MONITORING WATER QUALITY IN THE SEVEN MILE CREEK WATERSHED

Before European settlement, the landscape of the Seven Mile Creek watershed in south-central Minnesota was dominated by wetlands and prairies. After European settlement, monocrop agriculture became an integrated part of the landscape and is unlikely to diminish soon. Therefore, it is important to understand the consequences for water quality in the region, in order to make better decisions for resource conservation . Specifically, this watershed is on the list of impaired waters for aquatic life, aquatic recreation, and drinking water. Through the use of best management practices (BMPs) like buffer strips and bioreactors, some farmers are taking action to improve water quality , but how effective are these BMPs, especially during storm events? By testing for nitrate, total phosphorus, total suspended solids and E. coli from spring to fall, we have been able to track improvements and effectiveness of BMPs from 2016 to the present. We believe some improvement has been made in total suspended solids loads, but further work is necessary to disentangle the nitrate story from increasing streamflows in recent years.