Final Roseau River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy Report

The Roseau River Watershed (RRW) is situated in northwest Minnesota and southern Manitoba, within
the Red River of the North major drainage basin. The Minnesota portion of the RRW has a drainage area
of 1,062 square miles, which spans portions of the following counties: Roseau, Lake of the Woods,
Beltrami, Kittson, and Marshall. The City of Roseau is the only incorporated community located within
the Minnesota portion of the RRW. The watershed spans two ecoregions, the Northern Minnesota
Wetlands (NMW) to the north and east, and the Lake Agassiz Plain (LAP) centrally located. The
predominant land use aligns with the ecoregions, where wetlands primarily occupy the NMW area and
cultivated crops concentrate in the LAP Ecoregion. To correct impairments and prevent the degradation of water resources, implementation of best management practices (BMPs) will be required within the watershed. The BMPs may be structural or non-structural, and may be applied directly to surface waters, the landscape, or operational and management practices. Examples of BMPs that may be applied directly to surface waters include the removal or modification of barriers (e.g., dams and private road crossings) that are impeding fish passage, evaluation of culverts for resizing or replacement, multi-purpose flood control structures to provide detention/retention to attenuate peak flows and augment base flows, and stream restoration activities that include the principles of natural channel design.