The Environmental History of the Zumbro River Watershed: An Annotated Bibliography

Produced by Greg Gaut Janet Timmerman and Kevin Strauss

2014

The Environmental History of the Zumbro River Watershed: An Annotated Bibliography

This work is the product of a partnership between the Zumbro Watershed Partnership and the History Center of Olmsted County. Janet Timmerman was the project director, Greg Gaut collected the sources and prepared the annotations, and Kevin Strauss helped with sources and conducted the oral interviews.

This publication was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by an appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund made possible by the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Any views, findings, opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Historical Society, or the Minnesota Historic Resources Advisory Committee.

© 2014 by the History Center of Olmsted County and the Zumbro Watershed Partnership

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Table of Contents Introduction

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I.

1

Zumbro Watershed History

A. Before humans 1. Geology 2. Pre-Settlement Southeastern Minnesota biomes B. Native Inhabitants of the Watershed 1. Archeology—the prehistory of the watershed. 2. The Dakota from European arrival to the War of 1862 3. The Dakota after war and exile C. European Occupation of the Watershed 1. General 2. Explorers, missionaries, trappers, and traders 3. European settlement and early agriculture 4. Agriculture in the railroad era 5. Agriculture through mid-20th century 6. Urban development

II.

Zumbro Watershed Places

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A. General B. Dodge County (including Dodge Center and Mantorville on the Middle Fork) C. Goodhue County (including Kenyon, Wanamingo, and Zumbrota on the North Fork, and Pine Island on the North Branch of the Middle Fork) D. Olmsted County 1. Generally 2. Oronoco and Lake Shady (Middle Fork) 3. Rochester (South Fork) E. Rice County and Steele County F. Wabasha County (including Lake Zumbro, Mazeppa on the North Fork, and Zumbro Falls, Hammond, Millville, Theilmann, and Kellogg on the Lower Zumbro.)

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III. The Modern Zumbro Watershed

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A. The Zumbro and the greater watershed into which it drains B. Weather, climate, and climate change C. Hydrology D. Wildlife (native and introduced) E. Prairie, wetland, and woodland plants (native and invasive) F. Demography and land use G. Agricultural use 1. Farms, farm organization, and land tenure 2. Crops and livestock 3. Farming practices 4. Soils and soil conservation H. Wetlands and drainage I. Run-off Pollution (agricultural and urban) J. Water sustainability: quality and quantity 1. General 2. Groundwater 3. Surface water K. Flooding and flood control L. The built environment on the river 1. Urban development/infrastructure including storm water and wastewater management. 2. Dams and mills 3. Highways, roads, and bridges M. Recreational use N. The Zumbro Watershed in the arts and the humanities

Appendix A: For further research Appendix B: Oral History Interviews iii

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Introduction This is an annotated bibliography of historical and environmental sources which help us understand the Zumbro River Watershed in southeastern Minnesota. We hope that citizens, businesses, non-profits, and state, county, township and municipal officials who live in and are responsible for the watershed will find it a useful tool for learning about the watershed and acting to create a better future for it. We also hope that it will support the creation of a full-scale environmental history of the watershed. Environmental history begins with the idea that the natural environment is an important part of the human story. Rather than being only the stage upon which human endeavor plays out, it is an actor within the play itself, acting and reacting. Water is a universal element and in this case we use the concept of a watershed as the defining characteristic of the natural environment. A watershed is an area of land that drains to a common body of water. As a drop of rain falls on the land, it flows downhill into small creeks and streams, then into larger rivers, and eventually into lakes, wetlands, or the ocean. The Zumbro Watershed encompasses more than 900,000 acres (or ~1,422 square miles) of agricultural and urban lands that drain into the three forks of the Zumbro River before joining the Mississippi River near Kellogg, MN. The watershed contains more than 288 miles of rivers and streams, including 57 miles of high-quality trout streams, a smallmouth bass fishery, and a designated canoe trail. It covers parts of six counties - Dodge, Goodhue, Rice, Olmsted, Steele, and Wabasha - and 22 municipalities, including the rapidly expanding City of Rochester. The Zumbro River Watershed is known for its diversity of landscape, ranging from deep fertile glacial-tills to steep sandy soils of the bluffs. Much of the watershed is within a region characterized by karst geology. The eastern half of the region in particular has exposed sedimentary bedrock and complex groundwater systems. Portions of the Zumbro River watershed are included in the “driftless area” which was by-passed by the last continental glacier. Most of the Zumbro River Watershed was once covered by prairies of tall grasses and clusters of oak openings. Forested pockets contained burr oak, red oak, aspen, maple, basswood, walnut and hickory throughout the region. Forested floodplains occupied the river valley and stream corridors with patches of hardwood forest on the north-facing slopes of the bluffs. The prairie and oak openings were dependent on disturbances such as the grazing of large animals and fires, some naturally occurring and some set by the native population as a land management tool. Currently much of this landscape is altered by urban development and agriculture. Most of the prairie and oak openings have been converted to other land uses and the remaining native plant communities occur on the steep slopes of the bluffs. Forest lands have expanded in some places due to the suppression of fires.

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The five “lobes” of the watershed To better understand this complex system, the Zumbro Watershed Partnership divides the watershed into five areas (or “lobes”) based on their flow paths and drainage areas: 1. The South Fork of the Zumbro River flows east and then north through Rochester to the point at which it meets the Middle Fork near the south end of Lake Zumbro. It accounts for approximately one quarter of the Zumbro River watershed (232,574 acres; 26% of total drainage). Cascade Creek, Salem Creek and Bear Creek all drain to the South Fork. As these tributaries flow toward Rochester, some of the water encounters a ring of seven flood control reservoirs near the city. The growing City of Rochester covers hundreds of acres of soil with concrete and pavement every year. As a result, developers are required to offset the discharge rate and water quality impacts through storm water impoundments and other best management practices. 2. The Middle Fork of the Zumbro River includes most of the western acreage of the basin. Three branches of this fork flow east, converge near the now-drained Lake Shady at Oronoco and join the South Fork near the south end of Lake Zumbro. The Middle Fork is the largest general lobe of the watershed: it drains 277,816 acres (31% of total drainage). It contains several cities, including Pine Island, Oronoco, Dodge Center and Kasson-Mantorville.

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3. The North Fork of the Zumbro River is the smallest of the three forks: it drains 153,149 acres (17% of total drainage). It flows east through a long and narrow watershed of rolling hills and dairy farms. After converging with Mazeppa Creek, it joins the main stem of the river, which includes the waters of the South and Middle Forks, downstream of Lake Zumbro. The North Fork flows through the cities of Kenyon, Wanamingo, Zumbrota and Mazeppa. 4. The Lake Zumbro includes the smallest area of land that drains directly to the lake (34,881 acres or 4% of total drainage). This land is situated downstream of the confluence of South and Middle Forks and upstream of the confluence of the North Fork. The lake was created in 1919 when the City of Rochester built a hydroelectric dam on the Zumbro. The dam continues to generate electricity. To the dismay of lakeshore residents and recreation enthusiasts, the lake is filling in with sediment from the Zumbro River. Still, excellent fishing and boat recreation opportunities remain to be enjoyed on much of the lake. Pine Island Creek flows directly into Lake Zumbro from the west and is the only large, named stream in this watershed lobe. 5. The Lower Zumbro River is the bottom of the watershed. Its starting point is the confluence of the three forks of the Zumbro River just below Lake Zumbro and its end point is the river‘s mouth. It includes 211,903 acres (23% of total drainage) and is fed by coldwater trout streams like Cold Spring Brook and West Indian Creek. At Zumbro Falls, the main stem of the Zumbro enters its home stretch–a zigzag journey through the spectacular scenery of the lower Zumbro valley. The scenery is provided by the fractured limestone, dolomite and sandstone layers that are the legacy of a distant age when oceans covered the region. The gradient of the main stem flattens near the town of Hammond as it flows toward its outlet to the Mississippi, which it encounters near Kellogg after passing through a straightened and diked final reach of river that allows the river to coexist with agriculture on the fertile flood plain. Aerial photographs often show the discharge of the Zumbro to be mud brown, in comparison to the usually clear Mississippi River, which drops most of its sediment load upstream in Lake Pepin. Our bibliography In creating this bibliography, we are guided by three assumptions informed by the fundamental insights of environmental history: 

The physical environment of the watershed has played a powerful role in shaping the economic, cultural and social lives of the people who have resided here, and continues to do so.

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Just as the watershed has had a profound impact on human society, so also have human populations had an enormous impact on the quantity and quality of the water flowing through the watershed and also on the plants and animals which live in its habitat. It follows that we have an important role to play as stewards of the watershed.

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The historical context of the watershed’s current condition (its use, its health) is essential for understanding crucial issues of conservation and natural resource management for its long term sustainability.

We found many sources about the Zumbro Watershed, but we were also struck by the general lack of historic knowledge. There are excellent primary sources readily available, like the photographic collection of Zumbro’s historic floods located at the History Center of Olmsted County or the many historic county plat maps available starting in the 1860’s. There are also helpful secondary sources, like the introduction to the watershed produced by E.H. Schlitgus in manuscript form in 1975 but never published, or the Rochester’s Public Works Department comprehensive water primer which has a good chapter on the historic Zumbro (available only on-line at their website). Significant data has been collected on water quality and quantity, but all in all the Zumbro has been less studied than its neighboring Root and Cannon rivers. Drastic changes have taken place in the watershed but we lack the narratives that tell the stories of the human interaction with the landscape. We know little about how the Dakota and their ancestors utilized the river and its valleys. Theirs is an oral tradition, and with the loss of the Dakota people from the river watershed from disease, war, and exile, many localized stories of their past have vanished as well. There has also been little analysis on the many ways the European settlers transformed the landscape. There is no readily available narrative, for example, about the building of the Lake Zumbro Dam, or the engineering done at the mouth of the Zumbro near Kellogg, or the draining of agricultural lands such as the Ripley Ditch project in Dodge County. The 1978 flood received attention due to its impact on the major urban area of Rochester through a publication Flood of Memories, Memories of Flood, where the stories of the people impacted by the flood were recorded. The more contemporary event, the 2010 flood on the middle branch, has been recorded only by the media. This project interviewed citizens from the watershed with unique memories of the changes and events that they have witnessed, including the 2010 flood. Twelve people shared their individual experiences of life within the watershed from differing perspectives and differing time periods stretching back eighty years. These interviews, which are described in Appendix B, inform our understanding of the landscape from the everyday to major life changing events. Our hope is that this bibliography provides a starting point for those who pick up the challenge of telling the environmental history of the Zumbro River Watershed. We divided the bibliography into three main sections… 

The first section takes a deep historical approach and includes sources from geology, natural history and archeology and then moves on to the human history of the watershed up to approximately the middle of the 20th century.

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The second section is organized around the places of the watershed, broken down along county lines. The watershed, or course, pays no heed to arbitrary human boundaries. However, many of the sources since the arrival of the Europeans are organized along these lines, like county histories, water management plans, etc. vii

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The third section is organized topically by the various issues facing the watershed (e.g. water quality, flooding, etc.) all of which are grounded in recent history, that is, developments since the middle of the 20th Century.

Keep in mind… 

No bibliography is complete. For many subjects we include one or two sources which provide an entry point into a larger literature. For example, there is a complex scientific literature intended for specialists on many environmental issues. We have tried to choose a general source which will introduce the issue and lead to other sources.



As the three sections naturally overlap some sources are listed in more than one section. For example, a particular source may provide information both about a significant issue facing the watershed and also about a distinct geographic place in the watershed.

Many thanks to all the librarians and archivists who helped with sources, and especially to the staff of Fitzgerald Library at Saint Mary’s University, where much of this material was assembled. Photo Credits: The historic photographs are courtesy of the History Center of Olmsted County. The contemporary photographs are by Greg Gaut.

Some beginning thoughts…. …[T]he special task of environmental history is to assert that stories about the past are better, all other things being equal, if they increase our attention to nature and the place of people within it. They succeed when they make us look at the grasslands and their peoples in a new way. This is different from saying that our histories should turn their readers into environmentalists or convince everyone of a particular political point of view. Good histories rarely do this. But if environmental history is successful in it project, the story of how different peoples have lived in and used the natural world will become one of the most basic and fundamental narratives in all of history, without which no understanding of the past could be complete. William Cronon, environmental historian, University of Wisconsin

The river will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise . Mark Twain, referring to the Mississippi No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. Attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus viii

I.

Zumbro Watershed History

This section contains sources on the geology, natural history, archeology and human history of the watershed until roughly the middle of the 20th century. Some sources on the climate history of the watershed are collected in Section III, B.

A. Before Humans 1. Geology Bray, Edmund C. Billions of Years in Minnesota: The Geological Story of the State. St. Paul: Science Museum of Minnesota, 1977. Brief introduction to Minnesota geology for a general audience with county by county descriptions of observable rock formations and glacial features.

Lively, R. “Minnesota at a Glance: Caves in Minnesota.” Minnesota Geological Survey pamphlet. St. Paul: University of Minnesota, 1995. This four page pamphlet describes the karst geology of Southeastern Minnesota and how it leads to sinkholes, underground streams, springs, and caves. Although the only caves open to the public are in Fillmore County, caves can occur wherever there are karst landscapes, which includes Rice, Dodge, Olmsted, Goodhue, and Wabasha counties.

Ojakangas, Richard W. and Charles L. Matsch. Minnesota’s Geology. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982. Basic introduction to the geology of Minnesota with a brief chapter on southeastern Minnesota.

Sansome, Constance J. Minnesota Underfoot: a Field Guide to the State’s Outstanding Geologic Features. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, 1997. This book is a guide to active exploring of Minnesota's unique geology. The southeastern Minnesota section has sites in Olmsted and Goodhue counties.

Schwartz, George M. Minnesota’s Rocks and Waters: a Geological Story. Rev. ed. University of Minnesota. Minnesota Geological Survey Bulletin 37. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1963. This general introduction to the major geologic features of Minnesota has a section on the southeastern region (Chapter 15) which explains the origins of the Cannon, Zumbro, Whitewater, and Root rivers as tributaries of the Mississippi. 1

Tester, John R. Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. The first chapter provides a general introduction to geologic history and a description of how glaciation determined topography, soil, and vegetation. Subsequent chapters on Minnesota’s biomes (deciduous forest, coniferous forest, and prairie) also discuss the impact of European settlement activity, such as logging and agriculture, on the region.

Winchell, N. H. The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. The Geology of Minnesota. Vol. I of the Final Report. Minneapolis: Johnson, Smith and Harrison, 1884. The Geology of Minnesota. Vol. II of the Final Report. St. Paul, Minn., Pioneer Press Company, 1888. This is the final report of a county by county geological survey done between 1872 and 1885. Each of the six counties in the Zumbro watershed has a separate chapter. In Volume I, Olmsted is Chapter 7, Dodge is Chapter 9, Steele is Chapter 11, and Rice is Chapter 23. In Volume II, Chapter 1 covers Wabasha and Chapter 2 covers Goodhue. Each chapter describes not only the rivers and drainage, topography, elevations, rock formations, soil, exploitable natural resources, but also trees and shrubs observed during the survey. There are also notes on some human activity, including wells and water powered mills. Some of the chapters have archeological information. Shown here are rocks along the south branch of the Middle Fork near Byron.

Wright, H. E. Geologic History of Minnesota’s Rivers. Minnesota Geological Survey Bulletin Educational Series 7. St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota, 1990. Brief overview of the glacial development of Minnesota's river systems focused on the Minnesota and Mississippi with little mention of tributaries.

2. Pre-settlement Southeastern Minnesota biomes Greenberg, Joe. A Feathered River Across the Sky: the passenger pigeon’s flight to extinction. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014. A naturalist attempts to reconstruct the world of the passenger pigeon and explore their rapid demise when the Europeans arrived. He notes that their tendency to roost together in enormous numbers facilitated the hunting of them both for recreational and commercial reasons.

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Herrick, C. L. The Mammals of Minnesota: a Scientific and Popular Account of Their Features and Habits. Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. Bulletin no. 7. Minneapolis: Harrison & Smith, 1892. An early survey of mammals in the state which documents that large mammals like elk were populous in southeastern Minnesota, and that bison were also present, to about 1850. Also concludes that by 1892, both species were completely gone from the region.

Hvoslef, Johan. Diaries, in the collection Records 1872-1947 of the Bell Museum of Natural History, available at the University Archives, Anderson Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Hvoslef , a Norwegian immigrant, established a medical practice in Lanseboro, and in his spare time worked as one of Minnesota ‘s original naturalists. He was in continual correspondence with Thomas Roberts, see below, reporting on the birds he observed. After his death in 1920, his widow donated her husband's nature study journals to the University’s Museum of Natural History. Over 50 volumes document his observations between 1881 and 1918 of southeastern Minnesota flora and fauna, for example his last sighting of a passenger pigeon in 1886.

MacMillan, Conway. Minnesota Plant Life. St. Paul: Pioneer Press, 1899. Although written when agriculture had already deeply transformed the ecology of the region, this volume provides a botanical snap shot of Minnesota at the end of the Nineteenth Century.

Marschner, Francis Joseph, The Original Vegetation of Minnesota, compiled from U.S. General Land Office Survey notes in 1930. St. Paul: North Central Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1974. Can be viewed on line or purchased from the Minnesota Historical Society at http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/display.php?irn=10583076&websites=no&brand=cms&q =Original%20vegetation%20of%20Minnesota%20map&startindex=1&count=25 This map represents Minnesota’s vegetation prior to European settlement based on material collected during the original land survey of Minnesota between 1848 and 1907. Surveying was done by the U.S. Office of the Surveyor General for Minnesota just ahead of settlement. The six counties of the Zumbro watershed are presented as a mixed area of what Marschner described as prairie, brush prairie, aspen-oak land, oak openings and barrens, big woods, with scattered marshes and river bottom forest along the banks of the Zumbro. Of these categories, the predominant ones were prairie, brush prairie and oak openings (scattered groves of mostly Burr Oaks, sometimes called Oak Savannah). On the back of the map are notes on Marschner’s methodology and his categories by Miron Heinselman. The online version allows zooming in on particular regions and counties.

