Water, Water Everywhere
My partner and I are water-watchers. Maybe it’s because we’re canoers, but I think it’s more than that. Watching water keeps a person connected to the natural world—and the constantly changing element that sustains it.
We watched the waters rise and fall when we lived near the St. Croix River in Stillwater, and along the Mississippi River in South Minneapolis. We wondered about the plants and animals dependent on those waters, and daydreamed about where the flowage was headed downstream.
For anyone interested in seeing the interconnectedness of our Cannon River Watershed features, this spring has been a great time to do so.
We headed out to Nerstrand Woods State Park mid-morning on Sunday, June 16th to watch the flow of Prairie Creek. About 2 3/4” of rain had fallen the night before, on top of what a steady string of storms had dumped on SE Minnesota in the last few weeks.
It was obvious from flattened vegetation that the creek had already receded some. Still, Hidden Falls was at huge capacity: the water that roared over its edge was turbid, brown, and moving fast.
In the recent summers of drought, I’ve gotten used to kicking up clouds of dust. But on Sunday, the gravel hiking trails at Nerstrand were saturated and our rain boots made a squelchy, thunking sound. There was no dust to be seen. Water flowed downhill to Prairie Creek in rivulets and streams, sometimes following culverts obediently—sometimes not. Even the darkened tree trunks looked soaked.
On Monday morning, it rained again. We drove out to check on Heath Creek, one of the many smaller tributaries of the Cannon River, at the intersection of 90th Street East and Baldwin Avenue south of Northfield. It looked fuller than usual, but was flowing smoothly.
A couple of miles downstream, close to its junction with the Cannon River, Heath Creek had gained a lot of volume. Any illusions I had about canoeing the creek were quickly laid to rest.
There is public access to Heath Creek at this point, directly across Armstrong Road from Sechler Park, on land belonging to St. Olaf College (an extension of the Natural Lands). One hiking trail follows the creek, another enters the woods, and there is a small parking area for visitors.
Thunderstorms are forecast for the rest of this week, which means more opportunities to watch local rivers, lakes, and streams—the moving parts that make up our Cannon River Watershed.
Our interested water watching last week has turned into real concern. The Cannon River is at flood stage, and is expected to crest this afternoon (Sunday, June 22nd) at 901 feet above sea level. Contrary to how we often think of rivers flowing, the Cannon receives much of its water from the south (the Straight River, a major tributary, flows south to north). To follow the ebb and flow of the Cannon, we have to pay attention to how much rain is falling south of Northfield, as that water will eventually make its way through the Downtown area.