Upper St. Louis River Watershed Mining Area Hydrology

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) retained Tetra Tech, Inc. to develop analyses of hydrology and surface water – ground water interactions in the St. Louis River portion of the taconite mining area of the Minnesota Iron Range. This work is supplemental to ongoing work being conducted to develop a comprehensive watershed model of the St. Louis River basin. The goal of this project was to develop a more detailed understanding of the impacts of mining operations on the surface water hydrology of streams in the St. Louis River portion of the Minnesota Iron Range. This required a better understanding of the details of the water balance and water management at Iron Range taconite mining and processing operations, including the interactions of surface and ground water. This work is designed to increase understanding of these interactions in concert with the development of watershed and surface water models of hydrology and water quality in the St. Louis watershed.