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Mitchell, Martin D., Richard O. Kimmel, and Jennifer Snyders. “Reintroduction and Range Expansion of Eastern Wild Turkeys in Minnesota.” Geographical Review 101, no. 2 (April 2011): 269–84. Although primarily about their reintroduction, this article assembles the evidence in support of the proposition that wild turkeys inhabited the valleys of the Mississippi’s tributaries in the driftless region of prior to the arrival of the Europeans.

Nachtrieb, Henry F. First Report of the State Zoölogist accompanied with Notes on the Birds of Minnesota by P. L. Hatch. Minneapolis: Harrison & Smith, 1892. The first ornithological report in Minnesota. With respect to the controversy over the wild turkey (see the Roberts and Mitchell sources herein), Hatch found that they were totally absent from Minnesota as of 1891, but that they had been present as late as 1871. He believed that they had been wiped out by settlers.

Nelson, Rob and Dan Bertalman, Timothy Jacobson and George Howe. Mysteries of the Driftless: A Film of Exploration and Adventure. DVD. La Crosse, WI: Mississippi Valley Conservancy with Untamed Science, 2013. A 27 minute documentary about a team of explorers and scientists kayaking down deeply cut tributary valleys, flying in ultralights, and climbing rocky bluffs to explore the driftless area which includes a large part of southeastern Minnesota including the eastern part of the Zumbro watershed. They argue that because the region was not scoured by glaciers, it remains one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world.

Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota. Land Survey Field Notes, 1848-1907. 31 boxes. Minnesota Historical Society Archives, St. Paul, MN These are the original handwritten notebooks of the surveyors who did the original land survey of the state of Minnesota for the US Office of the Surveyor General for Minnesota. The surveyors took notes on vegetation, soil, and other topographical features. These notes were used to construct the Marchner and Wendt sources herein. The archive’s inventory of the records is available online at http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/ussg06.pdf (accessed May 13, 2014).

Roberts, Thomas S. The Birds of Minnesota. 2nd ed. 2 volumes. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1936. Roberts published an enormous compendium of information on Minnesota birds in 1932 and revised it four years later. This classic work continues to generate controversy with his assertion that there is no credible evidence that wild turkeys (the “Eastern Turkey”) inhabited this region before European occupation. If so, they could not have been extirpated by settlers as was widely believed, nor did it make sense to “reintroduce” them, as the Minnesota DNR did so successfully starting in the 1960s. The counter argument can be found in the article by Martin Mitchell et al. in this section.

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Wendt, Keith M., Natural Vegetation of Minnesota: At the Time of the Public Land Survey, 1847-1907. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Biological Report No. 1. St. Paul: Natural Heritage Program, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1988. A six page color brochure which presents a modification of the 1974 map published by Marschner (see entry in this section). Wendt made some revisions in the categories used by Marschner. For example, Brush Prairie is now called Aspen Parkland, Oak Openings and Barrens are designated as Oak Woodland, and River Bottom Forest are called Floodplain Forest.

Tester, John R. Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995. Good introduction to the origins and ecology of the larger southeastern Minnesota biome and what became of it after European settlers transformed the prairie and wetlands into agricultural land. See especially Chapter 6 on tallgrass prairie, Chapter 7 on wetlands, especially prairie wetlands, and Chapter 9 on streams and rivers.

B.

Native Inhabitants of the Watershed

1. Archeology: the prehistory of the watershed Arzigian, Constance M. and Michael Kolb. 2010 Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey of Olmsted County, Minnesota, Report of Investigations Number 873, Mississippi Valley Archeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Results of field and archival investigations as well as geomorphological testing for potential sites in Olmsted County. The survey documents Paleo-Indian, Archaic and Woodland sites, but no Post-woodland sites or Oneota villages. The report indicated that the most likely areas to find sites will be in terraces along rivers. The report is summarized in a “Research Note” in The Minnesota Archeologist 70 (2011): 6-9. The complete report (145 pages) can be downloaded at the website of the Office of the State Archeologist of Minnesota (www.osa.admin.state.mn.us)

Arzigian, Constance M. Minnesota’s Indian Mounds and Burial Sites: a Synthesis of Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeological Data. St. Paul: Minnesota Office of the State Archaeologist, 2003. This book synthesizes the extensive but scattered information on Minnesota’s prehistoric earthworks from the publication of Winchell’s 1911 book (noted in this section) through more recent investigations by contemporary archeologists. Assists cultural resource management professionals in protecting the many Indian burial sites that still exist today. There is an appendix which details findings by county. Within the Zumbro watershed, Wabasha County has the most entries. In general, the authors found that southeastern Minnesota sites are concentrated in the Mississippi River valley especially at the confluence of the tributaries.

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Gibbon, Guy. Archaeology of Minnesota: The Prehistory of the Upper Mississippi River Region. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012. Most recent overview of the archeology of pre-contact Minnesota back 13,000 years with careful attention to how the lifeways of native were influenced by environmental factors. Gibbon summarizes recent findings of archeologists in the field. Good introduction to the field of Minnesota archeology.

Johnson, Elden. The Prehistoric Peoples of Minnesota. Minnesota Prehistoric Archaeology Series; No. 3. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988. Basic introduction to the archeology of native peoples in Minnesota. A good starting point for understanding the way that archeologists divide Minnesota's prehistory in to Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods.

Winchell, N.H. ed. The Aborigines of Minnesota: a Report on the Collections of Jacob V. Brower, and on the Field Surveys and Notes of Alfred J. Hill and Theodore H. Lewis. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1911. Winchell collated a wealth of information on the mounds, burial sites and other prehistoric earth works from the survey work of various early archeologists. Recently, the Office of the State Archeologist published the work by Arzigian (see above) which brings together the investigations of these sites and others since Winchell’s work.

2. The Dakota from European arrival to the War of 1862 Anderson, Gary Clayton. Kinsmen of Another Kind: Dakota-White Relations in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1650-1862. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. In this important study, Gary Anderson argues that the French and British fur traders with whom the eastern Dakota first came into contact adapted themselves to the Dakota kinship system. As a result, relations were peaceful and productive for almost two hundred years. However, in the early 19th century the numbers of Europeans increased and the fur trade declined. The new immigrants had no interest in establishing kinship relations with the Dakota. Rather they expected the Indians to adapt to European ways. The result was the Dakota War in 1862.

Anderson, Gary Clayton. Little Crow, Spokesman for the Sioux. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986. Born about 1810 in the Mdewakanton village of Kaposia, Little Crow reluctantly led the Dakota in the war of 1862. A year after their defeat, he was shot by a farmer who brought his body into Hutchinson where it was desecrated by angry townspeople. His biography provides a crucial window onto the tragedy of the Dakota in the region.

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Anderson, Gary Clayton and Alan R. Woodworth. Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988. Indispensable translations of available accounts of the various experiences of Dakota during the war in 1862, including those who favored as well as those who opposed war.

Carley, Kenneth. The Dakota War of 1862. 2nd ed. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976, reprt 2001. The violence of the Dakota War occurred outside of the Zumbro watershed, primarily along the Minnesota River, but it is nevertheless crucial for understanding relations between European settlers and the Dakota from the first arrival of the Europeans to the present.

Gibbon, Guy E. The Sioux: The Dakota and Lakota Nations. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003. A comprehensive survey of the history of the Sioux. Significant information on the Eastern Sioux, or Dakota, who had originally lived in the forests of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, but gradually migrated west and south. Good background on the Mdewakanton tribe of the Dakota who inhabited the lower Minnesota and upper Mississippi valleys until pushed west to a reservation along the Minnesota River by the Treaty of Mendota in 1851.

Lass, William E. “Histories of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862: a Review.” Minnesota History 63 No 2 (Summer 2012): 44-57. This useful review of many of the histories of the 1862 war concludes that Kenneth Carley’s book remains the best starting place for understanding the war and its causes. However, this piece was written before the publication of the books listed here by Wingerd and by Westerman and White.

Meyer, Roy Willard. History of the Santee Sioux: United States Indian Policy on Trial. Rev. Ed. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Santee refers to the eastern Dakota tribes, which included the Mdewankantons who lived in the Zumbro watershed when the Europeans arrived. Meyer wrote this book in 1967 and then published an expanded and enlarged edition in 1993. He provides a detailed survey of the process by which the European settlers, and eventually the US government, subjugated the Dakota. His focus in essentially political, and there is limited information on the daily life of the Dakota in this region.

Nilles, Myron A. A History of Wapasha’s Prairie, 1660-1853. 2nd ed. Winona, Minn.: Winona County Historical Society, 2005. Although primarily focused on the village established by the Mdewakanton chief Wapasha on the land which became the city of Winona, this small book provides an introduction to the Dakota who farmed and hunted in the Zumbro watershed area during the fifty years or so before they were removed to the reservation on the Minnesota River in western Minnesota by the Treaty of Mendota in 1851. 7

Pond, Samuel W. Dakota Life in the Upper Midwest. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002. Samuel Pond was a missionary who late in life wrote this detailed ethnography of the Dakota based on observations of Dakota life along the Mississippi and the Minnesota beginning in 1834. The work was originally published after his death by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1908. This edition is a reprint with a scholarly introduction by Gary Clayton Anderson. Like other missionaries, Pond failed to convert the Dakota to Christianity, but he studied Dakota language and had a very sympathetic view of them. He made a serious attempt to provide an objective report on their way of living. Since he focuses on the Mdewankanton, the volume provides useful background for the native history of the Zumbro area.

Raygor, Mearl. Indians of Southeastern Minnesota. Self-published booklet. 1978 A small booklet which is helpful because of its focus on the Dakota and the Winnebago in Winona, Goodhue, Olmsted, Fillmore and Dodge counties.

Westerman, Gwen and Bruce M. White. Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012. This recent book provides a detailed and nuanced investigation of the Dakota prior to their exile from Minnesota, which the authors note was originally "a Dakota place." The authors explain that the Zumbro watershed was part of the hunting area of the bands that made their home near Red Wing and at Wabasha’s Prairie (present day Winona). During the 1851 treaty negotiations, Wakuta, chief of the Red Wing band, requested a reservation at Pine Island on the Zumbro. This was his band’s long-standing wintering place and as he noted, "a good place for Indians." The last chapter describes the Dakota after the exile, and there is an excellent bibliography.

Wingerd, Mary Lethert. North Country: The Making of Minnesota. Illustrations annotated by Kirsten Delegard. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. This sophisticated synthesis of modern scholarship on the fate of the Dakota and Ojibwe includes a detailed investigation of the fur trade which emphasizes that Indians and Europeans negotiated a common culture in those early years. From this point of view, the treaties, the 1862 war, and the exile of the Dakota were the key turning points in Minnesota’s history. With the forcible removal of the Dakota, the immigrants defined the new state as an exclusively “white” place. Delegard’s annotated illustrations of historical sources provide a parallel exploration of the topic.

Winchell, N.H. ed. The Aborigines of Minnesota: a Report on the Collections of Jacob V. Brower, and on the Field Surveys and Notes of Alfred J. Hill and Theodore H. Lewis. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1911. In 1911 Winchell collated a massive compendium of information on Dakota and Ojibwa life as they were before the European overran their lands. Provides a great deal of data on the tribes but also serves to document the prejudices of the time, especially among European-Americans 8

still traumatized by the Dakota War in 1862. Winchell acknowledged the wrongs done to the Dakota but following the Social Darwinism popular at that time, concludes that the expulsion of the Dakota was "unavoidable and inevitable" because the "trend of the human race is upward." (559)

3. The Dakota after war and exile Gibbon, Guy E. The Sioux: The Dakota and Lakota Nations. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. A comprehensive survey of the history of the Sioux from origins to the present. In particular, covers the return of a branch of the Mdewakanton to Prairie Island in Goodhue County after the Dakota War and the subsequent development of that community.

Hyman, Colette A. Dakota Women’s Work: Creativity, Culture, and Exile. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012. A local historian traces the changes in the lives of Dakota women, starting before the arrival of whites and covering the fur trade years, the years of treaties and shrinking lands, the brutal time of removal, starvation, and shattered families after 1862, and then the transition to reservation life, when missionaries and government agents worked to turn the Dakota into Christian farmers.

Lewis, David Rich. “Native Americans and the Environment: A Survey of Twentieth-Century Issues.” American Indian Quarterly 19, Issue 3 (Summer 1995): 423-450. An interesting look at how modern tribes view contemporary environmental issues nation-wide, including the Mdewakantons’ concerns about nuclear waste storage adjacent to their Prairie Island reservation outside Red Wing.

Meyer, Roy Willard. History of the Santee Sioux: United States Indian Policy on Trial. Rev. Ed. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1993. Santee refers to the eastern Dakota tribes, which included the Mdewankantons who lived in the Zumbro watershed when the Europeans arrived. Meyer wrote this book in 1967 and published an expanded and enlarged edition in 1993. After his summary of the 1862 war, he provides detailed account of what happened to the Dakota bands in exile and the process by which some of them returned to Minnesota in the late 19th century, including the Prairie Island band near Red Wing.

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C. European Occupation of the Watershed 1. General Atkins, Annette. Creating Minnesota: A History from the inside out. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007. Innovative history of the state which emphasizes the human drama of development.

Blegen, Theodore C. Minnesota: a History of the State. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1963, 1975. Blegen published what has become the standard historical survey of Minnesota in 1963. A second edition was planned, but at his death, the University decided to republished the original book unchanged with a new chapter written by Russell Fridley which brought the story up to 1975. The first two hundred pages of this volume provides a good guide to French, British, and eventually American visitors to the region in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the rest of the book provides basic background for the subsequent history of the state through the date of publication.

Borchert, John R. and Neil C. Gustafson. Atlas of Minnesota Resources and Settlement. 3rd ed. Minneapolis: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and the Minnesota State Planning Agency, 1980. A great compendium of data about Minnesota as of the late 1970s, beginning with land and natural resources.

Hart, John Fraser and Susy S. Ziegler. Landscapes of Minnesota: A Geography. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2008. A comprehensive historical geography of Minnesota with an emphasis on the long term history or European settlement.

Lass, William E. Minnesota: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1998. Uneven history of the state is best on the origins of the state and its economic foundations.

2. Explorers, missionaries, trappers, and traders American Fur Company papers, 1831-1849. 38 reels of microfilm held by the Minnesota Historical Society library in St. Paul. Microfilm of the original papers held in New York. Trade records and correspondence of the fur trade in Minnesota and elsewhere featuring the letters of people like John Jacob Astor, Henry Sibley, Joseph Nicollet, Henry Schoolcraft, and many others.

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Carver, Jonathan. Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. 3rd edition. London, 1781. Reprint: Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, 1956. The British colonial Jonathan Carver was sent from the garrison of Mackinac Island in 1766 to advance the British fur trade among the Indians in the territories that became Wisconsin and Minnesota. Later he published a travel memoir in London. Besides a great deal on the Indians, he has a quite a bit on animals. Although far from a naturalist, his descriptions of what he saw are useful. In his section on “Beasts,” for example, he describes bear, wolf, fox, buffalo, elk, deer, moose, and caribou, among others.

Cous, Elliot, Ed. The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike: To Headwaters of the Mississippi River, through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain during the Years 18056-7. 3 volumes. New York: Francis P. Harper, 1895 (Reprint: Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, 1965). On behalf of the U.S. government, Pike came up the Mississippi scouting for locations for military forts. Cous was a distinguished geographer and ornithologist who edited and annotated the writings of early explorers (including Lewis and Clark). Pike passed the Zumbro, which he called “riviere Embarrass,” in September 1805 and noted that it joined the Whitewater, which he called the Lean Clair, before entering the Mississippi. In a long footnote, Cous notes that the Whitewater at Minnieska “is still or was lately connected with one of the lowest sluices of the Zumbro.” He thought that the delta of the Zumbro “extends practically from Minneiska to Wabasha…” (Footnote 59, page 56).

Gates, Charles M. Ed. Five Fur Traders of the Northwest: Being the Narrative of Peter Pond and the Diaries of John Macdonell, Archibald N. McLeod, Hugh Faries, and Thomas Connor. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1965. Important primarily for the narrative of Pond, a fur trader who worked the upper Mississippi and its tributaries in 1773-1775.

Gilman, Rhoda R. Henry Hastings Sibley: Divided Heart. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004. In Gilman’s biography, Henry Sibley, the fur trader who became Minnesota’s first governor (and the leader of the expeditionary force against the Dakota in 1862) represents the contradictory nature of the European incursion, part motivated by idealism, part by material gain leading to injustice.

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Gilman, Rhoda R. “Last Days of the Upper Mississippi Fur Trade.” Minnesota History 42 (Winter, 1970): 122-140. Gilman, Rhoda R. “The Fur Trade in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1630-1850.” Wisconsin Magazine of History 58 (Autumn, 1974) 3-18. Together these two articles give a detailed picture of the development of the fur trade in this region and its demise. She suggests that the fur trade died at least as much because of the depletion of Indian populations as of decline in wild game.

Hennepin, Louis. Father Louis Hennepin’s Description of Louisiana; Newly Discovered to the Southwest of New France by Order of the King. Translated by Marion E. Cross. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1938. Hennepin, Louis. A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America. 2 volumes. Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Chicago, A.C. McClurg & Co., New York, Kraus Reprint, 1972. In 1680, the Belgian priest Louis Hennepin and two companions were taken prisoner by the Dakota while traveling up the Mississippi in 1680. Back in France after his release, he published his Description of Louisiana in 1683, and other versions, including A New Discovery, later, to great acclaim. Although the texts have exaggerations and borrowings, they are nevertheless based on an eye-witness experience. Given the demands of his European audience, he mostly focused on his captors, but does describe briefly the environment. Just before his capture, he says that they had taken “eight big wild turkeys, which are plentiful in this region.”

Jackson, David, Ed. The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, with letters and related documents. 2 volumes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966), To the same effect as above, Pike notes that the Zumbro, 60 yards wide, joined the Whitewater just as they form a confluence with the Mississippi.

Kane, Lucile M., June Holmquist, Carolyn Gilman. The Northern Expeditions of Stephen H. Long: The Journals of 1817 and 1823 and Related Documents. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1978. Long led US government expeditions up the Mississippi in 1817 and 1823, preceded only by Pike (see below). On both trips he mentioned the Zumbro and noted that it joined the Whitewater River before it entered the Mississippi (60, 149). Today the Zumbro enters the Mississippi several miles upstream of the Whitewater. He refers to the Zumbro both by its Dakota name Wazi Oju [pines planted] and by the French name Embarrass. In his first trip, he observed a large flock of pelicans there. On his second trip he observed a large group of tumuli (burial mounds) on a terrace near the mouth of the Zumbro.

