The Root River Watershed (RRW) in southeastern Minnesota is a focus of the state's Clean Water Initiative because of its high-value ecological, recreational, and agricultural resources. Accordingly, several agencies are currently assessing land use impacts on RRW trout streams. The bedrock in the watershed is predominantly Ordovician sedimentary rocks, including carbonate rocks forming the largest karst terrain in the upper Midwest. The karst terrain poses significant challenges in assessing and managing water resources. In order to provide a baseline for assessing future agricultural BMP implementation, we performed a detailed geomorphic assessment of the morphology and hydraulics of three RRW subwatersheds (Bridge Creek [BC], Crystal [...]
