Final Lake of the Woods Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load Study

The greater Lake of the Woods Watershed (LOWW) falls on the U.S. and Canadian border. This study will focus on the Minnesota portion of the LOWW (Hydrologic Unit Code [HUC] 09030009) draining 734,783 acres in the northernmost Minnesota counties of Lake of the Woods and Roseau. The LOWW's namesake, the Lake of the Woods, takes up approximately 42% of the total LOWW area in Minnesota, with approximately 70% of the remaining watershed area in wetlands and another 20% of land use in agriculture, found mainly along the southern lake shore of the Lake of the Woods (MPCA 2016a). The findings in this TMDL study were used to guide the development of implementation strategies as part of the Lake of the Woods Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) process.