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Nute, Grace Lee. “Posts in the Minnesota Fur Trade Area, 1660-1855.” Minnesota History 11 (1930) 353-385. Lists the many fur trade posts in Minnesota, including one near Wabasha on the Zumbro.

Parker, Donald D. Ed. The Recollections of Philander Prescott—Frontiersman of the Old Northwest, 1819-1862. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966. In 1819, Prescott came to Fort Snelling as a clerk. He married a Dakota woman and stayed in the region until he was killed during the war in 1862. He was a trapper, trader, interpreter, and eventually superintendent of Indian farming for the Dakota. After a trip in 1828, he wrote of reuniting with his wife who as hunting with her people on the Zumbro, which he called the Brushy River, perhaps because of the way fallen trees tended to clog it.

3. European settlement and early agriculture Andreas, A. T. An Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota. Chicago, A. T. Andreas, 1874. A picture of Minnesota in 1874 with maps of each county, plat maps of some cities (including Rochester and Mantorville), and sketches of many buildings, including the Olds and Fishback Mill in Rochester.

Bowen, Jessie Marsh, “Pioneering in Southern Minnesota.” In With Various Voices: Recordings of North Star Life edited by Theodore Blegen and Philip Jordan, 253-257. Saint Paul: Itasca Press, 1949. Excerpt on the daily life of the early settlers from a book on Claremont Township in Dodge County. This book is listed in the Dodge County section of Part II.

College of Natural Resources. Minnesota a History of the Land. Episode I: Ordering the Land (16,000 B.P. to 1870s). DVD. St. Paul, Minn.: University of Minnesota, College of Natural Resources and Twin Cities Public Television, 2005. The first episode of this public television documentary of Minnesota’s environmental history describes how the landscape was defined by geology and climate. Then it explains the changes in the land that came with the arrival of the Europeans, including the fur trade, the cadastral land survey, and lumbering.

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Frame, Robert M. Millers to the World: Minnesota’s Nineteenth Century Water Power Flour Mills. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Field Services, Historic Sites, and Archeology, 1977. Provides a brief history of water-powered flour mills in Minnesota with an emphasis on describing the mills still standing in 1976 which included only 24 of the more than 1000 built in nineteenth century. There were no extant mills in the Zumbro watershed, but the text mentions that for a time the Rochester mill built by Frederick Olds in 1856 was the state's largest. It was razed in 1953. Shown here is a postcard of the stone bridge over one of the mill races in Rochester.

Jarchow, Merrill E. The Earth Brought Forth; a History of Minnesota Agriculture to 1885. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1949; New York, Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970. Scholarly study of farming and farm life among the early settlers including the dominance of wheat, the coming of the railroads, and the beginnings of mechanization and diversification.

Johnson, Hildegard Binder. Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. The shape of land settled by Europeans was greatly influenced by the decision to survey the land rectangularly into six-by-six mile townships divided into 36 square mile sections, each of which could be further subdivided into four 160 acre squares, which would be broken down, finally, into four “forties.” Johnson investigates how this geometric system worked in the hilly and irregular lands of the Mississippi valley, including parts of Wabasha, Olmsted and Goodhue counties.

Letterman, Edward J. Farming in Early Minnesota. St. Paul: Ramsey County Historical Society, 1966. An illustrated guide to farming and farm implements used in Minnesota between from about 1870 to the coming of mechanization and the tractor based on the collections of the Gibbs Farm Museum in St. Paul.

Robinson, Edward Van Dyke. Early Economic Conditions and the Development of Agriculture in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota. Studies in the Social Sciences, No. 3; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1915. Highly detailed analysis of the development of agriculture from pioneering agriculture through the period of specialized wheat farming through the diversification of agriculture through 1915. Early chapters on climate, physical features, the fur trading era, and transportation also are useful. Also charts the changes in farm size, farm tenure, and indebtedness in this period. Extensive charts and maps. 14

Wingerd, Mary Lethert. North Country: The Making of Minnesota. Illustrations annotated by Kirsten Delegard. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Although this book is listed in Section B, it belongs here also because Wingerd demonstrates how the tragic removal of the Dakota was the defining moment of the new state of Minnesota created by the European immigrants.

4. Agriculture in the railroad era College of Natural Resources. Minnesota a History of the Land. Episode II: Changes in the Land (1870s-1900) and Episode III Out of the Ashes (1900-1940s). DVD. St. Paul, Minn.: University of Minnesota, College of Natural Resources and Twin Cities Public Television, 2005. The second episode of this public television documentary of Minnesota’s environmental history describes the impact of agriculture on the pre-settlement Minnesota landscape, including the plowing of the prairie. The third describes how the devastation of Minnesota’s forestlands and pollution of waterways led to a conservation ethic and to practical reforms like the creation of urban sanitation systems.

Gardner, Denis. Wood, Concrete, Stone, and Steel: Minnesota’s Historic Bridges. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. This comprehensive review of historic bridges in Minnesota documents extant historic bridges over the Zumbro, including three in Wabasha County, three in Olmsted County, and the bridge at Zumbrota (Goodhue County), erected in 1869, which is the only remaining covered bridge in Minnesota.

Granger, Susan, Scott Kelly, Michelle Terrell, Historic Context Study of Minnesota Farms, 1820-1960. 3 vols. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2005. Massive overview of the building of farmsteads in the settlement period, including detailed explanations of the planning and building of all the specific structures and landscapes in a farm (e.g. milking barns, orchards). Opens with a detailed history of Minnesota agriculture which may be most complete every written. Helpful appendices on crops, livestock, mechanization, electrification, farm journalism, and farm organizations.

Johnson, Hildegard Binder. “King Wheat in Southeast Minnesota.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 47 (1957): 350-362 Based on an analysis of the Whitewater watershed, this historical geographer argues that “King Wheat” was an exaggeration. Wheat was the dominant cash crop in the 1860s and 1970s, but other crops were also grown. They were not recorded because they were locally consumed.

Prosser, Richard S. Rails to the North Star: A Minnesota Railroad Atlas. Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1966; Reprt: Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2007. An overview of rail development in Minnesota, which in southeastern Minnesota began in 1862 with the Winona and St. Peter line (later the Chicago & Northwestern) through Olmsted and 15

Dodge counties, followed in 1870 by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul (the “Milwaukee Road) up the west bank of the Mississippi through Wabasha and Goodhue Counties. The reprint edition has a helpful introduction by Don Hofsommer which provides a handy overview of Minnesota railroad development.

Schatzel, G. W. “The Wheat Fields of Minnesota.” In With Various Voices: Recordings of North Star Life edited by Theodore Blegen and Philip Jordan, 143-164. Saint Paul: Itasca Press, 1949. Lengthy excerpts from a detailed report of a journalist who visited southern Minnesota in 1867 because the state was “pre-eminently the wheat growing State of the Union.” The writer traveled the Winona and St. Peter Railroad and noted that every stop was a wheat outlet and had an elevator. He based himself in St. Charles but also visited Rochester and Owatonna.

Schmidt, Andrew et al. “Railroads in Minnesota, 1862-1956. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form.” 2007. (Available at the State Historic Preservation Office, St. Paul). A comprehensive guide to railroad development in Minnesota intended to guide preservation planning of historic railroad properties, organized by major railroads, with their predecessor firms and acquisitions. In southeastern Minnesota, the key companies were the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, which developed the line up the western side of the Mississippi; the Chicago and Northwestern, which bought the Winona and St. Peter, the pioneering railroad which connected Winona to Rochester in 1864, and the Chicago Great Western, which built a line connecting Rochester to lines reaching the Twin Cities at Zumbrota. This offered quick travel to Rochester from Minneapolis and St. Paul just as the Mayo Clinic was becoming famous.

Tweton, D. Jerome. “The Business of Agriculture.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People Since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 260-294. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. Although primarily about developments in the 20th century, good on the dominance of wheat, or as they said, “King Wheat,” in the late 19th century agricultural scene.

United States Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1910. Abstract of the Census. Statistics of Population, Agriculture, Manufactures and Mining for the United States, the States, and Principal Cities. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1913. The federal government has completed a decennial census of the the population of the United States since 1790. Here is one example, the summary volume from the 1910 census. You can learn, for example, that Dodge County had 12,094 people in 1910 down 9.4% from the 1900 census, which suggests that the number of people on the land peaked early and has been declining for a long time. There are population figures for every town, and much more.

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Woolworth, Alan R. The Genesis and Construction of the Winona and St. Peter Railroad 18581873. The Rural and Regional Essay Series. Marshall, MN: Center for the Study of Local and Regional History, 2000. Study of the first railroad through the watershed. It began in Winona in 1862 and reached Rochester in 1864 and Mantorville in 1865. In 1867, the Winona and St. Peter was absorbed into the growing Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

5. Agriculture through mid-20th century. Baerwald, Thomas. “Forces at Work on the Landscape.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People Since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 19-53. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. An overview of the human impact on the Minnesota environment, including transportation, industrialization, mining, and with respect to southeastern Minnesota, intensive farming, including, for example, the drainage of wetlands, soil erosion, feedlots, chemical fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides, and building and abandoning of farm buildings.

Bennett, Hugh H. and W. R. Chapline. Soil Erosion a National Menace. United States Department of Agriculture Circular No. 33. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1928. An early sounding of the alarm about soil erosion. The authors believed, or hoped, that the main obstacle to remedial action was lack of information about the seriousness of the situation. They argue that reestablishing vegetative cover is the most important antidote to the problem.

Gilman, Rhoda R. “Interpreting Minnesota’s Farm Story.” Minnesota History 46, No 1 (Spring, 1978) 31-33. A brief thoughtful piece by the noted historian who asks this question: if we had an interpretive center which told visitors the story of Minnesota agriculture, what story would it tell? Should the story of farming be about a way of life or about an industry?

King, James A. and W. S. Lynes. Tile Drainage. Why Tile Drainage Benefits Wet Land and Increases Farm Income. Information for Laying out and Installing Simple Drainage Systems. 4th Ed. Mason City, Iowa, Mason City Brick and Tile Co., 1946. This book was first published in 1918, and then again in 1923 and 1931. In this fourth edition, James King, an expert on tiling, and Lynes, a soil scientist, make the case for why farmers should tile their lands and how they should go about it. Many benefits are outlined (lengthening the growing season, lowering cost of production, stopping erosion, etc.). No downsides are mentioned.

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Nass, David. “The Rural Experience.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People Since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 129-154. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. Good introduction to Minnesota farming in the 20th century from the farmers’ perspective. Notes the explosion of drainage starting around 1900 with the availability of the “Buckeye Traction Ditcher.” Between 1907 and 1913, 6 million acres of wetland drained. Covers the transformation of rural life that came with mechanization, electrification, schools, paved highways, and the automobile. Notes the way that economic trends beyond the farmer’s control impacted rural life, especially the recession of the 1920s that bled into the Depression.

Tweton, D. Jerome. “The Business of Agriculture.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People Since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 260-294. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. Good introduction to farming as an economic enterprise which a focus on the development of large scale marketing firms like Cargill and ADM, on the one hand, and cooperative’s like CENEX and Land O’ Lakes on the other. Explanation of how southeast Minnesota farming transitioned from wheat to corn, beans and dairy.

6. Urban development Atherton, Lewis Eldon. Main Street on the Middle Border. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1954. A social and cultural history of country towns in the “Middle Border” (which includes Minnesota) from 1865 to 1950.

Borchert, John R. “The Network of Urban Centers.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 54-97. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. A comparative study of urban development in Minnesota. Notes that Rochester’s early development was linked to the Zumbro River and its water power. In 1920 it was not one of the state’s top seven urban centers but its net increase during the first two decades of the 20th century was more than three times that of Winona or Mankato. The photo depicts canoeing near the Center Street bridge when Rochester was still a small town.

College of Natural Resources. Minnesota a History of the Land. Episode IV: Second Nature/1940s and beyond. DVD. St. Paul, Minn.: University of Minnesota, College of Natural Resources and Twin Cities Public Television, 2005.

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The fourth episode of this public television documentary of Minnesota’s environmental history touches on the impact of urbanization, including suburban sprawl and interstate highway construction on Minnesota’s landscape.

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II. Zumbro Watershed Places This section contains sources about particular places in the watershed, arranged geographically. In some cases, the sources also appear in other sections of this bibliography

A. General Andreas, A. T. An Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota. Chicago, A. T. Andreas, 1874. A picture of Minnesota in 1874 with maps of each county, plat maps of some cities (including Rochester and Mantorville), and sketches of many buildings, including the Olds and Fishback Mill in Rochester.

Hart, John Fraser and Susy Ziegler. Landscapes of Minnesota: A Geography. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2008. An introduction to Minnesota geography and many of the issues raised by an environmental history of the state.

Johnson, Hildegard Binder. Order Upon the Land: The U.S. Rectangular Land Survey and the Upper Mississippi Country. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. All places in the watershed today are structured for better or for worse by the rectangular land survey system which brought European rational “order” to the land. This made the land easier to commodify and facilitated the platting of towns. But natural features of the land like the Mississippi or the Zumbro rivers were anything but geometrical and had to be accommodated to a system of rectangles, or the rectangles had to be accommodated to them.

Schlitgus, E. H. “The Historic Zumbro River of Southeastern Minnesota.” 1975. Typescript manuscript, 43 pages, footnotes. Research Center, History Center of Olmstead County #92.69.6 A diligent local historian’s introduction to the towns and cities of the three forks of the Zumbro watershed, including some which were already “ghost towns” in 1975. He notes changes that have been made in the Zumbro’s course up to that time. Shown here are the falls on the Middle Fork near its convergence with the South Fork. They are now swamped by Lake Zumbro.

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Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: a Geographical Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001. A comprehensive guide, organized by country, to the origin of Minnesota place names including counties, townships, towns as well as rivers, streams, lakes, and other geographic features. For example, explains how the French name for the Zumbro River, which was Riviere d’Embarrass, when “pronounced quickly and incompletely, with a French form and accent, as heard and written down by English-speaking immigrants…..was unrecognizably transformed into Zumbro…” (215)

B. Dodge County (including Dodge Center and Mantorville on the Middle Fork) Bowen, Jessie Marsh. Ed. A Chronicle of Claremont Township and Village: A History of Claremont, Dodge County, Minnesota. Claremont, Minn.: Presbyterian Ladies Aid, 1937. A collection of information chronologically arranged about the development of Claremont Township in Dodge County and the railroad village on the Winona and St. Peter that grew up in the township. Also some information about surrounding area, including Rice Lake Village, which became a ghost town after the railroad bypassed it. The south branch of the middle fork of the Zumbro flowed through the township, just north of Claremont village, on its way from Rice Lake to Mantorville. Includes information early wildlife, including ducks, geese, prairie chickens, wolves, rattlesnakes (13, 39). Refers to a flood on the Zumbro in 1882 and the cyclones of 1883 (64-5)

Cowles, Donald A. and G. F. Harms. Soil Survey, Dodge County, Minnesota. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1961. Dodge County Environmental Services Department, “Dodge County Waters: Programs and Trends.” Power point presentation. Accessed February 27, 2014 at http://www.co.dodge.mn.us/departments/environmental_services.php An overview of the state of Dodge County ground and surface waters, what is being done to slow harmful runoff, and what needs to be done in the future.

Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Mantorville, Minnesota, Dodge County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1981. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains. Shown here is the dam on the Zumbro at Mantorville.

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Glaus, Marlene. My Mantorville, 1854-2004: A True Story. Dodge Center, Minn.: Community News Corp., 2006. This collection of stories about Mantorville includes some information on the dqm on the Zumbro which was built at Mantorville to supply water power for a mill in 1856. Rebuilt in 1910, it was washed out by a flood in 1948. The current dam was rebuilt by local initiative in 1953.

Severson, Harold. Dodge County: 125 Years of Growth. Mantorville, Minn.: Dodge County Century and Quarter Club, 1979. Overview of Dodge County history with attention paid to Zumbro places including Mantorville, Claremont, etc.

Severson, Harold. A Tale of Two Cities, Kasson-Mantorville. Mantorville, Minn.: Citizens State Bank, 1982. Illustrated with many historic photos.

Smith, H. A. History of Dodge County. Mantorville, MN: Dodge County Historical Society, 1884; Reprint: 2004. This is a reprint of the Dodge County section (about 500 pages) of History of Winona, Olmsted and Dodge Counties published by the Chicago firm of H. H. Hill in 1884.

C. Goodhue County (including Kenyon, Wanamingo, and Zumbrota on the North Fork, and Pine Island on the North Branch of the Middle Fork) Bailey, Howard Roland. Bailey’s Folly: Now Known as the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Park. Zumbrota, Minn.: H.R. Bailey, 1989. Primarily on the restoration of the 1871 covered bridge.

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. History of Goodhue County, Minnesota. Chicago: H.C. Cooper, 1909. Like the other county histories, this makes clear that the early settlers recognized the excellent water power opportunities which the Cannon and the Zumbro provided, and that they chose sites along the rivers, for example, Zumbrota and Mazeppa, that could make quick use of that advantage.

Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Pine Island, Minnesota, Goodhue County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1980.

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Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Wanamingo, Minnesota, Goodhue County. Washington, D.C: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1981. Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Zumbrota, Minnesota, Goodhue County. Washington: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1980. Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: Goodhue County, Minnesota and incorporated areas. Washington: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 2009. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains.

Goodhue County Comprehensive Local Water Management Plan, 2010-2020. Accessed May 12, 2014 at http://crwp.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Goodhue-County-Water-Plan2010-2020.pdf The county’s current plan for dealing with its “priority concerns,” which include erosion and sediment control, both agricultural and residential.

History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of Minnesota; Together with an Account of the Early French Discoveries, Indian Massacres, the Part Borne by Minnesota’s Patriots in the War of the Great Rebellion, and a Full and Complete History of the County from the Time of Its Occupancy by Swiss Missionaries in 1838. Pioneer Incidents, Biographical Sketches of Early and Prominent Settlers and Representative Men, and of Its Cities, Towns, Churches, Schools, Secret Societies, Etc. Red Wing, Minn., Wood, Alley, & Co., 1878. Earliest narrative history of the county which makes clear the crucial role of the Cannon and Zumbro’s water power in the way the European settlers populated the county.

