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Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 1

NEWS FROM THE RUM RIVER WATERSHEDVolume 4 Issue 2 Fall 2009

Upcoming Topics

In this Issue: Groundwater and Aquiferswhats the difference? How does knowinthis affect our decisions for the Rum RiverWatershed and neighboring watersheds?

Winter Issue: Annual Watershed ofCreativity with the Pine and Prairie WritingClub of East Central MN

Spring Issue: Migration along the Rum ~ byFish! (and Bugs ~ and Everything Else ~~)

Summer Issue: Friends of the Rum RiverCommunity Project: Integrating InfiltrationSystems in the Rum River Watershed

Hey, what s with all this touchy feely stuff! Look atthe 5 th and 6 th graders getting into examining a fish!And a spotted salamander!

The Friends of the Rum River had an awesome yearagain, with booths at two different field day events inthe spring, and our annual Rum River Cleanup inSeptember (see next page.) On May 7 th we volunteeredas guides and helping with logistics at Isanti CountysSpringvale County Park, for 6 th graders from the area

. Then on May 13 th , Friends of the Rum River hosted abooth right on the banks of the Rum in the Milaca CityPark, with over 300 5 th graders from Princeton on upto Lake Mille Lacs navigating a series of activities. The

theme of the FRR booth: Whats in the Rum? Thosekids had a great time, and must have been geniuses! Iasked one class from Isle Elementary: How big is theRum River Watershed? When one boy replied 1557square miles, we were all impressed. (I was going tosay 1552 square miles, but wasnt about to quibble.)

Look on through this newsletter to see what else hasbeen going on watershed wide in 2009!

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The Friends of the Rum River would like to thank all the great volunteers (about 50 of you!) who wadedinto the Rum River or literally tipped canoes and kayaks over in order to give it a face lift on Saturday,September 19 th . We all had a great time canoeing, kayaking, and john-boating the nine mile stretch ofriver between Country Camping (just south of the city of Isanti,) to the Rum River North County Park(

just above St. Francis.) We enjoyed the wonderful weather, taking in beautiful vistas, following baldeagles, kingfishers, green herons and other wildlife as we poked, delved, and dragged out litter. And didwe find litter not only the leaf and branch kind that really ought to be there, but also beer and popcans, gum wrappers, four or five tires, and everything in between. In fact, we dragged out about 2000pounds of stuff that is, one Ton!

So, how can you find one ton of litter in the Rum, which is supposed to be protected, designated wildand scenic, as well as a great recreational river?

Theres the problem. Most human detritus is found where people build their houses along rivers, andalso where they use rivers heavily for recreation. A further inventory on what was pulled out includedone abandoned riding lawn mower, two derelict snowmobiles, the topper off a truck, and two boats yes the battered hulls of two boats! -- that took several canoes to haul (fortunately no human remains.)The water level was low couldnt quite get the half sunk en wrecks to the exit point, so left them atthe north end of Rum River North County Park, which the MN Department of Natural Resources kindlyremoved later on.

Nine Mile Rum River Clean-up from Isanti County to Anoka County

September 19, 2009

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Special thanks go to: the canoeing class of the Anoka Ramsey Community College Cambridge (gung hoon getting out those boats), the singles group from First Baptist of Cambridge, and numerous othervolunteers who came singly or with families and friends, from as far north as Milaca and Princeton,down to the Twin Cities. Subway and Pizza Pub provided ample food at the take- out, and McDonaldsprovided their famous Orange Bowl for drink. Cub Foods donated bottled drinking water. The MN Dept

of Natural Resources provided trash bags, along with gloves for picking up sharps.Additional thanks goes to Patti Midlo (owner of Country Camping) and her crew, who provided riveraccess at the Country Camping boat launch, coffee to get us going, free use of nine canoes and a kayak,and free shuttle service for all participants and their watercraft between the put-in and takeoutpoints. What can I say; each volunteer deserves personal recognition you were all awesome.

Keep this great activity in mind, and join the Friends of the Rum River next spring when we plan toclean up the Rum River downstream from Milaca. Check out the FRR blog site for announcements of thisand other upcoming Friends of the Rum River events, and for photos and video coverage of the 2009

Rum River cleanup at http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com .

Ground Water versus Surface Water Aquifers versus Watersheds

Despite having had a fair amount of training in natural resources, particularly focusing on riversystems and wetlands, this past summer it occurred to me that I didnt really know what an aquiferwas. Maybe thats because Ive never had a formal course in geology but what is an aquifer? How

does an aquifer differ from groundwater or does it? Are they ever the same thing? Are the aquifersbelow the Rum River watershed (the Rum River drainage system) a part of the watershed? If not, oreven if so, how do the aquifers interact with the rest of the watershed anyway?

