News Feature                                                            10/31/2007

Emergency Watershed Protection in Minnesota

In some areas of Houston and Winona Counties, a new state record was set in August for the amount of rain that fell within a 24 hour period.  The new record is over 17 inches of rain with the past state record being 10.5 inches of rain. 

With all the rain that fell in such a short time period, the streams, creeks, and rivers overflowed their banks and cause serve flash flooding.  One such stream that experienced heavy flows was Garvin Brook.  As Garvin Brook flowed through Minnesota City before it entered the Mississippi River, it scoured the streambank and negatively impacted 11 homes along the stream. 

To quickly address the affects of the flooding, Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) was used.  Through EWP the 11 homes in Minnesota City were saved from sliding into Garvin Brook by reshaping the streambank and adding riprap.  

In other town, Hokah, MN, the excessive rainfall caused the ground to become saturated and caused landslides.  Seven homes and businesses were perched on the top of these landslide sites and were seriously threatened by the next significant rain. 

EWP funds were used to protect the 7 homes and businesses from future rainfall events.

 Questions about EWP should be directed to John Beckwith, Water Resources Staff Leader at (651) 602-7930 or john.beckwith@mn.usda.gov

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