Buffalo River

Watershed at a Glance

The Buffalo River flows 88 miles from the pine forests around Tamarac Lake in eastern Becker County to the Red River of the North, across the former beach ridges and the lake plain of the Glacial Lake Agassiz land formation. Nearly 1,200 square miles of Clay, Becker, Otter Tail, and Wilkin counties drain to the Buffalo.

Hydrologic Unit Code:	09020106
Intensive monitoring start year:	2009

Major lakes	Major rivers and streams
Tamarac Lake, Buffalo Lake, Big Sugar Bush Lake, Boyer Lake	Mainstem Buffalo, South Branch Buffalo, Hay Creek, Deerhorn Creek, Whiskey Creek, Stony Creek, Lawndale Creek

Characteristics

The watershed is largely agricultural (row crops and pasture), accounting for more than 70% of the overall watershed acres. Development pressure is moderate to considerable in some areas.

Intensive monitoring shows that E. coli and turbidity are the most prevalent factors for rivers and streams. Shallow lakes in the watershed have issues with water clarity, chlorophyll, and nutrients leading to eutrophication.

What's being done

A Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Report, Stressor Identification Report and WRAPS Report (with TMDL) have been completed and are available below. Implementation of strategies identified in the WRAPS report are proceeding based on available funding.