I decided to call up Dale Setterholm, Associate Director of the MN Geological Survey, who had justgiven a fascinating presentation on the wells and aquifers of this region to the Isanti County WaterPlanning Task Force. It seemed to me that a good explanation of this topic could assist many of thedecision makers in this region, particularly those who have to decide what kind of impact potentialdevelopers and industries could have on the groundwater and surface water resources of CentralMinnesota and ultimately, all of our state, and beyond. This information could also assist thosedevelopers and industries in determining how to design their enterprises in the most ecologically soundmanner possible. Bit by bit we can figure these things out.

I dont think any Minnesotan really wants to deplete or degrade Minnesotas water resources. Ideally,most or all of the groundwater that is removed should be recharged into the local system, notevaporated and wafted off to the next state, or flushed down our streams and rivers to theGulf of Mexico. Read on Dale gives a great introduction to surface water, groundwater, and aquifers,and to how Minnesotas water cycle really works.
http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/

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Ground Water, Surface Water, and Sustainable Water Use

Dale R. SetterholmGeologist, Associate Director

Minnesota Geological Survey612-627-4780, ext. 223

The water we rely on for drinking, for industry, for recreation, and for habitat is continually cycling fromthe atmosphere to the land (or water bodies on the land) and back to the atmosphere. That cycle canoccur quite quickly, or it can take thousands of years depending on the geology of the area. It isimportant to realize that ground water and surface water are the same resource, and they differ only inwhether the water is exposed at the land surface where we can see it (surface water), or it lies beneaththe ground (ground water). Figure 1 illustrates this hydrologic cycle.

Figure 1

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When rain falls on the land surface, or snow melts, the water can evaporate, it can run over the landsurface to a river or lake, or it can seep into the ground. Although variations occur, on average about 20to 25% of the precipitation in Minnesota becomes ground water. Some earth materials have sufficientporosity (spaces) and permeability (connections between spaces) to host and transmit ground water atrates sufficient to supply a well. We call these materials an aquifer if they contain ground water. Theyinclude sand, gravel, sandstone, and some limestone formations as examples. Non-aquifer materials

can also be saturated with ground water, but the water is effectively trapped and moves exceedinglyslowly. These materials are called aquitards, or confining layers, and clay-rich sediment left by theglaciers (called till), and shale, and most igneous and metamorphic rocks are examples. Thearrangement of these materials has a great effect on how long it takes water to cycle from theatmosphere to the land, and back to the atmosphere. Figure 2 shows how non-aquifer materials affectthe timing of water circulation. Ground water is eventually discharged to the land surface, for example toa river or lake or spring, and water near the land surface is also transpired to the atmosphere by plants.Rivers continue to flow even when precipitation has not occurred recently. That flow is supplied byground water discharging through the banks of the river.

In the southeastern third of Minnesota there is a vertical sequence of sedimentary bedrock formations,many of which act as aquifers. These aquifers hold a great amount of ground water in storage, and thepopulation of this area, including the Twin Cities, uses these aquifers. Over much of the rest of Minnesotathe under lying bedrock formations are igneous and metamorphic rocks that, for the most part, dont havethe porosity and permeability to store or transmit ground water. For that reason, supplies of ground watermust be found in the glacial sediment that lies above the bedrock. There is less ground water in storage,and the cycle time of water from the atmosphere into the land and back is relatively shorter. Thisarrangement of aquifers is illustrated in figure 3. The Rum River traverses both of these terrains.

Figure 2

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Minnesota has higher precipitation rates than the arid western United States, and our geology has alsoprovided relatively more places to store and transmit water (aquifers). For that reason our supply ofground water has mostly been sufficient for our needs, and we also have a landscape with lots of surfacewater that we value as habitat, scenery, and for recreational opportunities. However, the rate at which weuse water is increasing along with our population, and there are indications we may be approaching somelimits.

The ultimate limit on water use is not how much is stored in the ground. A banking analogy is useful here.

Think of precipitation as income, discharge as spending, and aquifers as a savings account. If ourspending exceeds our income, our savings account must shrink. No matter how much money we had inthat account as long as spending exceeds income the amount in savings will shrink and inevitably therewill be none left. The key to sustainability is understanding the rate at which water arrives (precipitationand recharge), making sure discharge is sufficient for ecological needs, and monitoring aquifers to makesure wa ter levels dont diminish over time. Using the same analogy, we can dip into our savings duringhard times (use aquifers more heavily during drought), but during good times we need to replenish oursavings (let aquifers recover). Over the long run spendi ng cant exceed income.