Johnson, Frederick L. Goodhue County, Minnesota: A Narrative History. Red Wing, Minn.: Goodhue County Historical Society Press, 2000. Modern narrative histories of the county which make clear that the early settlers recognized the excellent water power opportunities which the Cannon and the Zumbro provided, and that they chose sites along the rivers, for example, Zumbrota and Mazeppa, that could take quick use of that advantage.

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Mapel, Patricia. From the Banks of the Zumbro: The Story of Pine Island Methodists. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press Inc., 2012. Although primarily a church history, the first chapter gives a good introduction to the history of Pine Island, noting how the Dakota favored this spot on the Zumbro and that the European settlers quickly built mills there.

Meyer, Roy Willard. The Ghost Towns & Discontinued Post Offices of Goodhue County. Red Wing, Minn.: Goodhue County Historical Society Press, 2003. Meyer, Roy W. “The Story of Forest Mills: A Midwest Milling Community.” Minnesota History 35 (March 1956): 11-21. In a Minnesota History article and a later book on ghost towns, Roy Meyer tells the story of Forest Mills, near Zumbrota, a town which flourished as a Zumbro River mill town in the wheat era, but then declined into a ghost town when the mill was no longer profitable.

Nystuen, David W. “Zumbrota Covered Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1975. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/) Built over the Zumbro in 1869, Minnesota’s last covered bridge carried Highway 58 traffic until 1932 when the highway department built a new bridge. It was then moved to the county fairgrounds, and in 1970 moved to a new Zumbrota city park on the Zumbro. In 1990 it was reestablished as a working bridge, although only for pedestrians, over the Zumbro in this city park, 250 feet from its original location.

Poch, George A. Soil Survey of Goodhue County, Minnesota. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1976. Severson, Harold. We Give You Kenyon: A Bicentennial History of a Minnesota Community. Kenyon, Minn.: Security State Bank of Kenyon, 1976. Collection of articles on the history of Kenyon back to a mill on the Zumbro in 1856. Describes the construction of an 800 ft wood trestle bridge over the Zumbro. The trestle was later filled in with dirt and the river passed through a stone arch bridge. Also noted the story of municipal power in Kenyon, passed after a bitter controversy in 1931.

Thompson, Robert R. et al. Zumbrota, Minnesota: Bridging Past and Future 1856-2006 : St. Louis, Mo.: G. Bradley Publishing, 2003. A pictorial history of Zumbrota with photos of the flood that destroyed the original bridge and led to the building of the famous covered bridge. Also photos of citizens boating on the Zumbro and bathing in it. 23

Zumbrota Area Historical Society. Zumbrota: The next Fifty Years, 1956-2006. Zumbrota, Minn.: Zumbrota Area Historical Society, 2006. Helpful on the restoration of Zumbrota’s famous covered bridge.

Zumbro Valley Historical Society. Zumbrota, the First 100 Years. Zumbrota, Minn.: Zumbro Valley Historical Society: 1956. An introduction to Zumbrota’s history. Includes, at p. 42, “The Zumbro,” a poem written by Lucy Slossen in 1906 to celebrate Zumbrota’s fifty year anniversary. It is reprinted at the end of Part III.

D. Olmsted County 1. Generally Federal Emergency Management Agency. Flood Insurance Study: Olmsted County, Minnesota and Incorporated Areas. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Revised 1998. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains.

Hildebrand, John. Mapping the Farm: The Chronicle of a Family. New York: Knopf, 1995. Insight into the agricultural history of Olmstead County.

Leonard, Joseph A. History of Olmsted County, Minnesota: Together with Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers, Citizens, Families, and Institutions. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1910. Describes the creation of Rochester and Oronoco on the Zumbro in 1854, and the subsequent victory of Rochester in the contest over which town would become the county seat. Rochester’s real growth began when the Winona and St. Peter railroad reached there in 1864. Note the chapter on the two “cyclones” of the summer of 1883 (See also the section on climate in Part III)

Mitchell, W. H. Geographical and Statistical History of the County of Olmsted, Together with a General View of the State of Minnesota from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Rochester, Minn: Shaver & Eaton, 1866. Reprt Salem, Mass: Higginson Book Co, 1998. At early report on the Zumbro, noting its usefulness to settlers as a source of water power, noting two flour mills at Rochester, three saw mills at New Haven, and a flour mill at Oronoco, and also some creeks that drain into the Zumbro also supporting mills.

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History of Winona and Olmsted Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. Chicago: H. H. Hill And Company, 1883. Olmsted County history appears in the second half of this volume, at pages 617-1148. Describes the two forks of the Zumbro which run through the county and notes the potential for water power. Mentions that there were still some Dakota in the area in the 1850s, and that they were hungry but peaceful, and also a small group of Ho-Chunk around 1862. See Chapter X on the August 21, 1883 tornado which hit Rochester and led eventually to the establishment of St. Mary’s Hospital. The History Center of Olmsted County has published a reprint volume of just the Olmsted section of the book. There is also a book entitled History of Winona, Olmsted, and Dodge Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. (Chicago: H. H. Hill And Company, 1884) which includes only the material on pages 617-768 above, and omits pages 769-1148 which primarily cover the histories of individual Olmsted County townships.

Plat Book of Olmsted County, Minnesota, drawn from actual surveys and county records. Philadelphia: Warner and Foote, 1878. Plat books can document how the courses of rivers have changed. This plat book shows the course of the Zumbro in Oronoco (prior to the dam which created Lake Shady) and Rochester, during the period when the river was diverted into “mill races” in order to facilitate the use of water power by grain mills.

Poch, George A. Soil Survey of Olmsted County, Minnesota. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1980. Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department. Olmsted County Water Management Plan 2013-2023. Adopted January 23, 2013. Accessed January 23, 2013 at http://www.co.olmsted.mn.us/PLANNING/ENVIRONMENT/Pages/WaterPlan.aspx Focuses on five priority concerns: groundwater protection; agricultural practices; impaired waters and watershed management; urban storm water; and wetlands. The plan notes that the Zumbro drains more than 57% of Olmsted County. It also notes that because of Rochester and other urban areas, more than 16 percent of the county is covered with artificial surfaces, and that this figure is likely to grow.

Standard Atlas of Olmsted County, Minnesota including a Plat Book of the Villages, Cities and Townships of the County, etc. Chicago: Geo. Ogle and Co, 1898. The 1898 plat book shows the same mills in Rochester as in 1876; in Oronoco, the dam which created Lake Shady appears for the first time.

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2. Oronoco and Lake Shady (Middle Fork) Bonestroo, Inc. “Master Planning for Lake Shady Dam Removal, Riverine System Establishment and Lake Bed Development for Public Use,” Power Point Presentation for Public Information Meeting, February 22, 2011. Available on the Oronoco City webpage. Accessed May 13, 2014 at http://www.oronoco.com/. In 1937, a new dam at Oronoco replaced the original one which had created Lake Shady. A 2010 flood of the Zumbro severely damaged the dam, draining the lake (see photo). It was eventually decided to remove the dam and restore the riverbed. These are powerpoint slides for one of the many public meetings on this issue, which is still far from resolved. Since this presentation the consulting firm Bonestroo has become part of Stantec, Inc. The first dam at Oronoco where the South and North Branch of the Middle Form come together was built in 1879. After the first mill was desstroyed by fire, a second was built, which is shown here.

Boutelle, Elsie. Oronoco Past and Present. Zumbrota: Sommers Printing, 1983. This collection of news clippings has a good collection of historic photos of the mills, dams, and bridged on the Zumbro at Oronoco.

Ettel, Anna Marie. “Minnesota Gold Rushes.” Typed manuscript. Minnesota Historical Society Archives, Manuscript Catalogue Call #P1100-5. An internal research report on the gold rushes on the Zumbro River, Lake Vermilion, Rainy Lake, and other regions in Minnesota which concludes that there was little gold, and overall, the “gold rushes” had little impact on Minnesota’s development.

Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Oronoco, Minnesota, Olmsted County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1981. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains.

3. Rochester (South Fork) Blacklock, Craig. The Geese of Silver Lake. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, 1989. Primarily the work of the well-known nature photographer, also includes the story of how Rochester, and specifically Dr. Charles Mayo, played a role in the resurgence of the Giant Canadian Goose, whose numbers were dwindling in the early 1960s. Specifically, Dr. Mayo fed 26

geese at Mayowood, and then in 1936, a WPA project dammed the south branch of the Zumbro created Silver Lake, which became an urban haven for migratory geese, and later, for resident geese, especially after the Rochester Public Utilities built a coal fired power plant which warmed the waters. Today the city tries to limit the huge goose population.

Clapesattle, Helen. The Doctors Mayo. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1941. Remarkably, this very old authorized biography is the only book length study of the lives of Drs. Charles and William Mayo. The original edition was over 700 pages. In 1954, an abridged “2nd edition" of just over 400 pages was issued. The abridged edition cut a great deal of text as well as all of the original’s 75 pages of footnotes. In any case, there is only limited information here about Mayowood, the mansion overlooking the Zumbro built by Dr. Charles H. Mayo and his wife in 1911. To enhance the beauty of the estate, Dr. Mayo built a dam which created Lake Mayowood. In the 1930s, the dam was rebuilt with the county road crossing above it. The dam, pictured here, still stands but the county closed the bridge to traffic in 2006 due to its deteriorated condition. The Department of Transportation has recommended rebuilding the bridge in 2014-2015.

Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Rochester, Minnesota, Olmsted County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1980. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains.

Flood of Memories, Memories of Flood. Rochester, Minn: Rochester Neighborhood Resource Center, 2004. A collection of photographs and personal stories about the July 1978 flood in the city of Rochester. Concludes with a brief essay by Gary Neuman, Assistant City Administrator, explaining how the city, the county and the Corps of Engineers responded with a $97 million flood control project which includes levees throughout the city but also retention ponds outside.

History of Rochester’s City Owned Utilities: In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Rochester Minnesota. Rochester: Utility Board, 1929. Rochester is the largest city in the state to have a municipally owned power utility. This booklet provides an early history of public ownership from the point of view of the utility board. With private ownership of utilities, it says, “profits first.” With municipal ownership, “service first.” 27

Hodgson, Harriet W. Rochester: City of the Prairie. Northridge, Calif.: Windsor Publications, 1989. General introduction to the history of Rochester, with an emphasis on business development.

Holst, James Edward. Studies on the Rochester Sewage Disposal Plant and the Zumbro River. Masters of Science Thesis. University of Minnesota, 1929. A detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the sewage disposal plant which Rochester built in 1926. The author found that although the general condition of the river was good, the sewage plant effluent placed an appreciable load on the oxygen resources of the river. He noted that Rochester’s population was around 20,000 at that time, and expected to double, and that this would lead to trouble in dry years because the limited volume of water in the river.

Kroska, Nicholas. Serving the Community: The History of Rochester Public Utilities. Rochester, Minn.: Rochester Public Utilities, 1988. A comprehensive history of the development of Rochester’s municipally owned water and electrical utilities. In both cases, Rochester began with a private ownership system (of water in 1887, of electric street lights in 1888). Before too long, Rochester changed to municipal ownership because of dissatisfaction with private company service. Dr. W. W. Mayo, as private citizen and alderman, was a major advocate of public ownership. The book provides essential background on the city’s 1919 hydroelectric plant (backed by the Mayo brothers) and of the 1949 Silver Lake Plant, both on the Zumbro. The dam creating Silver Lake is shown here.

Mayo, Charles W. Mayo: The Story of My Family and My Career. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1968. The autobiography of Dr. “Chuck” Mayo, the son of Dr. Charles H. Mayo, who grew up at Mayowood and lived there till his death in 1968. He briefly describes the construction of Maywood in 1910, including the dam on the Zumbro, and at the end of the book mentions donating the home to the Historical Society of Olmsted County.

Raging Waters: The Flood of 1978-- and How It Changed Rochester, A Post Bulletin Special Report, Rochester Post-Bulletin, Vol 73, no 160 (July 8, 1998). The local newspaper in Rochester takes stock of the big flood.

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Rochester, Minn. Sewage Treatment Plant. Rochester, 1952. For decades the city emptied its raw sewage directly into the Zumbro. When downstream farmers complained, the city installed a pioneering sewage treatment plant in 1926. This booklet commemorates that history and celebrates the opening of a new sewage plant in 1952.

Rochester Water Primer: An Introduction to our Water Resources. Rochester, MN.: Public Works Department, City of Rochester, 2013. A comprehensive guide to water resources and issues in Rochester written by Deb Lass and edited by Barbara Huberty, Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Coordinator at Rochester Public Works. Besides some basic introduction to hydrology, provides an over view of Rochester’s natural and constructed water bodies, it’s water supply, waste water treatment, storm water management, and even a chapter on Rochester’s “water history,” including a history of dams and floods on the Zumbro.

Photographic Collection, Research Center, History Center of Olmsted County, Rochester, MN 1. Flooding: The History Center hold extensive photographic evidence of Zumbro River flooding in Rochester including the floods of 1908, 1925, 1951, 1965 and 1978 (pictured here). The photography of the 1978 flood includes a portfolio done by the Corps of Engineers and includes aerial shots. 2. Flood control: The History Center hold several sets of photographs documenting the construction of the Zumbro River flood control project and the Rochester government center in early 1990s. 3. Riverine environment: many general riverside photos and landscape shots from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Rochester, MN. New York: Sanborn Map Company, 1920. Insurance maps for 1894, 1890, 1899, 1904, 1909, 1914, 1920, 1928 show block by block property information on houses, businesses, and municipal utility lines in Rochester and how they changed over time. This map for 1920, for example, shows the Zumbro Mill building owned by the Rochester Milling Company and includes the mill races running adjacent to 2nd Ave. NE. It lists the electrical capacity of the water turbines to run the mill, including the crusher, sheller, and feed and corn mills.

Severson, Harold. Rochester: Mecca for Millions. Rochester, MN: Marquette Bank & Trust Co., 1979. A local journalist was commissioned to prepare a history of the city. The book is well illustrated with hundreds of photos. 29

Weiss, John. “Taming the Zumbro: the Rochester Flood Control Project.” Rochester Post Bulletin, September 14, 1995, pp 1B, 5B, 6B. A series of articles by the veteran local journalist summing up the reasons for and the results of the flood control project on the occasion of its completion in 1995. He followed this up with a commentary piece in which he wrote that the Zumbro River within Rochester was no longer a river but rather an “attractive flood control canal with an excellent recreation trail.” September 15, 1995, p. 6D.

E. Rice County and Steele Counties Beck, John, Soil Survey of Rice County, Minnesota. Washington, D.C.: Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2000. Carlson, Carroll Richard. Soil Survey of Rice County, Minnesota. Washington]: U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1975. Cummins, Joseph F., Soil Survey of Steele County, Minnesota. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1973. Meyer, Roy W. Everyone’s County Estate: A History of Minnesota’s State Parks. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1991. Rice Lake State Park is the only one of Minnesota’s state parks with a Zumbro River connection, and Meyer briefly tells its story.

Rice County Local Water Management Plan Fourth Generation 2010-2014. Accessed May 12, 2014 at http://www.co.rice.mn.us/sites/default/files/pdfs/uploadedcontent/forms/lwmplan.pdf Most of Rice County is in the Cannon River Watershed, but the southeastern corner of the county drains into the North Fork of the Zumbro. This report summarizes concerns and plans, including soil erosion and storm water management.

Steele County Local Water Management Plan 2007-2016 (Amended 2009; Amended 2011). Accessed February 27, 2014 at http://crwp.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SteeleCounty-Water-Plan-2007-2016.pdf Most of Steele County is in the Cannon River Watershed, but the eastern and northeastern edges are within the Zumbro watershed. In particular, the farmland on the eastern edge of the county is drained by the Ripley Ditch, most of which is across the county line in Dodge County. This report summarizes the county’s water concerns, including soil pesticide and fertilizer runoff from agricultural fields, rural septic tank contamination, urban storm water runoff, feedlot manure management, and clandestine waste dumps. It also reviews implementation strategies for each concern. 30

F. Wabasha County (including Lake Zumbro, Mazeppa on the North Fork, and Zumbro Falls, Hammond, Millville, Theilmann, and Kellogg on the Lower Zumbro.) Andeson, David. “Walnut Street Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2002. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/) In 1904, the city of Mazeppa built this steel truss bridge over the Zumbro on Walnut Street to replace an existing but condemned bridge. It was Mazeppa’s only bridge across the river until 1922, when the state built a bridge at Maple Street to carry Highway 60 over the river. In 1980, the Walnut Street bridge was restricted to pedestrian traffic and in 1995 it was closed to all traffic. In 2002 it was rehabilitated, and now serves as a pedestrian walkway to a park on the east side of the river (the north fork of the Zumbro runs south through town.) The bridge and park provide scenic view of the river and its steep banks.

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. History of Wabasha County, Minnesota. Winona, Minn.: H.C. Cooper, 1920. This comprehensive early history of Wabasha County pays ample attention to the Zumbro River and the importance of water power in the county’s development. For example, the section on the growth of Mazeppa notes that “water power has been the vital factor in the life of Mazeppa.” (93) Similar comments on Hammond (106-110) and Zumbro Falls (113-115). It also claims that the early explorers who thought that the Zumbro joined the Whitewater before entering the Mississippi were mistaken.

Erpestad, David. Wabasha County Historic Sites Survey, 1987: Final Report. St. Paul: State Historic Preservation Office, 1987. Overview of Wabasha County history focused on extant historic sites.

Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Hammond, Minnesota, Wabasha County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1980. Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Mazeppa, Minnesota, Wabasha County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1981.

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Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: Wabasha County, Minnesota and Incorporated areas. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 2000. Federal Insurance Administration. Flood Insurance Study: City of Zumbro Falls, Minnesota, Wabasha County. Washington, D.C.: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance Administration, 1981. Flood insurance studies use hydrologic and historical data to describe flood hazards faced by a city or county. They are used for flood insurance purposes, and more broadly to aid planners in promoting rational land use within flood plains.

