Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 1

NEWS FROM THE RUM RIVER WATERSHED

Volume 4 Issue 2 Fall 2009
Upcoming Topics
 In this Issue: Groundwater and Aquifers –
what’s the difference? How does knowing
this affect our decisions for the Rum River
Watershed and neighboring watersheds?

 Winter Issue: Annual Watershed of

Creativity with the Pine and Prairie Writing
Club of East Central MN

 Spring Issue: Migration along the Rum ~ by

Fish! (and Bugs ~ and Everything Else ~~)

 Summer Issue: Friends of the Rum River

Community Project: Integrating Infiltration
Systems in the Rum River Watershed
Hey, what’s with all this touchy – feely stuff! Look at
the 5th and 6th graders getting into examining a fish!
And a spotted salamander!

The Friends of the Rum River had an awesome year

again, with booths at two different field day events in
the spring, and our annual Rum River Cleanup in
September (see next page.) On May 7th we volunteered
as guides and helping with logistics at Isanti County’s
Springvale County Park, for 6th graders from the area

. Then on May 13th, Friends of the Rum River hosted a

booth right on the banks of the Rum in the Milaca City
Park, with over 300 5th graders from Princeton on up
to Lake Mille Lacs navigating a series of activities. The
theme of the FRR booth: “What’s in the Rum?” Those
kids had a great time, and must have been geniuses! I
asked one class from Isle Elementary: “How big is the
Rum River Watershed?” When one boy replied “1557
square miles”, we were all impressed. (I was going to
say “1552 square miles”, but wasn’t about to quibble.)

Look on through this newsletter to see what else has

been going on watershed wide in 2009!
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 2

Nine Mile Rum River Clean-up from

Isanti County to Anoka County
September 19, 2009

The Friends of the Rum River would like to thank all the great volunteers (about 50 of you!) who waded
into the Rum River or literally tipped canoes and kayaks over in order to give it a face lift on Saturday,
September 19th. We all had a great time canoeing, kayaking, and john-boating the nine mile stretch of
river between Country Camping (just south of the city of Isanti,) to the Rum River North County Park(
just above St. Francis.) We enjoyed the wonderful weather, taking in beautiful vistas, following bald
eagles, kingfishers, green herons and other wildlife as we poked, delved, and dragged out litter. And did
we find litter – not only the leaf and branch kind that really ought to be there, but also beer and pop
cans, gum wrappers, four or five tires, and everything in between. In fact, we dragged out about 2000
pounds of stuff – that is, one Ton!

So, how can you find one ton of litter in the Rum, which is supposed to be protected, designated wild
and scenic, as well as a great recreational river?

There’s the problem. Most human detritus is found where people build their houses along rivers, and
also where they use rivers heavily for recreation. A further inventory on what was pulled out included
one abandoned riding lawn mower, two derelict snowmobiles, the topper off a truck, and two boats – yes
– the battered hulls of two boats! -- that took several canoes to haul (fortunately… no human remains.)
The water level was low – couldn’t quite get the half sunken wrecks to the exit point, so left them at
the north end of Rum River North County Park, which the MN Department of Natural Resources kindly
removed later on.
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 3

Special thanks go to: the canoeing class of the Anoka Ramsey Community College – Cambridge (gung ho
on getting out those boats), the singles group from First Baptist of Cambridge, and numerous other
volunteers who came singly or with families and friends, from as far north as Milaca and Princeton,
down to the Twin Cities. Subway and Pizza Pub provided ample food at the take-out, and McDonald’s
provided their famous Orange Bowl for drink. Cub Foods donated bottled drinking water. The MN Dept
of Natural Resources provided trash bags, along with gloves for picking up sharps.

Additional thanks goes to Patti Midlo (owner of Country Camping) and her crew, who provided river
access at the Country Camping boat launch, coffee to get us going, free use of nine canoes and a kayak,
and free shuttle service for all participants and their watercraft between the put-in and takeout
points. What can I say; each volunteer deserves personal recognition – you were all awesome.

Keep this great activity in mind, and join the Friends of the Rum River next spring when we plan to
clean up the Rum River downstream from Milaca. Check out the FRR blog site for announcements of this
and other upcoming Friends of the Rum River events, and for photos and video coverage of the 2009
Rum River cleanup at http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com.

