Bois de Sioux River Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report

The Bois de Sioux River Watershed lies within the headwaters region of the Red River Basin. Encompassing an area of 718,685 acres, the watershed lies within west-central Minnesota, southeastern North Dakota, and northeastern South Dakota. Only the portion of the watershed located in Minnesota is addressed in this report. The land within the watershed is used predominately for agricultural row crop production. Extensive hydrologic alterations such as stream channelization and ditching have been made throughout the Bois de Sioux River Watershed to promote soil drainage. Flooding occurs frequently within the watershed due to the low gradient nature of the watershed, broad flood plains, and often saturated soil conditions during spring snowmelt. Major rivers and streams include the Bois de Sioux River, Rabbit River, and Doran Slough. Numerous small unnamed creeks and ditches occur throughout the watershed. There are also 325 lakes greater than 10 acres in surface area within the Bois de Sioux River Watershed. Major lakes within the watershed include Lake Traverse, Upper Lightning, and Mud Lake.In 2010 the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began an intensive watershed monitoring (IWM) effort of surface waters within the Bois de Sioux River Watershed. Twelve sites were sampled for biology at the outlet of variable sized sub-watersheds. In 2012 the surface water bodies within the watershed were assessed for aquatic life, aquatic recreation, and aquatic consumption use support. Seven stream segments (AUIDs) and three lakes were assessed. Ten stream segments were not assessed due to insufficient data, modified channel condition, or their status as limited resource waters. Also, numerous lakes were not assessed due to insufficient data.