Harms, Grenfell Frederick and Leonard Bullard. Soil Survey, Wabasha County, Minnesota Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 1965. Herbert, Jim (Bar Engineering). “Lake Zumbro Dredging Project: Preliminary Engineering Status.” Power point slides, April 28, 2010. Accessed January 24, 2014 at http://www.co.olmsted.mn.us/yourgovernment/reports/Documents/LakeZumbroBarrEngr Report4-28-10%20mtg.pdf Presenting the rational, feasibility, cost, and timetable for the possible dredging of Lake Zumbro.

Hess, Jeffrey. “Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Generating Plant.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/) In 1919, Rochester built the 900 foot long Lake Zumbro hydroelectric dam about 15 miles downstream from the city on the Zumbro just over the border in Wabasha County. The structure was added to the National Register in 1991 for its significance in the history of engineering. It was designed by Hugh Lincoln Cooper, an internationally known designer of hydroelectric dams who got his start in Rochester as an apprentice to bridge designer Horace Horton.

History of Wabasha County: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc.: Gathered from Matter Furnished by Interviews with Old Settlers, County, Township, and Other Records, and Extracts from Files of Papers, Pamphlets, and Such Other Sources as Have Been Available: Also a History of Winona County. Chicago: H.H. Hill & Co: 1884. Early history of the county emphasizing the importance of rivers and water power in the settlement of towns like Mazeppa. Mentions the Zumbro River “gold rush” which began in 1858. A company was organized for systematic mining of in Mazeppa Township. However, “the remorseless Zumbro” flooded twice in 1859, sweeping away all that had been invested in sluices

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and equipment (p. 743). The author continued to believe that “a large deposit of gold exists somewhere on the Zumbro.” However, see the source by Ettel in the Oronoco section above.

“Lake Zumbro Forever, Inc” webpage, Accessed February 1m, 2014 http://www.minnesotawaters.org/group/zumbro/lake-zumbro-forever-inc-main The group of Lake Zumbro landowners who seek government and private aid to dredge the lake of the sediment that has built up over years. In 2012, the Minnesota Legislature allocated $3 million in bonding funds for this project subject to a matching requirement which the group is currently working to meet. This is a view of Lake Zumbro looking downstream to the dam and hydroelectric plant

Wabasha County Sesquicentennial Committee, Wabasha County, 1849-1999 Sesquicentennial. Wabasha: County of Wabasha, 1999. Brief histories of each of the townships and major towns in the county.

Zumbro River Power Development General Plan. January 31, 1917. Hugh Cooper & Co., St. Paul, MN. Ten blueprints, Research Center, History Center for Olmsted County, Rochester, MN. A collection of oversized blueprints from the original drawings for the Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Plant. One lists the land owners and their holdings, including who lost property to the project. There is a map of the original river with the future lake superimposed over it. Also architectural drawings of the dam and plant.

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III. The Modern Zumbro Watershed This section contains sources on the recent environmental history of the watershed and on the contemporary issues facing those who care about the watershed. It is organized topically. A. The Zumbro and the greater watershed into which it drains Anfinson, John. The River We Have Wrought: A History of the Upper Mississippi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003. An examination of the transformation of the upper Mississippi into the navigational highway it is today thanks to the system of locks and dams focusing on the political forces that contest over its future, including grain companies, railroads, barge owners, river towns, and environmentalists.

Fremling, Calvin R. Immortal River: The Upper Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Times. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. An engaging multi-disciplinary introduction to the Mississippi from Cairo, Illinois upstream to its headwaters. The upper part of the river exemplifies the dilemma of an ever increasing human presence on the large natural landscape. In that sense, the book not only provides the larger context for exploring the environmental history of the Zumbro, but a model for how to go about it. The Mississippi is different in that commercial navigation plays an enormous role in the river’s health. The common ground is that the big river eventually absorbs the impact of what human populations do to its tributaries, including the Zumbro.

McPhee, Larkin. Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story. DVD. 57 mins. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota—Bell Museum of Natural History, 2010. A film which examines how agricultural run-off and pollution contribute to the largest dead zone in the world, where the Mississippi spills into the Gulf of Mexico. The film became famous when the university’s Vice President of University Relations cancelled its premier one month before the scheduled date. Apparently influenced by complaints from certain agricultural interests, she cited the need for further “scientific review.” The film had been in development within the university for four years. In the end, she resigned and the show went on.

Schlitgus, E. H. “The Historic Zumbro River of Southeastern Minnesota.” 1975. Typescript manuscript, 43 pages, footnotes. Research Center, History Center of Olmstead County #92.69.6 An introduction to the towns and cities of the three forks of the Zumbro watershed, including some which were already “ghost towns” in 1975, by an diligent local historian. Notes some of the changes that have been made in the Zumbro’s course up to that time. 34

United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource’s Conservation Service. Rapid Watershed Assessment Resource Profile: Zumbro River (MN) HUC: 07040004. No date. Accessed February 28, 2014 at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_023178.pdf Good statistical introduction to the watershed covering ownership, land use, “impaired waters,” geology, soils, socioeconomic data, agricultural data, threatened and endangered species, and resource concerns. Data through 2007.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Final Environmental Impact Statement and Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Washington: Department of Interior, 2006. Accessed March 27, 2014 at http://www.fws.gov/Midwest/Planning/uppermiss/feis/FinalEIS.pdf The Zumbro drains into the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge at Pool 5. The refuge was created by Congress in 1924 to provide a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds, fish, other wildlife, and plants. The FIS considered various alternatives and preferred a mixed approach of wildlife protection and public use. The plan will guide management and administration for fifteen years.

Waters, Thomas F. The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977. General introduction to Minnesota’s rivers with a chapter on southeastern Minnesota which briefly describes the Zumbo.

B. Weather, climate, and climate change American Association for the Advancement of Science. What We Know: The Reality, Risks, and Response to Climate Change. Washington: AAAS, 2014. From the voluminous literature about climate change, a good starting point might be this recent booklet by a leading scientific organization (publisher, for example, of the journal Science). They are frustrated that many still think that the scientific community is conflicted about the causes and dangers of climate change. For them, scientific findings indicate that human-induced climate change is likely responsible for the increase in average global temperature, the rise in sea level, and the growing frequency of extreme events – such as killer heat waves and “100 year floods.” They fear that climate change may not be gradual but rather may be experienced as “abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes.” In the photo, Zumbro floodwaters invade someone’s back yard.

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History of Winona and Olmsted Counties: Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. Chicago: H. H. Hill and Company, 1883. Like the Olmsted County history by Leonard (below), this volume has a chapter on “the cyclone,” but focuses only on the tornado which hit Rochester on August 21, 1883.

Leonard, Joseph A. History of Olmsted County, Minnesota: Together with Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers, Citizens, Families, and Institutions. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1910. See the section entitled "The Great Cyclones" which describes in detail the impact of two tornados (called "cyclones” at the time) which struck Olmsted County in 1883. On July 21, a tornado swept through the northwest portion of the county. On August 21, a tornado hit Rochester, causing 31 deaths. In response, the Sisters of St. Francis decided to open St. Mary's Hospital, and they persuaded Dr. W. W. Mayo to lead the project.

Minnesota Climatology Working Group, a joint project of the State Climatology Office, the Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Minnesota. Accessed March 23, 2014 at http://climate.umn.edu/ This is the ultimate website for accessing Minnesota climate data, both historical and current.

Purssell, U.G. “Climate Conditions.” in Frank Leverett and Frederick W. Sardeson, Surface Formations and Agricultural Conditions of the South Half of Minnesota, Minnesota. Geological Survey Bulletin; No. 14; Minneapolis, University of Minnesota, 1919. An early look at Minnesota climate based primarily on recorded data from the first decades of the 20th century.

Rieck, Todd. Rochester, Minnesota Climate. Kansas City, Mo.: National Weather Service, Scientific Services Division, Central Region, 2002. A comprehensive review of the climate of Rochester with data through 2002. Temperature and precipitation records back to 1886, and snowfall records back to 1908. Generally normals are for the period 1971 to 2000. Provides a month by month climatology of the area. Links climate to flooding on the Zumbro. It is no surprise to read that Rochester’s second largest calendar day rainfall was on July 5, 1978 (6.22 inches), a weather event which produced the great flood that led ultimately to the massive flood control project in Rochester.

Seeley, Mark W. Minnesota Weather Almanac. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2006. Interesting analysis which puts watershed events in a larger climatic context. Notes that Minnesota’s mid-continent geography and northerly latitude leads to highly variable climate. The two flash floods which struck Rochester during the summer of 1978 are considered as part of the history of flooding in Minnesota. The "great cyclone" of August 21, 1883, a F5 (greater than 260 mph) tornado which killed 30 people in Olmsted and Dodge counties, is placed in the 36

broader context of Minnesota’s history of extreme weather events. Concludes with the present climatic trends, which include overall warming (especially rising nighttime minimum temperatures), higher summer dew points, and increased precipitation (largely the result of larger snowfalls and more intense thunderstorms).

United States Department of Agriculture. Climate Change and Agriculture: Effects and Adaptation. February 5, 2013. Washington, D.C.: USDA, 2013. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/effects_2012/CC%20and%20Agriculture%20R eport%20%2802-04-2013%29b.pdf The report indicates how climate change is affecting U.S. farms, grasslands and rural communities, and makes suggestions for adapting to the accelerating pace and intensity of climate change. It predicts mixed results over the next 25 years, but after that, major shifts in crop production areas, increases in past control expenses, and greater disease prevalence.

United States Department of Agriculture. USDA Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/adaptation/adaptation_plan.htm The Climate Change Adaptation Plan presents strategies and actions to address the effects of climate change on key mission areas including agricultural production, food security, rural development, and forestry and natural resources conservation. It provides a detailed vulnerability assessment, reviews the elements of USDA’s mission that are at risk from climate change, and provides specific actions and steps being taken to build resilience to climate change. The plan advances President Obama’s efforts to integrate climate change adaptation planning into the actions of the federal government.

United States Global Change Research Program, Third National Climate Assessment, May 2014. Accessed May 9, 2014 at http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report. In 1990 Congress mandated assessments of the impact of climate change. This is the third, and it is extremely well researched and accessible. The basic message is that climate change is no longer a future threat but is happening now. In Chapter 18, the report assesses the impact on the Midwest. Among its findings: 1.) Agriculture in Minnesota will experience longer growing seasons and greater yields, but these gains will eventually be offset by extreme weather events and heat stress; 2.) increased heat wave intensity, higher humidity, and degraded air and water quality will negatively impact public health; 3.) The trend toward extreme rainfall events and flooding will continue; 4.) since the Midwest has a highly energy-intensive economy with per capita emissions of greenhouse gases more than 20% of the national average, we have the potential to make a disproportionate contribution to improving the situation. One interesting fact from the report: according to the insurance industry, the Midwest experienced 11 of the 14 weather-related disasters with damage in excess of $1 billion since 2011.

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C. Hydrology Kletti, Laura L. and Heinz G. Stefan, Heinz. “Correlations of climate and streamflow in three Minnesota streams.” Climatic Change 37, No 4 (Dec, 1997): 575-600. A study of the correlations between four climate parameters and streamflow in the Zumbro, Baptism and Mississippi rivers. Runoff values measured over periods of up to 37 years were correlated with precipitation, air temperature, wind, and dew point temperature.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “Public Waters Inventory Program.” Accessed April 28, 2014 at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/pwi/index.html The DNR maintains maps which record their inventory of public waters (streams, wetlands) in both paper form (for sale) and since 2008 as a GIS layer which has been used in various studies.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Waterways: A Minnesota Water Primer and Project WET Companion. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 2010. Solid popular introduction to hydrology, Minnesota’s waters, and the issues confronting the state and its people. Available in hardcopy or can be downloaded at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/projectwet/waterways/index.html

National Weather Service, Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. “Historic Crests” of the Zumbro for various forks at selected locations. Accessed January 29, 2014 at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/ In addition to a real time hydrograph for the various locations of the Zumbro, this webpage allows searching for the historic crest data for various locations on the river, for example, “North Fork Zumbro River near Wanamingo” or “Zumbro River at Zumbro Falls.” The data seems to show that most high water events have occurred in the watershed since 1940, which is also supported by the NOAA flood data.

Postel, Sandra and Brian Richter. Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature. Washington: Island Press, 2003. This book examines the current state of rivers, their waters, their flow, how they are managed by policy and how their management can be improved. Includes case studies and policy recommendations.

Richter, Brian and Sandra Postel. “Saving Earth’s Rivers.” Issues in Science and Technology (Spring 2004) Issue 3, p. 31-36. The authors argue that “a river’s natural flow regime…exerts great influence on river health.” Therefore, “when humans alter these natural patterns to supply growing cities and farms with water, generate electricity, facilitate river-based navigation, and protect expanding settlements from floods, the vitality and productivity of river ecosystems can become seriously degraded.”

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Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department. “Olmsted County Water Management Plan 20132023.” Adopted January 23, 2013. Recorded document #A-1314652. http://www.co.olmsted.mn.us/PLANNING/ENVIRONMENT/Pages/WaterPlan.aspx Accessed September 24, 2013) Focuses on five priority concerns: groundwater protection; agricultural practices; impaired waters and watershed management; urban storm water; and wetlands. The plan notes that the Zumbro drains more than 57% of Olmsted County. It also notes that because of Rochester and other urban areas, more than 16 percent of the county is covered with artificial surfaces, and that this figure is likely to grow.

United States Geological Survey, Surface Water data for USA: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics. “Zumbro River at Zumbro Falls, Discharge, cubic feet per second, 1909-1980.” http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/monthly/?referred_module=sw&site_no=05374000& amp;por_05374000_2=900655,00060,2,1909-07,1980-09&st (Accessed October 1, 2013. Best long-term average flow volume of the Zumbro River. Data shows that the Zumbro River has increased average flow over the past 100 years. Not an ideal comparison to more recent numbers, but it is the best available.

D. Wildlife (native and introduced) Abraham, Jason. “Rattlesnake Poachers.” Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. 67, No 393 (March-April, 2004): 6-7, 56. Report on the status of rattlesnakes in southeastern Minnesota . Once plentiful in the forests and bluff prairies throughout the watershed, they are now mostly gone from Olmsted, Wabasha, and Goodhue counties. In this article, naturalists discover evidence of poaching the surviving snakes, even though they are a protected species.

Blacklock, Craig. The Geese of Silver Lake. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, 1989. Photography of the Giant Canada Geese which stop in Rochester on their migration or are permanent residents, and an explanation of why they are there.

Blann, Kristen Lynne. Landscape-Scale Analysis of Stream Fish Communities and Habitats: Lessons from Southeastern Minnesota, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota. 2005. The author links what is happening with stream habitat, fish communities, and trout populations with the surrounding land use and landscape characteristics.

Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota. Accessed on May 23, 2-14 at http://bbrp.org/ This popular songbird lives in open forests and farmlands and can be found in every county of the state. Starting in the 1930s bluebird numbers began to decline due loss of habitat and competition with starlings and sparrows. In 1979, the Minneapolis chapter of the Audubon 39

Society organized this recovery project, which operates throughout the state and has successfully supported a rebound in bluebird numbers.

Coffin, Barbara and Lee Pfannmuller. Minnesota’s Endangered Flora and Fauna. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press for the Natural Heritage and Nongame Wildlife programs of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1988. An encyclopedia of animals which are threatened or endangered in Minnesota, this volume also mentions species which once were abundant but now are either extinct (passenger pigeon) or absent (elk, bison, brown bear). According to the authors, passenger pigeons were plentiful in the Zumbro area up to the 1870s, when they were quite quickly hunted to extinction. The last passenger pigeon died in a zoo in 1914. There is also an appendix which lists endangered species by county.

Dickson, Tom. The Great Minnesota Fish Book. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. Beautifully illustrated by Joseph R. Tomelleri, the author provides an introduction to the natural history of the major fish species of Minnesota, native and non-native. For example, he notes that the Brown Trout of Europe, now common in the watershed, was introduced in the 1920s as the Brook Trout were being overfished. The Brown had the advantage of being able to tolerate warmer waters than the Brook.

Greenberg, Joel. A Feathered River across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction. New York: Bloomsbury, 2014. A recent book by a noted Midwestern naturalist who tries to answer the question of how and why the most numerous bird on the continent so quickly became extinct.

Hazard, Evan B. The Mammals of Minnesota. Minneapolis: Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press for the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, 1982. Well informed guide to mammals. He suggests, for example, that beavers have “perhaps affected human history in North America more than any other wild mammal.”

Hilfiker, Earl L. Beavers: Water, Wildlife, and History. Interlaken, NY: Windswept Press, 1990. Introduction to the North American beaver with coverage of the decimation of beavers during the fur trade in 18th and 19th century.

Houghton, David C. “Biological Diversity of the Minnesota Caddisflies (Insecta, Trichoptera).” ZooKeys 189 (May 3, 2012): p 1-389. Accessed April 7, 2014 at 10.3897/zookeys.189.2043 Caddisflies resemble sleek moths but their aquatic larvae build elaborate cases of nearly infinite design. There are at least 1,260 species in North America. Because of their sensitivity to low levels of pollution scientists monitor them to gauge the health of streams and lakes. This book length analysis of caddisfly diversity in Minnesota was based on sampling from all Minnesota 40

watersheds. There are at least 277 species in Minnesota but the author found greatest diversity in the Lake Superior region and least diversity in the Southern region. Diversity in the southeastern region was intermediate. Some species have disappeared from certain regions, or from the entire state. The author concludes that the loss of species has resulted from the conversion of many habitats to large scale agriculture.

Janssen, Robert B. Kennedy. Birds of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Edmonton: Lone Pine Pub., 2003. The basic reference guide to Minnesota’s birds.

Janssen, Robert B. and Anthony Hertzel. County Occurrences of Minnesota Birds. M.O.U. Occasional Papers ; No. 1. Minneapolis, Minn.: Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, 1996. Notes that many species of birds appear in all Minnesota counties, but that some have more localized habitat. This guide places birds in the particular counties in which they have been observed.

Krajick, Kevin. “Defending Deadwood.” Science 293 (31 August 201): 1579-1581. Explains the relationship between fallen trees and various species, especially the Pileated Woodpecker, which acts as a “keystone” species because other birds, like nuthatches, chickadees and bluebirds, use the cavities that the big woodpeckers create as nests. Also, trees that fall into streams and create snags offer hunting perches to avian predators.

