Fish Communities of Minnesota River Flood Plain Lakes

For approximately 50 miles, from Belle Plaine to the mouth of the Minnesota River, several lakes and wetlands dot the flood plain that includes portions of Carver, Dakota, Hennepin and Scott counties (Appendix X). Most of this river reach's adjacent shorelands are large undeveloped tracts of public lands that include Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area and Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. In most cases, these flood plain lakes have no or very primitive watercraft access. Some of these waters are accessible only via hiking trails or from watercraft on the Minnesota River. Because of these waters' remoteness, inaccessibility, or shallowness, their fish communities are rarely, if ever, surveyed. In 2006, fish were sampled in 21 flood plain lakes to establish baseline data on community composition, species occurrence and relative abundance.