Hawk Creek Watershed and Surrounding Direct Minnesota River Tributaries Restoration and Protection Strategies

Minnesota has adopted a "watershed approach" to address water quality within the state's 80 major watersheds. The watershed approach follows a 10-year cycle where water bodies are 1) monitored for chemistry and biology and assessed to determine if they are fishable and swimmable, 2) pollutants and stressors and their sources are identified, and then local partners and citizens are engaged to help 3) develop strategies to restore and protect water bodies, and 4) plan and implement restoration and protection projects. This WRAPS report summarizes work done in Steps 1 - 3 above in this first cycle of the Watershed Approach in the Hawk Watershed. The Hawk Watershed area drains approximately 626,000 acres to the Minnesota River. Fifteen towns and cities are in or partially in, the watershed including: Bird Island, Clara City, Granite Falls, Montevideo, Olivia, and Willmar, as are portions of three counties: Renville, Kandiyohi, and Chippewa. Land use in the watershed is dominated by cultivated crops. Roughly, 35,000 people and 156,000 feedlot animal units reside in the watershed.