Kraske, Robert. “Whatever happened to bluebirds?” The Minnesota Volunteer, Jan-Feb, 1981, p. 42-49. Notes the prevalence of bluebirds in the past and their rapid population decline starting in the 1920s as a result of loss of habitat and competition with starlings and sparrows.

Lannoo, Michael J. Malformed Frogs: The Collapse of Aquatic Ecosystems. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. In 1995, students studying a wetland near Henderson found a large number of deformed frogs. Soon, frogs with deformities (e.g. missing or extra legs) were found all over the state. The scientific literature about the cause of this phenomenon has grown enormously but this volume is a good starting point. Lannoo considers the possible causes and concludes that our focus should be on controlling chemical, nutrient and pesticide runoff into wetlands. He is also the editor of Amphibian Declines: the Conservation Status of a United States Species (University of California Press, 2005) a massive anthology of research on this issue.

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Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, “Designation of Infested Waters.” December 16, 2013. Accessed on line March 21, 2014 at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/invasives/infested_waters.pdf A watch list of invasive species in Minnesota lakes and streams. The Zumbro appears only in the section on zebra mussels, which are listed as infesting Lake Zumbro and everything downstream on the Zumbro and 500 feet up its tributaries.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Minnesota Biological Survey. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mbs/index.html A project to enhance our knowledge of the distribution and status of Minnesota’s flora, fauna, and native plant communities. To date, 81 of 87 counties (including all in the Zumbro Watershed) have been surveyed and the results are easily accessible on line. Detailed maps for each county can be viewed online or downloaded.

Minnesota Waterfowl Research Group. Waterfowl in Minnesota. Minnesota Department of Conservation, Technical Bulletin, No. 7. Saint Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Conservation, Division of Game and Fish, Section of Research and Planning, 1964. A detailed analysis of the natural history of waterfowl in Minnesota with attention to the impact of drainage on habitat and to effect of conservation programs and hunting regulation on waterfowl populations in Minnesota.

Mitchell, Martin D., Richard O. Kimmel, and Jennifer Snyders. “Reintroduction and Range Expansion of Eastern Wild Turkeys in Minnesota.” Geographical Review 101, no. 2 (April 2011): 269–84. The authors argue that the Minnesota DNR’s reintroduction of wild turkeys has been remarkably successful and free of controversy. They also make clear that although the wild turkey’s range has expanded, its core habitat is in the driftless region of Minnesota including areas of the Zumbro watershed.

Schrader, Thomas A. and Arnold B. Erickson. Upland Game Birds of Minnesota. Minnesota Department of Conservation. Bulletin No. 8. St. Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Conservation, 1944. Introduction to the ring-necked pheasant, the prairie chicken, ruffled and spruce grouse, bobwhites, etc.

Tekiela, Stan. Mammals of Minnesota Field Guide. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, 2005. A book to carry with you on a trip or a hike, or to refer to when you return. Good illustrations and maps.

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Tomelleri, Joseph R. and Mark E. Eberle. Fishes of the Central United States. 2nd edition. Lawrence, Kan.: University Press of Kansas, 2011. This revised and expanded second edition succeeds in its goal of bring scientifically accurate but highly readable information about fish species in the central United States including Minnesota. Excellent color illustrations.

Wechsler, Chuck. The Pheasant in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1986. Good overview of the history of pheasants in Minnesota and how changing land use impacted their numbers. The Chinese ring-necked pheasant was introduced into southern Minnesota in 1916 and peaked in population in the 1950s (at an estimated 6 million birds). In 1958, for example, hunters took 1,562,000 roosters. By 1994, however, changing farming practices had reduced the population to about 500,000. An increase in protected grasslands has led to a rebound, and the DNR now estimates about 2 million pheasants in the state.

E. Prairie, wetland and woodland plants (native and invasive) Aaseng, Norman E. et al. Minnesota’s Native Vegetation: a Key to Natural Communities. Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, Biological Report No. 20. St. Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1993. This natural community key classifies and describes recurrent natural units of Minnesota's landscape by considering vegetation, topography, hydrology, landforms, substrates, soils, and natural disturbance regimes. It needs to be read in conjunction with information geared to

individual counties.

Aaseng, Norman E. Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota. The Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province. St. Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 2005. This part of a three volume work covers the counties of the Zumbro Watershed. It represents a revision of the system of classification published n 1993 (above) based on continual research, for example through the County Biological Survey. The guide contains keys to the identification of plant communities, fact sheets on community composition and structure, landscape setting, soils, and natural history.

Coffin, Barbara and Lee Pfannmuller. Minnesota’s Endangered Flora and Fauna. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press for the Natural Heritage and Nongame Wildlife programs of the Division of Fish and Wildlife, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1988. An encyclopedia of plants which are threatened or endangered in Minnesota. There is also an appendix which lists endangered species by county. Many of the endangered plants in the region are associated with prairie habitats.

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Costello, David Francis. The Prairie World. New York: Crowell, 1969. Introduction to the ecology of the mid-continent prairies including the mixed prairies of southeastern Minnesota. Covers the climate, topography and waters of the prairie, its plants, mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles, and events such as droughts and floods.

Eggers, Steve D., and Donald M. Reed. Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota & Wisconsin. St. Paul: US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, 1988. The wetlands of Minnesota and Wisconsin are categorized into fifteen plant communities. Each community is described and illustrated by color photographs along with descriptions and color photographs of a total of 115 representative plant species. The descriptions include taxonomic characteristics, habitat, and notes on wildlife use and economic values. With respect to the Zumbro, the most relevant plant community would be the “Floodplain Forests,” which includes silver maple, green ash, river birch, cottonwood, American elm, and black willow.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Minnesota Biological Survey. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mbs/index.html A project to enhance our knowledge of the distribution and status of Minnesota’s flora, fauna, and native plant communities. To date, 81 of 87 counties (including all in the Zumbro Watershed) have been surveyed and the results are easily accessible on line. Detailed maps for each county can be viewed online or downloaded.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “Minnesota’s Remaining Native Prairie 100 Years after the Public Land Survey.” On line map. St. Paul: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, March 2009. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/mcbs/prairie_map.pdf. Shows prairie mapped by the Minnesota Biological Survey as of March 2009 as well as natural vegetation reported at the time of the public land survey 1847-1908. A color map available on line. Demonstrates how extensive prairie was within the Zumbro watershed and how prairie lands are now mostly gone.

Wendt, Keith M. A Guide to Minnesota Prairies. St. Paul: Natural Heritage Program, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, 1984. An introduction to the diversity of prairie types found in Minnesota, and in particular on prairie preserves as of the date of publication. Within the watershed, the guide highlights the "dry sand" prairie at the Kellogg-Weaver dunes in Wabasha County and the tiny bits of "Southern Oak Barrens" left in Dodge and neighboring counties.

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F. Demography and land use Department of Administration. “Minnesota State Demographic Center webpage.” Accessed on January 29, 2014 at http://www.demography.state.mn.us/index.html Portal to state demographic information based on US census data and other sources, including estimates and projections beyond the 2000 and 2010 census. For example, the population of the city of Rochester was 85,806 in 2000 and was estimated to be 108,814 in 2012.

United States Census Bureau. Quick Facts. Accessed April 4, 2014 at http://www.census.gov/#. The web page of the Census Bureau offers easy access to a wealth of data organized by state through the Quick Facts service. In March 2014 for example, the Census Bureau released new population estimates for 2013 broken down by state and county. Most of the watershed counties showed little population growth. However, Olmsted, which had a population of 144,248 in the 2010 census, was estimated to be 149,226 in mid-2013. Presumably these numbers reflected the growth of Rochester’s population.

University of Minnesota Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis Laboratory. “Land Cover and Impervious Surface Area.” Accessed on January 29, 2014 at http://land.umn.edu. An interactive state wide map that allows access to land cover data for 2000 broken down by county, township, urban, and also watershed. Land cover is broken down into agricultural, grass/shrub/wetland, forest, water, and urban. A printout of the data of land cover by percentages appears with each map. For example, the Zumbro Watershed is about 67% agricultural, 9% grass/shrub/wetland, 15% forest, .25% water, and 9% urban (with 2.51% impervious surfaces).

G. Agricultural use 1. Farms, farm organization, and land tenure Hart, John Fraser. The Changing Scale of American Agriculture. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003. Hart, a rural geographer from the University of Minnesota, wrote this book to examine why and how the 5.4 million American farms in 1949 shrunk to 1.9 million in 1997. He focuses on the farmer-entrepreneurs who organized larger and larger units of production. He tends to see this process as inevitable and unstoppable. His concluding sentence: “The farm that seems large in 2002 will seem small in 2022.” (p. 264)

The FarmLASTS Project. Farm Land Access, Succession, Tenure and Stewardship. Research Report and Recommendations. 2010. Accessed December 23, 2013 http://www.uvm.edu/farmlasts/FarmLASTSResearchReport.pdf This USDA-funded project investigated how farms and ranches nationwide are acquired and held by farm entrants. It found that farm real estate values doubled from 2002 to 2008. About 45

70% of farm land will change hands over the next 20 years, but most retiring farmers have no set succession strategy. Given this and other factors, the report recommends that government policy needs to create opportunities for new farmers to enter the field. The report takes the position that something must be done to ensure long term farm viability and land stewardship.

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 2007 Census of Agriculture: United States—Summary and State Data. Issued February 2009; updated December 2009. Available online at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/index.php Starting in 1840, the US Bureau of Census collected agricultural data as part of the decennial census of the population, although there were mid-decade agricultural censuses in 1925, 1935 and 1945. After that, the government conducted an agricultural census in years ending in 4 and 9. Since 1976, the five year cycle has changed to years ending in 2 and 7. Since 1997, this work has been done by the Department of Agriculture. The data is organized on a national, state and county level.

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 2012 Census of Agriculture: United States: Summary and State Data. Vol 1. Geographic Area Series. Part 51. Issued May 2014. Accessed on May 12, 2014 at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_U S/usv1.pdf The new census shows a continued decline in the number of farms (down 4.3% since 2007) and a rise in the size of the average farm (up 3.8% since 2007). The average farmer was older than ever (58.3 years) and there were fewer farmers who have been on their current operation for less than 10 years (down 20% since 2007). Minnesota continued to be in the top 10 in number of farms and in agricultural sales, but showed a significant decrease in the number of farms. The data is organized on a national, state and county level. You can take any county in the watershed and compare its data to comparable data from other counties, or you can use the data to see how the county has changed since the last census and beyond.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farms and Land in Farms--Final Estimates 2003-2007. Washington: US Department of Agriculture, 2009. Accessed January 23, 2014 at http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/SB991/sb1017.pdf Numbers of farms and farm size, broken down by state.

2. Crops and livestock Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. Evaluation Report: Agricultural Commodity Councils. March 2014. Accessed March 22, 2014 at http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/agcouncils.pdf Some insight in how hard it will be to change the agricultural status quo can be gained from the state legislative auditor’s report on the 13 commodity councils which are funded by a “checkoff’ system. The councils support promotion, research and market development that benefits their commodity. The auditor recommended greater financial transparency and legislative 46

oversight. It also thought the legislature should tighten restrictions on using the money for lobbying. The report notes, for example that the Corn Council has a budget of more than $11 million, $4.8 million of which it paid to the Minnesota Corn Growers Association for services, which does participate in lobbying.

University of Minnesota, Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management. Developing High-Efficiency Agriculture for Farmers, Rural Communities and the State of Minnesota—“A Forever Green Initiative.” March 27, 2013. Accessed April 2, 2014 at http://www.cinram.umn.edu/forevergreen/Agrinitiative%20Forever%20Green.pdf. This university project researches the possibility of adding “winter-annual” and perennial crops to Minnesota’s current repertoire of mostly “summer-annual” crops like corn and soybeans. They argue that diversifying along those lines would enhance the yields of summer crops, enable production of new commodities, enhance our soils and wildlife, and improve our water resources. As of this writing, the center was seeking legislative funding to put its research into practice. Examples of “winter-annuals” include field pennycrest and winter malting barley; the perennials they refer to include intermediate wheatgrass and perennial flaxseed.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Quick Stats 2.0. Accessed January 23, 2014 at http://www.nass.usda.gov/ This excellent tool allows easy access to crop and livestock statistics for the entire country broken down by state and county. With just a few clicks you can access the 1972-2012 data for the acres planted in corn, soybeans, or oats, or the acres of hay harvested, in each of the six counties within the watershed. While only part of each county is within the Zumbro Watershed, this is the best trend data available. The forty year data here shows what many people have suspected. We have seen a dramatic (in many cases 50%) reduction in water-absorbing landscapes like hayfields and an increase (in many cases a doubling to tripling) in the acres of water-shedding crops like corn and soybeans. For example, the statistics show that there were more acres planted in corn in Dodge County in 2012 than ever before (134,000 acres). http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/0F5D2D79-CB7B-3E51-A5B2-2304719CE3C3. On the other hand, hay harvested in Dodge County in recent years is considerably less than 50% of what was harvested throughout the 1980s. http://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/results/CD6F3CB4-08813BF1-9598-E4BA7B72A4E2.

Wright, Christopher and Michael Wimberly. “Recent land use change in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 110 (2013) No 10, 4134-4139. Accessed May 12, 2014 at http://www.pnas.org/content/110/10/4134.full The authors found that a recent doubling in commodity prices has created incentives for landowners to convert grassland to corn and soybean cropping. Using 2006-2011 land cover data from five states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa, they saw elevated rates of grass-to-corn/soy conversion, with corn/soy production expanding onto marginal lands characterized by high erosion risk and vulnerability to drought. Overall, they see rapid movement toward increased corn and soybean cultivation, and a closing window

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of opportunity for realizing the benefits of a biofuel industry based on perennial bioenergy crops, rather than corn ethanol and soy biodiesel.

3. Farming practices (see Section I for pesticide/fertilizer use) Environmental Working Group. Broken Stream Banks: Failure to Maintain “Buffer” Zones Worsens Farm Pollution. Washington D.C.: Environmental Working Group. 2014. Asscessed April 28, 2014 at http://cdn3.ewg.org/sites/default/files/EWG-Broken-StreamBanks2014.pdf This new report used high-resolution aerial photography to study buffering of ditches and streams in the southern half of Minnesota. They found that the state rule requiring a 50 foot buffer was poorly followed and little enforced. Generally counties in the watershed got a C or D grade (less than 70% of required buffers in place) except for Dodge which earned a B-. The report noted that ditches were the least likely to have the required buffers.

Hatfield, Jerry L. The Farmer’s Decision: Balancing Economic Successful Agriculture Production with Environmental Quality. Ankeny, Iowa: Soil and Water Conservation Society, 2005. A series of articles which explore ways in which balancing economic succss and environmental quality can be a win-win situation; however, to explore the endless possibilities that constitute acceptable solutions is extremely difficult. Hatfield argues that the key is providing more information to the American producer that would help them evaluate different scenarios in their farming systems and evaluate potential alternatives through a combination of simulation tools and decision support systems.

King, James A. and W. S. Lynes. Tile Drainage. Why Tile Drainage Benefits Wet Land and Increases Farm Income. Information for Laying out and Installing Simple Drainage Systems. 4th Ed. Mason City, Iowa, Mason City Brick and Tile Co., 1946. This book was first published in 1918, and then again in 1923 and 1931. In this fourth edition, James King, an expert on tiling, and Lynes, a soil scientist, make the case for why farmers should tile their lands and how they should go about it. Many benefits are outlined (lengthening the growing season, lowering cost of production, stopping erosion, etc.). No downsides are mentioned.

Moechnig, Howard. Managing Grazing in Steam Corridors. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 2007. A how-to manual for farmers specifically geared to southeastern Minnesota.

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Petersen, A., and B. Vondracek. “Water Quality in Relation to Vegetative Buffers around Sinkholes in Karst Terrain.” Journal of Soil & Water Conservation 61, No. 6 (December 11, 2006): 380–90. The authors studied sinkholes in the karst region of southeastern Minnesota including the Zumbro watershed and demonstrate that buffers around sinkholes could reduce agricultural runoff of pollutants into groundwater sources.

Raymond, Kara L. and Bruce Vondracek. “Relationships among Rotational and Conventional Grazing Systems, Stream Channels, and Macroinvertebrates.” Hydrobiologia 669, No. 1 (July 2011): 105–17. Accessed April 16, 2014 at http://wordpress.cfans.umn.edu/mnfwcoop/files/2012/09/Raymond-and-Vondracek2011-Hydrobiologia.pdf. A new study found that cattle grazing and water quality could be compatible. Studying areas including southeastern Minnesota, the authors found that rotationally grazed sites were associated with more stable stream banks and higher quality aquatic habitat when compared to conventionally gazed riparian areas.

Schnepf, Max and Craig Cox, editors. Environmental Benefits of Conservation on Cropland: the status of our knowledge. Ankeny, Iowa: Soil and Water Conservation Society, 2007. A USDA sponsored review of the present state of the scientific literature on the environmental impact of a variety of conservation systems, including soil management, water management, nutrient management, pest management, and landscape management, each study done by a lead author experienced in the field.

Uri, Noel D. Agriculture and the Environment. Commack, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers, 1999. An examination of the environmental issues raised by agricultural chemical use and other farming practices on water, soil and air quality.

4. Soils and Soil Conservation Note: County soil surveys are listed in Part II under the appropriate county. Hellerstein, Daniel R. and Scott A. Malcolm. The Influence of Rising Commodity Prices on the Conservation Reserve Program. USDA Economic Research Report No. 110. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 2011. Accessed May 12, 2014 at http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/131209/err110.pdf. The authors conclude that under several higher crop price scenarios, including one that incorporates 15 billion gallons of crop-based biofuels production, maintaining the CRP as currently configured will lead to significant expenditure increases. If constraints are placed on increasing rental rates, it might be possible to meet enrollment goals with moderate increases in CRP rental rates—but this will mean accepting lower average Environmental Benefits Index scores as landowners with profitable but environmentally sensitive lands choose not to enroll.