Ground Water versus Surface Water…

Aquifers versus Watersheds…
Despite having had a fair amount of training in natural resources, particularly focusing on river
systems and wetlands, this past summer it occurred to me that I didn’t really know what an “aquifer”
was. Maybe that’s because I’ve never had a formal course in geology – but – what is an aquifer? How
does an aquifer differ from groundwater – or does it? Are they ever the same thing? Are the aquifers
below the Rum River watershed (the Rum River drainage system) a part of the watershed? If not, or
even if so, how do the aquifers interact with the rest of the watershed anyway?

I decided to call up Dale Setterholm, Associate Director of the MN Geological Survey, who had just
given a fascinating presentation on the wells and aquifers of this region to the Isanti County Water
Planning Task Force. It seemed to me that a good explanation of this topic could assist many of the
decision makers in this region, particularly those who have to decide what kind of impact potential
developers and industries could have on the groundwater and surface water resources of Central
Minnesota – and ultimately, all of our state, and beyond. This information could also assist those
developers and industries in determining how to design their enterprises in the most ecologically sound
manner possible. Bit by bit we can figure these things out.

I don’t think any Minnesotan really wants to deplete or degrade Minnesota’s water resources. Ideally,
most or all of the groundwater that is removed should be recharged into the local system, not
evaporated and wafted off to the next state, or flushed down our streams and rivers to the
Gulf of Mexico. Read on – Dale gives a great introduction to surface water, groundwater, and aquifers,
and to how Minnesota’s water cycle really works.
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 4

Ground Water, Surface Water, and Sustainable Water Use

Dale R. Setterholm
Geologist, Associate Director
Minnesota Geological Survey
612-627-4780, ext. 223

The water we rely on for drinking, for industry, for recreation, and for habitat is continually cycling from
the atmosphere to the land (or water bodies on the land) and back to the atmosphere. That cycle can
occur quite quickly, or it can take thousands of years depending on the geology of the area. It is
important to realize that ground water and surface water are the same resource, and they differ only in
whether the water is exposed at the land surface where we can see it (surface water), or it lies beneath
the ground (ground water). Figure 1 illustrates this hydrologic cycle.

Figure 1
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 5

When rain falls on the land surface, or snow melts, the water can evaporate, it can run over the land
surface to a river or lake, or it can seep into the ground. Although variations occur, on average about 20
to 25% of the precipitation in Minnesota becomes ground water. Some earth materials have sufficient
porosity (spaces) and permeability (connections between spaces) to host and transmit ground water at
rates sufficient to supply a well. We call these materials an aquifer if they contain ground water. They
include sand, gravel, sandstone, and some limestone formations as examples. Non-aquifer materials
can also be saturated with ground water, but the water is effectively trapped and moves exceedingly
slowly. These materials are called aquitards, or confining layers, and clay-rich sediment left by the
glaciers (called till), and shale, and most igneous and metamorphic rocks are examples. The
arrangement of these materials has a great effect on how long it takes water to cycle from the
atmosphere to the land, and back to the atmosphere. Figure 2 shows how non-aquifer materials affect
the timing of water circulation. Ground water is eventually discharged to the land surface, for example to
a river or lake or spring, and water near the land surface is also transpired to the atmosphere by plants.
Rivers continue to flow even when precipitation has not occurred recently. That flow is supplied by
ground water discharging through the banks of the river.

Figure 2

In the southeastern third of Minnesota there is a vertical sequence of sedimentary bedrock formations,
many of which act as aquifers. These aquifers hold a great amount of ground water in storage, and the
population of this area, including the Twin Cities, uses these aquifers. Over much of the rest of Minnesota
the underlying bedrock formations are igneous and metamorphic rocks that, for the most part, don’t have
the porosity and permeability to store or transmit ground water. For that reason, supplies of ground water
must be found in the glacial sediment that lies above the bedrock. There is less ground water in storage,
and the cycle time of water from the atmosphere into the land and back is relatively shorter. This
arrangement of aquifers is illustrated in figure 3. The Rum River traverses both of these terrains.
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 6

Figure 3

Minnesota has higher precipitation rates than the arid western United States, and our geology has also
provided relatively more places to store and transmit water (aquifers). For that reason our supply of
ground water has mostly been sufficient for our needs, and we also have a landscape with lots of surface
water that we value as habitat, scenery, and for recreational opportunities. However, the rate at which we
use water is increasing along with our population, and there are indications we may be approaching some
limits.

