Minnesota's Impaired Waters and TMDLs

TMDL Project: Credit River - Turbidity

Background

The Credit River watershed is located in Scott County, Minnesota. Credit River begins in New Market Township and flows generally north through Credit River Township before discharging into the Minnesota River in the city of Savage. Credit River has a drainage area of approximately 51 square miles (32,865 acres). Major land uses in the Credit River watershed include undeveloped land (37%), agriculture (26%), and single family residential (17%).

In 2002, Credit River was listed on Minnesota’s 303(d) List of Impaired Waters for aquatic life impairment due to turbidity. Turbidity limits light penetration which further inhibits healthy plant growth on the river bottom. Turbidity may cause aquatic organisms to have trouble finding food, may affect gill function, and the sediment associated with turbidity may cause spawning beds to be covered. Suspended organic and inorganic particles also transport nutrients from lands from receiving waters causing eutrophication. The draft TMDL is targeted to be completed in October, 2009.

During the development of the draft TMDL it was determined that the Credit River was meeting the State's turbidity standard and has been proposed to EPA for delisting on the 2012 Impaired Waters list. To ensure that the Credit River does not exceed the turbidity standard in the future a protection plan was developed.

Map and location

The Credit River watershed is located in the Lower Minnesota River watershed in the Minnesota River basin, in the western Twin Cities metro area. 

Protection plan

• Credit River Protection Plan (approved 8/1/2011) (wq-iw11-07h)

Other documents

• Credit River TMDL Work Plan

Meetings and events

• Credit River Water Quality Open House. Come and learn about the water quality of the Credit River, what local units of government are doing to protect the river, as well as you can do - April 26, 2011 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the McColl Pond Environmental Learning Center in Savage. The Scott Watershed Management Organization together with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency are in the process of completing a study of the river. The river was indentified in 2002 as impaired for aquatic life based on turbidity (turbidity is a measure of water clarity). This project was designed to collect additional data, identify the causes of the impairment, and develop an implementation strategy to eliminate the impairment. The end product was originally intended to be a complete turbidity Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study under the Clean Water Act. However, over the course of the data collection effort it became clear that river did not exceed the turbidity standard. Therefore, the end product of this study was changed to the completion of a protection plan designed to preserve the unimpaired condition. The plan is not yet complete. Public input is desired before completing the Plan which is the purpose of the open house. Information and assistance will also be available at the open house on what land owners can do to protect the river.
  
  Agenda:

• 6:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Informal opportunity to ask questions, and offer suggestions
• 7:00 pm – 7:45 pm, Presentation and question and answer period
• 7:45 pm – 8:00 pm, Informal opportunity to ask questions, and offer suggestions

•  May 10, 2010, Technical Advisory Committee Meeting #2. All meeting information, including meeting minutes, presentations, etc. can be accessed via bookmarks on the left side of this PDF document. 

• February 12, 2009, Technical Advisory Committee Meeting #1 - 9 a.m.-11 a.m., Scott County Governance Center, Shakopee
  • Meeting Invite and Agenda
  • Presentations:
    • TMDL Overview - Brooke Asleson, MPCA
  • Meeting Summary

There will be approximately four public open house meetings and five meetings for the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), the following organizations will be invited to participate in the TAG:

• The project partners: Black Dog WMO, Lower Minnesota River Watershed District, MCES, Scott WMO, Scott County, and Three Rivers Park District
• Cities of Burnsville and Savage
• Credit River and New Market Townships
• MPCA, BWSR, and DNR

See the TMDL Meetings, Events and News page for notices of general interest and event-related information on impaired waters/TMDLs.

Links

• Scott County
• Watershed District
• Dakota County
• Three Rivers Park District
• Minnesota River Basin
• Basins in Minnesota

Information contact

Brooke Asleson
Regional Division-Watershed Section
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
520 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155
651-757-2205
Brooke.Asleson@state.mn.us