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Izaak Walton League. The 2012 Farm Bill: Stewardship, Prosperity, and Fairness. St. Paul, MN, n.d. Accessed on March 12, 2014 at http://www.iwla.org/index.php?ht=display/ContentDetails/i/26508/pid/203 During the debate on the legislation now called the 2014 Farm Bill, the Izaak Walton league provided a good introduction to the issues and argued that the bill should re-establish the original connection between conservation compliance and federal crop insurance premium subsidies, enact a nationwide “Sodsaver” provision, and ensure conservation programs achieve real conservation results and receive fair treatment with respect to all other Farm Bill spending programs by  Maintaining the unique purposes of the conservation title’s suite of conservation programs.  Establishing continuing-baseline status for all conservation program spending, as exists for commodity and crop insurance programs.  Ensuring no changes are made in annual mandatory spending.

Land Stewardship Project. The Conservation Stewardship Program in Minnesota. August 2013. Access on line on January 3, 2014 at http://landstewardshipproject.org/repository/1/986/csp_report_2013_layout_9_27_13.pdf Notes that Minnesota is one of the main users of this voluntary program that rewards farmers for adopting conservation practice on working lands.

Lewandowski, Ann, with Mark Zumwinkle. Assessing the Soil System: A Review of Soil Quality Literature. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Agriculture Energy and Sustainable Agriculture Program, 1999). Accessed on January 3, 2014 at http://www.mda.state.mn.us/news/publications/protecting/soilprotection/sqlitreview.pdf An introduction to the literature on soil quality for non-specialists. “Soil Quality” means the capacity of soil to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. Gauging soil quality implies assessing how well it fulfills various functions including as a regulator of water flow in the environment.

Osmond, Deanna L.et al. eds. How to Build Better Agricultural Conservation Programs to Protect Water Quality: The National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Conservation Effects Assessment Project Experience. Ankeny, IA: Soil and Water Conservation Society, 2012. Accessed May 23, 2014 at http://www.swcs.org/en/publications/building_better_agricultural_conservation_program s/ A collection of case studies and lessons learned from hands-on experience.

Ruhland, Vic. Through These Eyes: The First 70 Years of Soil and Water Conservation in Minnesota. Minneapolis: Minnesota State Office, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2005. A brief history of soil conservation in Minnesota written by a retired employee of the Soil Conservation Service (later Natural Resources Conservation Service. Traces the origins back to 50

the New Deal and the CCC camps dedicated to fighting soil erosion, two of which were at Zumbrota and Rochester.

United States General Accounting Office. Agricultural Conservation: USDA Needs to Better Ensure Protection of Highly Erodible Cropland and Wetlands (Washington: GAO, 2003). Accessed on December 23, 2013 at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03418.pdf This GAO report to Senator Tom Harkin as a member of the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry found that almost half of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s field offices do not enforce the conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985. In addition, the GAO found that the Farm Service Agency, the agency which is responsible for withholding benefits for violations identified by the Conservation Service, often waives these noncompliance determinations without adequate justification.

H. Wetlands and drainage Baerwald, Thomas. “Forces at Work on the Landscape.” In Minnesota in a Century of Change: The State and Its People Since 1900, edited by Clifford E. Clark, 19-53. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1989. Describes the impact of agriculture on the Minnesota landscape, including the origins of ditching and tillage of farm fields in Minnesota, including a photo of a ditch and tile machine working in 1910.

Biebighauser, Thomas R. Wetland Drainage, Restoration, and Repair. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007. A detailed analysis of wetlands management which covers the past, present and future of wetland recovery in the United States. The book includes a historical overview of wetland destruction and repair over the past two hundred years and also serves as a resource for anyone interested in the process of wetland restoration.

CapX2020, Public Notice of Application for permit to cross navigable waters of the United States and to discharge dredged and fill material into wetlands for the construction of pole structures, access roads, and associated substation facilities in conjunction with the construction of a new 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line and a 161 kV transmission line, in southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin. Accessed May 23 2-14 at http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Portals/57/docs/regulatory/MNStandard/2008001307PN.pdf Xcel Energy’s power line project will cross the Zumbro several times. In this application they propose mitigation of the wetland damage it will cause.

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King, K. Elton. “A history of drainage law in Minnesota, with special emphasis on the legal status of wet lands.” Limnological Contribution No. 11, Dept of Biological Sciences, Mankato State University. Minneapolis: Water Resources Research Center, University of Minnesota Graduate School: 1980. Good historical overview of the development of drainage law in Minnesota and also of attitudes toward wetlands in general, from an 1887 Minnesota Supreme Court case which called surface water “the common enemy, which an owner , in the necessary and proper improvement of his land, may get rid of as best he may” to changes which began after the Depression and drought of the 1930s.

Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources. Minnesota Wetland Report. 2001-2003. St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, 2005. Available on line at http://www.bwsr.state.mn.us/wetlands/publications/wetlandreport.pdf The most recent report as of the time of this writing, it assessed Minnesota’s progress under the Wetland Conservation Act of 1991.

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Minnesota Wetlands Protection Report 2006. St. Paul: Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, 2006. Available online at http://mncenter.org/Portals/0/6%20%20publications/research%20reports/Wetlands%20R eport.pdf. Presents the argument that “despite the wetland protection laws at the state and federal levels, and a broad, shared concern for wetlands by the public, our history of wetland loss in Minnesota continues today.” Asserts that the primary reason for wetland loss and destruction are exemptions from wetland protection laws, inadequate enforcement, and the byzantine and often outdated structure of drainage laws.

Schottler, S. P., Ulrich, J., Belmont, P., Moore, R., Lauer, J. W., Engstrom, D. R. and Almendinger, J. E. “Twentieth century agricultural drainage creates more erosive rivers.” Hydrological Processes 28, Issue 4 (15 February 2014): 1951–1961. Accessed on January 28, 2014 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.9738/abstract. In the upper Mississippi basin, crop conversions have led to an intensification of artificial drainage. At the same time, much of the region has experienced increased annual rainfall. To disentangle the effects of climate and land-use, the authors compared changes in precipitation, crop conversions, and extent of drained depressional area in 21 Minnesota watersheds over the past 70 years (unfortunately the Zumbro was not included although the Cannon was). They found that changes in precipitation and crop evapotranspiration explained less than one-half of the increase, with the remainder highly correlated with artificial drainage and loss of depressional areas.

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Tiner, Ralph W. Wetlands of the United States: Current Status and Recent Trends. Washington, D.C.: National Wetlands Inventory, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1984. Good introduction to the nature of wetlands nationally and the emerging recognition of their worth. Focuses on several problem areas, one of which is the “prairie pothole” wetlands of Minnesota and their significance as waterfowl habitat and flood damage protection. Noted that Minnesota had lost 9 million acres of original wetlands by 1981 and that the trend continued.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service. National Wetlands Inventory. Accessed on November 7, 2013 at http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/ Fish and Wildlife produces wetland maps and geospatial wetland data for the nation on and makes it available on this searchable site. Their inventory is called the National Wetlands Inventory, and classified and locates wetlands nationally.

United States General Accounting Office. Agricultural Conservation: USDA Needs to Better Ensure Protection of Highly Erodible Cropland and Wetlands (Washington: GAO, 2003). Accessed on December 23, 2013 at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03418.pdf This GAO report to Senator Tom Harkin as a member of the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry found that almost half of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s field offices do not enforce the conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985. In addition, the GAO found that the Farm Service Agency, the agency which is responsible for withholding benefits for violations identified by the Conservation Service, often waives these noncompliance determinations without adequate justification.

Van der Valk, Arnold, ed. Northern Prairie Wetlands. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989. This is a collection of essays on the various aspects of the ecology of prairie wetlands specific to the northern prairies of the Canada and the U.S., specifically Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Though the region of prairie potholes is west of our geographic region some of the essays are relevant in their studies of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, vegetation, and the politicoeconomics of wetland.

I. Run-off pollution (agricultural and urban) Barr Engineering. Detailed Assessment of Phosphorous Sources in Minnesota’s Watershed. St. Paul: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2014. Accessed April 24, 2014 at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-monitoring-and-reporting/waterquality-and-pollutants/phosphorus/detailed-assessment-of-phosphorus-sources-tominnesota-watersheds-2004-legislative-report.html. The legislature funded this study of the source of phosphorous in Minnesota waters. The consultants founds that about 2/3 of the total load comes from non-point sources like crop and pasture run-off, about 31% came from point sources such as wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities, and about 3% from automatic dishwashing detergents. 53

Blue Thumb—Planting for Clean Water. A Year-Round Guide to Yard Care. Accessed on March 12, 2014 at http://www.bluethumb.org/media/docs/Blue%20Thumb%20guide%20to%20yard%20car e.pdf Part of the MS4 Toolkit (see below), it provides homeowners with a wealth of ideas for reducing harmful runoff from their gardens and lawns.

Center for Food Safety. Heavy Costs: Weighing the Value of Neonicontinoid Insecticides in Agriculture. Washington: Center for Food Safety, 2014. Accessed March 26, 2014 at http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/neonic-efficacy_digital_29226.pdf. Based on a literature review, this report argues that neonicontinoid insecticides provide little benefit but have negative environmental consequences, possibly including the ongoing crash of bee colonies. Most corn and soybean seedlings in Minnesota are coated with these insecticides, as well as many plants and shrubs bought in nurseries. The manufacturers argue that the insecticides have not been proven to harm pollinators. This report argues that the Environmental Protection Agency should suspend all existing registrations of neonicontinoid see treatment products until a thorough cost/benefit study can be completed.

Clayton, Andrew, C, Edo D Pellizzari, Roy W Whitmore, James J Quackenboss, John Adgate, and Ken Sefton. “Distributions, Associations, and Partial Aggregate Exposure of Pesticides and Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Minnesota Children’s Pesticide Exposure Study (MNCPES).” Journal of Exposure Analysis & Environmental Epidemiology 13, no. 2 (March 2003): 100. A scholarly study of the exposure of children in the Twin Cities and also in Rice and Goodhue counties to a variety of pesticides including atrazine.

Dolliver, Holly and Satish Gupta. “Antibiotic losses in leaching and surface runoff from manure-amended agricultural land.” Journal of Environmental Quality 37, No. 3 (May 2008): 1227-1237. A three year study that quantified leaching and run-off losses of antibiotics from applications of liquid hog and beef manure in both chisel and no-tillage systems in a karst geology area of southwestern Wisconsin. Found that small quantities of dissolved antibiotics could potentially reach surface and ground waters in karst areas.

Fallon, James D. Pesticides in Streams in Part of the Upper Mississippi River Basin, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 1974-94. USGS Fact Sheet 066--00. Moundsview, MN: United States Geological Survey, May, 2000. Historical analysis of data for a study area just north of the Zumbro watershed which included the Cannon River.

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Delgado, Jorge A., and R. F. Follett. Eds. Advances in Nitrogen Management for Water Quality. Ankeny, Iowa: Soil and Water Conservation Society, 2010. A collection of articles describing and assessing a variety of strategies for reducing nitrogen migration into groundwater sources.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Non-Agricultural Pesticide Sales 2008-2009. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 2013. In response of the 2006 Legislative Auditor’s report on pesticide regulation (see below), the department has stepped up monitoring, at least of sales. It found that non-agricultural pesticide amounted to 54% of the total pounds of all pesticide active ingredient sales in Minnesota in 2009.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture. “Water Quality Best Management Practices for All Agricultural Herbicides.” (March 2010) Accessed on line on January 3, 2014 at http://www.mda.state.mn.us/~/media/Files/protecting/bmps/bmpsforagherbicides.ashx To protect Minnesota’s water resources, the MDA and U of M Extension developed a set of core voluntary Best Management Practices for applying herbicides. This four page handout sets out the BMPs and provides a guide to further information.

Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. Pesticide Regulation: Evaluation Report. St. Paul, Minn.: Office of the Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division, 2006. This report found that overall, the Department of Agriculture was doing a good job of regulating and monitoring pesticides although some improvements were noted. The report also said that the department has not done near enough to regulate urban pesticide use.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy (draft) St. Paul: MPCA, October 7, 2013. Accessed January 30, 2014 at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/view-document.html?gid=20213

To counter the threat of nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorous, in Minnesota water resources including the Mississippi and Lake Pepin (not to mention the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico), several agencies published a 285-page draft strategy paper in October and asked for comments through December 18. The strategy sets goals and intermediate milestones, including a 35% reduction in phosphorous and a 20% reduction in nitrogen by 2025 in the Mississippi River basin. The proposed strategies focus on education and incentives.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Nitrogen in Minnesota Surface Waters: Conditions, Trends, Sources, and Reduction. St. Paul: MPCA, 2013 This study found elevated nitrate levels, harmful to fish and wildlife, particularly in the southern third of Minnesota. The investigators, led by David Wall, estimated that 70% was coming from cropland, and that the most common pathway was tile drainage. It recommends better management of fertilizer use and tile drainage, and also landscape diversification. The report,

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which is more than 500 pages long, is available in book form or on line. There is also a useful 24 page executive summary.

Ribaudo, Marc, et al. Nitrogen in Agricultural Systems: Implications for Conservation Policy. USDA Economic Research Report No. 127. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, 2011. A study of the impact of large scale use of nitrogen as an agricultural input. Finds that 2/3 of cropland are not following “best management practices” with respect to rate, timing and method of application. Notes that corn is the most intensive user of nitrogen fertilizer and that fertilizer applied to corn is least likely to follow the “best management practices.” Includes policy recommendations for encouraging farmers to improve nitrogen management.

Sebilo, Mathieu, et al. “Long-term fate of nitrate fertilizer in agricultural soils.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 110 (2013) No 45, 18185-18189. This long-term tracer study revealed that three decades after application of isotopically labeled fertilizer nitrate to agricultural soils in 1982, 12–15% of the fertilizer-derived nitrate was still residing in the soil organic matter, while 8–12% of the fertilizer nitrate had already leaked toward the groundwater. Part of the remaining fertilizer nitrate still residing in the soil is predicted to continue to be taken up by crops and to leak toward the groundwater in the form of nitrate for at least another five decades, much longer than previously thought.

J. Water sustainability: quality and quantity 1. General Freshwater Society Guardianship Council. Water is Life: Protecting Critical Resource for Future Generations. Excelsior, MN: Freshwater Society, 2008. A good general introduction to the issues related to ground and surface waters in Minnesota and recommendations for a sustainable approach.

Metro Watershed Partners, MS4 Toolkit. Accessed March 21, 2014 at http://cleanwatermn.org/MS4-Toolkit.aspx A collection of educational resources for communities subject to the Municipal Separate Sewer System (Ms4) general permit as mandated by the Clean Water Act.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “History of Water Protection.” http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/pwpermits/history.html (Accessed October 1, 2013) Brief history of how Minnesota has regulated water use, pollution and protection from 1897 to the present.

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Swackhamer, Deborah. Minnesota Water Sustainability Framework. St. Paul: University of Minnesota Water Resources Center, 2011. Accessed on April 17, 2014 at http://wrc.umn.edu/prod/groups/cfans/@pub/@cfans/@wrc/documents/asset/cfans_asset_ 292471.pdf. Commissioned by the legislature, the University’s Water Resources Center has authored a firstever, comprehensive report designed to serve as a legislative roadmap with timelines and benchmarks for future investments in water resources, including the estimated $86 million a year dedicated for the protection of water as a result of Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy Act. For each of nine issues (including environmental, economic and social), there is an analysis and recommendations. In the section on governance, the report recommends, among other things, the creation of Watershed Soil and Conservation Authorities in each watershed which would eventually replace other planning entities such as Soil and Water Conservation Districts and watershed management organizations.

2. Groundwater Freshwater Society. Minnesota’s Groundwater: Is our use sustainable? A Freshwater Society Special Report. Excelsior, MN: Freshwater Society, 2013. A follow up to the society’s Water is Life in 2008, this report maintains that current levels of groundwater pumping are already unsustainable in some parts of the state. The society is alarmed by the dramatic shrinkage of White Bear Lake due to increased pumping by cities near the lake. It calls on the DNR to go beyond well-by-well approach to permitting and consider cumulative impact. It notes that the DNR has included Rochester on its list of “groundwater areas of concern.” The concern is whether the growing population of Rochester can find sustainable sources of clean water during severe droughts.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Evaluation of Models and Tools for Assessing Groundwater Availability and Sustainability: Priorities for Investment. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2010. Accessed April 17, 2014 at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/waters/modelsandtools.pdf. In response to a resolution of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, the DNR convened a “Groundwater Technical Workgroup.” They arrived at a consensus of recommendations for what was needed state wide in terms of mapping, monitoring and managing groundwater resources. The recommendations are focused on quantity rather than quality issues.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Groundwater Management Program: Draft Strategic Plan. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, October 2013. Accessed April 17, 2014 at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/gwmp/gwsp-draftplan.pdf Although most of the state is not yet in a “crisis” mode, the DNR takes the view that increased use of groundwater and more frequent droughts are leading to leading to conflicts, business shutdowns, curtailment of recreational use as “water is becoming scarce in parts of Minnesota.” This draft plan seeks public input on the DNR’s groundwater management plan.

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Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The Condition of Minnesota’s Ground Water, 2007-2011. St. Paul: MPCA, 2013 This recent report found high levels of chloride in the groundwater in urban areas, especially in the Twin Cities Metro Area, which has led the MPCA to recommend that Minnesotans cut back greatly on the amount of salt that is used to de-ice roads and walkways.

Porcher, Eric. Groundwater Contamination Susceptibility in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 1988. Statewide study which assessed the relative susceptibility to ground water contamination using previously published data. The study concluded that the highest susceptibility was in areas dominated by sand and gravel aquifers (predominately central Minnesota) and in southeastern Minnesota where karstic bedrock is near the surface.

3. Surface Water Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 2010 Report on the Water Quality of Minnesota Streams: Citizen Stream Monitoring Program. St. Paul: MPCA, July 2011. Report of citizen-collected data on transparency, water level, temperature, and precipitation at numerous sites including many on the various forks of the Zumbro during the spring, summer and fall of 2010.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency webpage. “Zumbro River Watershed.” Accessed September 13, 2013 at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/water/water-types-andprograms/watersheds/zumbro-river.html#overview. Provides access to the MPCA’s work in studying the water quality in the Zumbro and participating in the development of a watershed development plan.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results System (WATERS). Assessed February 27, 2014 at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/datait/tools/waters/index.cfm. An excellent webpage which delivers water quality information from a variety of government sources and packages it in various useful ways. A few example of the many tools it has: “How’s my watershed” provides user-friendly information about requested portions of specific watersheds. “MyWATERS mapper” displays data connected to specific locations.

