaller but faster-growing Chisago grew
by 1,301.[9]
According
to the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council, this growth trend is expected to
continue for at least the next 20 years.
Between 2000 and 2020, the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area is expected to
grow by 482,400 people. More than
85,000 of these new residents are expected to live in Washington County (the
only county in the Lower St. Croix watershed that is included in Metropolitan
Council projections).[10]
Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area Population Growth Data and Projections[11]
|
||||||
|
Year |
1980 |
1990 |
2000 |
2010 |
2020 |
|
Population
|
1,985,873 |
2,288,729 |
2,608,990 |
2,838,730 |
3,091,390 |
|
|
% change |
N/A |
13% |
12% |
8% |
8% |
|
Population
growth is not automatically the same as sprawl. When planned according to “smart growth” principles and other
conservation-oriented development patterns, significant population growth can
be accommodated without sprawl.
There are a number of data sources on Twin Cities sprawl, and some differences of opinion as to the severity of the situation. The Twin Cities was ranked eighth on the Sierra Club’s most sprawling communities list of 1998. Findings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have also characterized the Twin Cities as an area where open space and farmland are being lost at an alarming rate. Data released by the Metropolitan Council in June, 2000 portrays a more positive situ