When we pump water from an aquifer it must respond in one of three ways. Either the aquifer capturesmore incoming water (recharge), or discharge from the aquifer is reduced, or the amount of water in the

aquifer is reduced and the water level falls. Recharge comes from precipitation, and if the aquifer takesmore of it, there must be less recharge somewhere else or less flow on the land surface (runoff). If thedischarge is reduced, we would expect to see fewer springs, and lower lake or river levels. This wouldreduce the habitat and ecological services provided by surface water. Ongoing reduction of aquifer levelswould be unsustainable. Clearly, to manage our water resource, both surface and ground water, we needto be able to establish a budget such that our aquifers and surface water bodies can continue to providethe services we need.

Figure 3

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Upcoming Events

Next Friends of the Rum River Meeting: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 7 8:30 pm at theMinnCo Credit Union Community Room in Cambridge, MN. Special Speaker: Dale R. Setterholm,Geologist, Associate Director, Minnesota Geological Survey. If you enjoyed Dale s article in thisissue of NRRW, just wait until you hear him in person! Come ready to learn and be stimulated, andbring your questions. Location: 235 1st Ave. W, Cambridge, MN 55008. Directions: Go two blockswest of downtown Main Street on Hwy 95, then one block south on Birch St. Turn left into parking lot.Door on east side of building. If you are coming from the west, realize the streets are alphabeticalfrom the Rum River bridge Fern, Elm, Dellwood, Cypress, Birch, Ashland, then Main St.

March meeting: We may check out the facilities at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum I hear they areawesome, and can have our special presentation there. Coordinate that with a field trip, perhaps toMille Lacs Kathio State Park. Migration is always a hot topic! I d like find out where water bugs andfish travel in the fall, winter, summer, and spring, and hey, how about those zebra mussels!

May meeting: Back to Bunker Hills County Park Activity Center in Andover, MN. Will let you all in on anew project in the works for interested people and organizations of the Rum River Watershed andvicinity: Integrating Infiltration Systems! Duh, whats that? Why, rain gardens, buffer strips,

permeable paver systems whatever system that can clean up waste water as it soaks back into theground and into our aquifers! Exciting stuff here and good looking,too. And Bunker Hills has the bestfloating bog walk around! Great field trip potential.

This is all subject to change and modification , but help me out here, your suggestions and ideas forpresentations and activities are always welcome also some sweat equity -- otherwise we may go toquarterly meetings. What can I say, we really haven t had a formal public meeting for the past year! I llmake a point of doing better keeping you updated on FRR s focus group meetings as well. Fun.

So, hope to see yah all in January... Call if questions 612-309-5838, [email protected] - KE

To establish that budget we need to understand the pathways for water transfer from the land surface toaquifers, and from aquifers to surface water features. We also need to establish the size and location ofour aquifers. Mapping geologic materials and measuring water levels enables us to develop that budget atscales useful to water managers. There are additional complexities, such as understanding the fate ofwater after we use it. Is the water returned to the ground (example: a septic system) or is it lost to theatmosphere (examples: steam from industrial uses, or water lost to transpiration from irrigating a golfcourse)? Sus tainable water also requires that we dont diminish the quality of surface or ground water suchthat it isnt acceptable for our uses. Minnesota is making good progress in mapping its geology, measuringhydrologic features, and developing procedures to ensure sustainable management.

For additional resources see:

Sustainability of Ground Water Resources USGS Circular 1186, by William M. Alley, Thomas E. Reilly, and O. Lehn Franke, 1999http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1186/pdf/circ1186.pdf
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1186/pdf/circ1186.pdfhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1186/pdf/circ1186.pdfhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1186/pdf/circ1186.pdfmailto:[email protected]

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Mission Statement:

To provide a base of knowledge that we can use to make wise decisions concerning theRum River Watershed, and to preserve, enhance, and enjoy its resources.

Vision StatementTo improve our ability to care for the Rum River Watershed and all of the associated

watersheds that make up the Mississippi River system.

Contact Information:

Kriste Ericsson, EditorPO Box 82, Grandy, MN [email protected]

To sign up for this free email newsletter, send an email to:[email protected]

Online link to the Friends of the Rum River blog:http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

NRRW Vol. 4-2 09

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