St. Croix River Basin

Description

Willow River at HWY 46

Willow River at Hwy 46. Photo. © WDNR, 2010

About the Basin

The St. Croix Basin is a special area of the state. Its abundant streams, lakes and wetlands, rich forestsand farmlands, wildlife and fisheries make this a popular recreational destination and location for living. The River begins in Upper St. Croix and Namekagon Lake and drains through diverse ecological landscapes. Starting with the Northwest Lowlands and North Central Forests, and moving through the Northwest Sands and Farm Forest Transition, the Basin ends in the Western Prairie Ecological Landscape.

These five ecological landscapes present different management challenges and opportunities. Loss of large industrial forest block ownership in the north is a major concern, as are changes in agricultural practices in the western prairie and farm-forest transition landscapes. Agricultural changes include more row crops and a switch from small dairy farming to large confined animal feeding operations which enhance concerns over barnyard runoff, streambank erosion and manure management. Also, St. Croix and Polk Counties face problems associated with rapid growth and development stemming from the St. Paul-Minneapolis Metropolitan Area and struggle to maintain the area’s rural and agricultural features.

Basin Resources

The Basin is rich in water: groundwater, rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands. Our lakes and rivers are under tremendous development pressure and this will likely increase as the human population continues to grow and settle in this area. Development along lakeshores is one of the state’s fastest types of developments, and the basin is no exception. Home building is also occurring along rivers and streams in part due to the dwindling supply of available lakes. Increasing runoff and habitat loss from development degrades water and eliminates or divides contiguous habitat needed by fish and wildlife.

See the Surface Water Data Viewer to view details about the basin.

View Map

Watersheds, Waters

Click the links below to find water resource information for specific watersheds and their waters.

Watershed Details	Watershed Map	Watershed Size	Lists (Streams, Lakes, Bays & Harbors)	Counties	Water Management Unit (WMU)	Major Drainage System
Balsam Branch	SC05	104.07 mi 2	SC05 Water Lists	Polk	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Beaver Brook	SC07	64.82 mi 2	SC07 Water Lists	Barron, Polk	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Clam River	SC12	206.86 mi 2	SC12 Water Lists	Barron, Polk, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Kinnickinnic River	SC01	206.08 mi 2	SC01 Water Lists	Pierce, Saint Croix	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Lower Apple River	SC04	202.16 mi 2	SC04 Water Lists	Polk, Saint Croix	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Lower Namekagon River	SC19	239.34 mi 2	SC19 Water Lists	Douglas, Washburn, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Lower Willow River	SC02	164.38 mi 2	SC02 Water Lists	Saint Croix	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Lower Yellow (Burnett Co.) River	SC14	208.95 mi 2	SC14 Water Lists	Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
North Fork Clam River	SC13	173.51 mi 2	SC13 Water Lists	Barron, Polk, Washburn, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Shell Lake and Upper Yellow River	SC15	166.67 mi 2	SC15 Water Lists	Washburn, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
St. Croix and Eau Claire Rivers	SC17	197.28 mi 2	SC17 Water Lists	Douglas, Washburn, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Totagatic River	SC20	329.93 mi 2	SC20 Water Lists	Douglas, Bayfield, Sawyer, Washburn	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Trade River	SC10	194.93 mi 2	SC10 Water Lists	Polk, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Trego Lake - Middle Namekagon River	SC21	268.89 mi 2	SC21 Water Lists	Sawyer, Washburn	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Trout Brook	SC08	91.06 mi 2	SC08 Water Lists	Polk, Saint Croix	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Upper Apple River	SC06	195.43 mi 2	SC06 Water Lists	Barron, Polk	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Upper Namekagon River	SC22	197.8 mi 2	SC22 Water Lists	Bayfield, Sawyer, Washburn	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Upper St. Croix and Eau Claire Rivers	SC18	277.89 mi 2	SC18 Water Lists	Douglas, Bayfield	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Upper Tamarack River	SC16	154.57 mi 2	SC16 Water Lists	Douglas, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Upper Willow River	SC03	183.67 mi 2	SC03 Water Lists	Barron, Polk, Saint Croix	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Wolf Creek	SC09	110.18 mi 2	SC09 Water Lists	Polk, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River
Wood River	SC11	220.24 mi 2	SC11 Water Lists	Polk, Burnett	St. Croix	Mississippi River

Projects

More Detail

Monitoring Stations (hint: Choose watershed, click "Create Report")
ORW/ERW Waters - Upper Wisconsin
Impaired Waters (hint: click "create report")
Trout Waters

Plans

Watershed Plans

One watershed plan has been updated in this basin. This document is an update to the Upper Wisconsin Basin Plan. Contact Kathy Bartilson, Watershed Supervisor for information.