The ultimate limit on water use is not how much is stored in the ground. A banking analogy is useful here.
Think of precipitation as income, discharge as spending, and aquifers as a savings account. If our
spending exceeds our income, our savings account must shrink. No matter how much money we had in
that account as long as spending exceeds income the amount in savings will shrink and inevitably there
will be none left. The key to sustainability is understanding the rate at which water arrives (precipitation
and recharge), making sure discharge is sufficient for ecological needs, and monitoring aquifers to make
sure water levels don’t diminish over time. Using the same analogy, we can dip into our savings during
hard times (use aquifers more heavily during drought), but during good times we need to replenish our
savings (let aquifers recover). Over the long run spending can’t exceed income.

When we pump water from an aquifer it must respond in one of three ways. Either the aquifer captures
more incoming water (recharge), or discharge from the aquifer is reduced, or the amount of water in the
aquifer is reduced and the water level falls. Recharge comes from precipitation, and if the aquifer takes
more of it, there must be less recharge somewhere else or less flow on the land surface (runoff). If the
discharge is reduced, we would expect to see fewer springs, and lower lake or river levels. This would
reduce the habitat and ecological services provided by surface water. Ongoing reduction of aquifer levels
would be unsustainable. Clearly, to manage our water resource, both surface and ground water, we need
to be able to establish a budget such that our aquifers and surface water bodies can continue to provide
the services we need.
 Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 7

To establish that budget we need to understand the pathways for water transfer from the land surface to
aquifers, and from aquifers to surface water features. We also need to establish the size and location of
our aquifers. Mapping geologic materials and measuring water levels enables us to develop that budget at
scales useful to water managers. There are additional complexities, such as understanding the fate of
water after we use it. Is the water returned to the ground (example: a septic system) or is it lost to the
atmosphere (examples: steam from industrial uses, or water lost to transpiration from irrigating a golf
course)? Sustainable water also requires that we don’t diminish the quality of surface or ground water such
that it isn’t acceptable for our uses. Minnesota is making good progress in mapping its geology, measuring
hydrologic features, and developing procedures to ensure sustainable management.

For additional resources see:

Sustainability of Ground Water Resources

USGS Circular 1186, by William M. Alley, Thomas E. Reilly, and O. Lehn Franke, 1999
http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1186/pdf/circ1186.pdf

Upcoming Events
Next Friends of the Rum River Meeting: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 7 – 8:30 pm at the
MinnCo Credit Union Community Room in Cambridge, MN. Special Speaker: Dale R. Setterholm,
Geologist, Associate Director, Minnesota Geological Survey. If you enjoyed Dale’s article in this
issue of NRRW, just wait until you hear him in person! Come ready to learn and be stimulated, and
bring your questions. Location: 235 1st Ave. W, Cambridge, MN 55008. Directions: Go two blocks
west of downtown Main Street on Hwy 95, then one block south on Birch St. Turn left into parking lot.
Door on east side of building. If you are coming from the west, realize the streets are alphabetical
from the Rum River bridge – Fern, Elm, Dellwood, Cypress, Birch, Ashland, then Main St.

March meeting: We may check out the facilities at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum – I hear they are
awesome, and can have our special presentation there. Coordinate that with a field trip, perhaps to
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park. Migration is always a hot topic! I’d like find out where water bugs and
fish travel in the fall, winter, summer, and spring, and hey, how about those zebra mussels!

May meeting: Back to Bunker Hills County Park Activity Center in Andover, MN. Will let you all in on a
new project in the works for interested people and organizations of the Rum River Watershed and
vicinity: “Integrating Infiltration Systems!” Duh, what’s that? Why, rain gardens, buffer strips,
permeable paver systems – whatever system that can clean up waste water as it soaks back into the
ground and into our aquifers! Exciting stuff here… and good looking,too. And Bunker Hills has the best
floating bog walk around! Great field trip potential.

This is all subject to change and modification, but help me out here, your suggestions and ideas for
presentations and activities are always welcome – also some sweat equity -- otherwise we may go to
quarterly meetings. What can I say, we really haven’t had a formal public meeting for the past year! I’ll
make a point of doing better keeping you updated on FRR’s “focus group meetings” as well. Fun.

So, hope to see yah all in January... Call if questions 612-309-5838, rumrivernews@yahoo.com - KE
Fall 2009 News from the Rum River Watershed 8

Mission Statement:

To provide a base of knowledge that we can use to make wise decisions concerning the
Rum River Watershed, and to preserve, enhance, and enjoy its resources.

Vision Statement
To improve our ability to care for the Rum River Watershed and all of the associated
watersheds that make up the Mississippi River system.

Contact Information:

Kriste Ericsson, Editor

PO Box 82, Grandy, MN 55029
RumRiverNews@yahoo.com

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Online link to the Friends of the Rum River blog:

http://friendsoftherumriver.blogspot.com/