Final Wild Rice River Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load Report

The Wild Rice River Watershed (WRRW), which is identified by the 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC-8) 09020108, is located in northwestern Minnesota and covers an area of 1,636 square miles in portions of six Minnesota counties (listed in order of the percentage of watershed area)—Mahnomen (32%), Norman (28%), Becker (13%), Clay (13%), Clearwater (13%), and Polk (<1%). The Wild Rice River's flow direction is generally east to west, originating in the Northern Lakes and Forest (NLF) Ecoregion in the east. From there the Wild Rice River flows west through the North Central Hardwood Forests (NCHF) Ecoregion into the Lake Agassiz Plain (LAP) Ecoregion where the river enters the Red River of the North. Land use within the watershed is predominantly agricultural in the west, abruptly transitioning to lakes and forests in the east. The vast majority of the eastern half of the WRRW overlaps with the boundary of the White Earth Nation and off-reservation tribal trust land; 47.5% of the drainage area of the WRRW is tribal land.