United States Geological Survey, Surface Water data for USA: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics. “Zumbro River at Zumbro Falls. Suspended sediment concentration. Monthly Mean Sediment Mg/l. 1971-1975. Accessed October 1, 2013. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/monthly/?referred_module=sw&site_no=05374000& amp;por_05374000_5=900655,80154,5,1971-03,1975-08&start_dt=197103&end_dt=197508&partial_periods=on&format=html_table&date_format=YYYY-MMDD&rdb_compression=file&submitted_form=parameter_selection_list

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United States Geological Survey, Surface Water data for USA: USGS Surface-Water Monthly Statistics. “Zumbro River at Zumbro Falls. Suspended sediment discharge, Monthly Mean Tons/day. 1971-1975.” Accessed October 1, 2013. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/monthly/?referred_module=sw&site_no=05374000& amp;por_05374000_6=900655,80155,6,1971-03,1975-08&start_dt=197103&end_dt=197508&partial_periods=on&format=html_table&date_format=YYYY-MMDD&rdb_compression=file&submitted_form=parameter_selection_list These two data files show a four-year data set of river sedimentation. Highest sediment loading takes place in March-June, with relatively little sedimentation during other parts of the year.

Zumbro Watershed Partnership. Zumbro River Watershed Comprehensive Management Plan (September 30, 2007). Accessed February 28, 2014 at http://www.zumbrowatershed.org/Resources/Documents/zwp_managplan_final_web.pdf. Zumbro Watershed Partnership. Zumbro Watershed Comprehensive Management Plan: Sediment Reduction Component (August 9, 2012). Accessed March 21, 2014 at http://www.zumbrowatershed.org/Resources/Documents/Zumbro%20W%20Plan%20Sed iment%207_17_2012.pdf. The ZWP’s first watershed plan was in 2007. In response to a turbidity study of the Zumbro approved by the EPA in 2012, this second plan seeks to move in the direction of a comprehensive watershed management plan.

K. Flooding and flood control (Note: Flood Insurance Studies for specific towns and counties are listed in Part II under the appropriate county.) Catton, Theodore. Steward of Headwaters: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, 1975-2000. St. Paul, MN : U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, 2012. A Corps-sponsored overview of the activities of the St. Paul District (most of Minnesota, western Wisconsin and eastern North Dakota). On pages 96-101, the authors present a description of the flood control project on the South Fork Zumbro at Rochester from the point of view of the Corp of Engineers. The project is presented as “probably the best example of citizen cooperation on a civil works project.” They acknowledged that there were environmental concerns about the project, but conclude that they were largely mitigated and that the project “was a showcase for the St. Paul District’s competence in civil works.”

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Druschel, Stephen J. with Sarah L. Green. Flood Mitigation Study: Zumbro River Watershed, Minnesota, Final Report (December 31, 2013) Accessed February 27, 2014: http://www.zumbrowatershed.org/Resources/Documents/Zumbro%20Flood%20Mitigatio n%20Final%20Report%20123113.pdf A study of the Zumbro River flooding of Zumbro Falls, Pine Island and elsewhere in 2010 conducted by Minnesota State University, Mankato faculty and students.

Flood of Memories, Memories of Flood. Rochester, Minn: Rochester Neighborhood Resource Center, 2004. A collection of photographs and personal stories about the July 1978 flood in the city of Rochester. Concludes with a brief essay by Gary Neuman, Assistant City Administrator, explaining how the city, the county and the Corps of Engineers responded with a $97 million flood control project.

Kuehnast, Earl L. Donald G. Baker, James A. Zandlo. Sixteen Year Study of Minnesota Flash Floods. St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Waters, State Climatology and University of Minnesota, Soil Science Dept., 1988. Provides climatological data and facts on 57 flash floods between 1970 and 1985, including the two flash floods which struck Olmsted County in 1978. A flash flood is defined as 6 inches or more of rain in a 24 hour period.

National Weather Service, La Crosse, WI Weather Forecast Office. “Major Historical Floods and Flash Floods in the La Crosse (ARX) Hydrologic Service Area.” Accessed October 1, 2013 at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=historicalfloods. Historical information about flooding events in Southeastern Minnesota from the 1850s to today based on local newspaper accounts. Generally tends to show that the frequncy and size of flood events have increased since 1940. There are several factors that could explain this increase in flood events and volumes, including improved artificial drainage systems on farms and cities, changing farm land use to water-draining row crops, increasing rainfall due to climate changes), and increased impervious surfaces.

Photographic Collection, Research Center, History Center of Olmsted County, Rochester, MN. 1. Flooding: The History Center hold extensive photographs of Zumbro River flooding in Rochester including the floods of 1908, 1925, 1951, 1965 and 1978. A portfolio of the 1978 flood done by the Corps of Engineers includes aerial shots. 2. Flood control: The History Center hold several sets of photographs documenting the construction of the Zumbro River flood control project in Rochester. 60

Raging Waters: The Flood of 1978-- and How It Changed Rochester, A Post Bulletin Special Report, Rochester Post-Bulletin, Vol 73, no 160 (July 8, 1998). A newspaper looks back on its reporting of the great Rochester flood.

Weiss, John. “Taming the Zumbro: the Rochester Flood Control Project.” Rochester Post Bulletin, September 14, 1995, pp 1B, 5B, 6B. A series of articles by the veteran local journalist summing up the reasons for and the results of the flood control project on the occasion of its completion in 1995. He followed this up with a commentary piece in which he wrote that the Zumbro River within Rochester was no longer a river but rather an “attractive flood control canal with an excellent recreation trail.” September 15, 1995, p. 6D.

L. The built environment along the river 1. Urban development/infrastructure including storm water and wastewater management Holst, James Edward. Studies on the Rochester Sewage Disposal Plant and the Zumbro River. Masters of Science Thesis. University of Minnesota, 1929. A detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the sewage disposal plant which Rochester built in 1926. The author found that although the general condition of the river was good, the sewage plant effluent placed an appreciable load on the oxygen resources of the river. He noted that Rochester’s population was around 20,000 at that time, and expected to double, and that this would lead to trouble in dry years because the limited volume of water in the river

Kroska, Nicholas. Serving the Community: The History of Rochester Public Utilities. Rochester, Minn.: Rochester Public Utilities, 1988. Useful for background on two major infrastructure projects on the Zumbro owned by the city of Rochester: the 1919 hydroelectric plant at Lake Zumbro and the Silver Lake Plant, which depended for cooling purposes on a dam created on the Zumbro for recreational purposes in 1937.

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Audit of Minnesota Wastewater Permits. St. Paul: Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, 2010. Accessed January 28, 2014 at http://www.mncenter.org/Portals/0/6%20%20publications/research%20reports/Wastewater%20Permit%20Audits.pdf. This report audits effluent discharge and reporting between 2005 and 2009 of municipal and industrial facilities permitted by the MPCA under the Clean Water Act. The focus was on discharge into lakes, streams and wetlands. The report finds major violations of permit requirements, serious reporting violations, and enforcement efforts against only 11% of violations.

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Rochester, Minn. Sewage Treatment Plant. Rochester, 1952. Available at Research Center, History Center of Olmsted County, Rochester, MN For decades the city emptied its raw sewage directly into the Zumbro. When downstream farmers complained, the city installed a pioneering sewage treatment plant in 1926. This booklet commemorates that history and celebrates the opening of a new sewage plant in 1952.

2. Dams and mills Hess, Jeffrey. “Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Generating Plant.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, October 1989. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/) Rochester completed the 900 ft long hydroelectric dam on the Zumbro in 1919. Located in Wabasha County about 15 miles downstream from the city, the dam created Lake Zumbro. The structure, shown here under construction in 1918, was added to the National Register in 1991 for its significance in the history of engineering. It was designed by Hugh Lincoln Cooper, an internationally known designer of hydroelectric dams who got his start in Rochester as an apprentice to bridge designer Horace Horton.

Frame, Robert M., and Historical Society Minnesota. Millers to the World: Minnesota’s Nineteenth Century Water Power Flour Mills. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, Division of Field Services, Historic Sites, and Archeology, 1977. Provides a brief history of water-powered flour mills in Minnesota with an emphasis on describing the mills still standing in 1976 which included only 24 of the more than 1000 built in nineteenth century. There were no extant mills in the Zumbro watershed, but for a time the Rochester mill built by Frederick Olds in 1856 was the state's largest. It was razed in 1953 (p. 21)

Photographic Collection, Research Center, History Center of Olmsted Count, Rochester, MN The History Center holds several collections of photographs documenting the construction of the Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Generating Plant in 1919 and 1920.

Zumbro River Power Development General Plan. January 31, 1917. Hugh Cooper & Co., St. Paul, MN. Ten blueprints, Research Center, History Center for Olmsted County, Rochester, MN. A collection of oversized blueprints from the original drawings for the Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Plant. One lists the land owners and their holdings, including who lost property to the project. There is a map of the original river with the future lake superimposed over it. Also architectural drawings of the dam and plant. 62

3. Highways, roads, and bridges Anderson, David. “Walnut Street Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2002. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/) In 1904, the city of Mazeppa built this steel Pratt through truss bridge over the Zumbro on Walnut Street to replace an existing but condemned bridge. It was Mazeppa’s the only bridge across the river until 1922, when the state built a bridge at Maple Street to carry Highway 60 over the river. In 1980, the Walnut Street bridge was restricted to pedestrian traffic and in 1995 it was closed to all traffic. In 2002 it was rehabilitated, and now serves as a pedestrian walkway to a park on the east side of the river (the north fork of the Zumbro runs south through town.) The bridge and park provide scenic view of the river and its steep banks.

Frame, Robert. “Frank’s Ford Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1980. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/). .

This 1895 through truss metal bridge designed by Horace E. Horton carried vehicles on Olmsted County Road 125 across the south fork of the Zumbro in Oronoco Township for many years. It has survived many floods, including 2010, but now carries only pedestrians.

Gardner, Denis. Wood, Concrete, Stone, and Steel: Minnesota’s Historic Bridges. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. This comprehensive review of historic bridges in Minnesota documents extant historic bridges over the Zumbro, including three in Wabasha County, three in Olmsted County, and the 1869 bridge at Zumbrota in Goodhue County, which is the only remaining covered bridge in Minnesota (see below).

Katz, Joel. From Footpaths to Freeways: A Survey of Roads and Highways in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2009. Illustrated with a wealth of historic photographs, this history of the Minnesota road system, including the Interstate system in Minnesota, was commissioned by the Department of Transportation. Katz writes in detail about the upgrade of the Highway 52 freeway through Rochester that was completed in 2005. The project provided three lanes of traffic each way, 26 new bridges, one new interchange, major retaining walls, a huge rock excavation, new and rebuilt frontage roads, and major landscaping. It was the largest highway project in the state at the time and cost the $240 million.

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Nystuen, David W. “Zumbrota Covered Bridge.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1975. Available at the Minnesota Historical Society’s National Register Database (http://nrhp.mnhs.org/). Built over the Zumbro in 1869, Minnesota’s last covered bridge, shown here, carried Highway 58 traffic until 1932 when the highway department built a new bridge. It was then moved to the county fairgrounds, and in 1970 moved to a new Zumbrota city park on the Zumbro. In 1990 it was reestablished as a working bridge, although only for pedestrians, over the Zumbro in this city park, 250 feet from its original location. The online file here contains also Thomas Zane’s 1990 report on the final relocation.

M. Recreational use Billig, Jim. Ed. Southern Minnesota All-outdoors Atlas. Superior, WI: Sportsman’s Connection, 2007. A detailed atlas of southern Minnesota based on quadrangle maps (about 24 by 24 miles) which are keyed to recreational activities including fishing, hunting, camping, canoeing, hiking, biking, skiing, and wildlife viewing. Areas of the Zumbro appropriate for canoeing are highlighted.

Breining, Greg. Paddling Minnesota. A Falcon Guide. Helena, Montana: Falcon, 1999. A comprehensive although now dated guide to paddling throughout the state, it includes information and maps on all three forks and the main stem. Published in 1999 with the support of the Department of Natural Resources, it was the “official guide” in its time.

Diebel, Lynne Smith. Paddling Southern Minnesota: 85 Great Trips by Canoe and Kayak. Trails Books Guide. Madison, WI: Trails Books, 2007. The most recent guide as of this writing, it has excellent maps and information on six canoe trips on the Zumbro. Although it includes routes on the North Fork and the Middle Fork, it does not provide any information on the South Fork upstream of Lake Zumbro.

Humphrey, Jim and Bill Shogren. Trout Streams of Wisconsin and Minnesota” A fly-angler’s guide to more than 150 rivers and streams. 2nd Ed. Woodstock, VT: Backcountry Guides, 2001. Covers trout fishing in Zumbro watershed streams including West Indian Creek, Middle Creek, Long Creek, Mazeppa Creek and Cold Spring Brook.

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Johnson, Mickey O. Fly fisher’s Guide to Minnesota. Belgrade, MN: Wilderness Adventure Press, 2001. A guide to fishing for all kinds of fish. In the Zumbro watershed, covers the well-known trout streams but also the Zumbro itself.

Lind, David J. Canoeing the Driftless: a Paddlers Guide for Southeastern Minnesota. Bloomington, Minn.: First Books, 2004. Because this paddler's guide concentrates on southeastern Minnesota, it has detailed information on canoeing the Zumbro, not only the well-traveled routes below Lake Zumbro, but also less travelled routes on the North, Middle, and South forks, as of the date of publication.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, “Zumbro River: A State Water Trail Guide.” (2012) Handy map of the Zumbro and Whitewater areas with information on plants and wildlife as well as route description of each fork of the Zumbro. Available free from the DNR Information Center (www.mndnr.gov). Shown here is the boat landing and outfitter at Zumbro Falls.

Waters, Thomas F. The Rivers of Minnesota: Recreation, Conservation. 1st ed. St. Paul, Minn: Riparian Press, 2010. In this review of recreational opportunities on Minnesota's rivers, Waters states that "the Zumbro River has a reputation of having the most spectacular scenery in the Driftless Area." He notes the complexity of the watershed and highlights the best places for fishing and canoeing.

N. The Zumbro Watershed in the arts and humanities Marvin, Marie, Editor. It's all One Water: Reflections on Water in Poetry, Prose, and Photography. Zumbrota, MN: Crossings at Carnegie, 2012. A collaboration between Crossings at Carnegie (shown here) and the Zumbro Watershed Partnership, this is a collection of poetry and short essays paired with photography which explores water and watersheds from the standpoint of the arts and humanities. Features the work of 53 writers and photographers, many from in and around the Zumbro River Waters

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Slossen, Lucy. “The Zumbro.” In Zumbrota: the First 100 Years, edited by the Zumbro Valley Historical Society, 42. Zumbrota, Mn: Zumbro Valley Historical Society, 1956. In 1906, a resident of Zumbrota composed a poem in celebration of the fifty year anniversary of the arrival of her pioneer ancestors on the Zumbro to establish a new community in 1856. Excerpts are reprinted on the next page.

Watkins, Justin and Mike Schad, Poet Artist Collaboration: “Li Bai at the South Fork.” Crossing at Carnegie, Zumbrota. May 2013. Accessed April 7, 2014 at http://www.crossingsatcarnegie.com/page0002.html. Rochester-based fisherman/poet Justin Watkins, who fishes the cold water streams in the watershed, collaborated with painter Mike Schad to both depict a fishing scene on the Zumbro as it might have been experienced by an ancient Chinese poet. .

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The Zumbro (excerpts) By Lucy Slossen They sing of the Swanee River Of the Mohawk, and Wabash too; But dearer than all is the Zumbro With its waters of turquoise blue.

They suffered the winter hardships, As only first settlers do, But were loyal to each other, And proved themselves true blue.

It goes laughing down the valley As if in a beautiful dream; Sometimes it seems in a hurry To reach the larger stream.

And now in the fertile valley Along the Zumbro’s banks To the early settlers the people Today give heartfelt thanks.

Its banks are green and fertile Shaded by beautiful trees And you hear the sound of wild birds Wafted on every breeze.

They have built another city Just over the bridge, you know, Where rest the forms of many We loved long years ago.

Twas in ’56 some families Wended from the east their way, To the banks of the Dear old Zumbro And decided there to stay.

And when we cross Death’s river, Just over the bridge, you know Let us hope our rest may be peaceful Near the banks of old Zumbro.

(Written in 1906 to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the founding of Zumbrota, MN )

The Zumbro from a window of the covered bridge at Zumbrota 67

Appendix A: For Further Research I.

Historical Societies with research facilities in the watershed

Dodge County Historical Society PO Box 456 Museum: 615 North Main Street Mantorville, MN 55955 507-635-5508 www.dodgecountyhistorical.org

Zumbrota Area Historical Society 55 East 3rd Street Zumbrota, MN 55992 Hours: 10 am to 1 pm Saturdays www.zumbrotahistoricalsociety.org

Goodhue County Historical Society 1166 Oak Street Red Wing, MN 55066 651-388-6024 http://goodhuecountyhistory.org/

Rice County Historical Society 1814 2nd Avenue NW (Museum) Faribault, MN 55021 507-332-2121 www.rchistory.org

Olmsted County Historical Society History Center of Olmsted County 1195 West Circle Drive SW Rochester, MN 55902 507-282-9447 www.olmstedhistory.com

Steele County Historical Society 1700 Austin Road Owatonna, MN 55060 507-451-1420 http://www.steelecohistoricalsociety.org/

Pine Island Area Historical Society 314 North Main (museum) PO Box 165 Pine Island, MN 55963 218-356-4168 www.pineislandhistory.org/home

II.

Wabasha County Historical Society PO Box 255 Lake City, MN 55041 651-343-7072 (Museum at 70537 206th Avenue Reads Landing, MN 55968) www.wabashacountyhistory.org.

Regional and on-line libraries serving the watershed

Buckham Memorial Library 11 Division Street East Faribault, MN 55021 http://www.faribault.org/library/

Dodge Center Public Library 13 First Avenue NW Dodge Center, MN 55927 507-374-2275 http://www.ci.dodgecenter.mn.us/

Electronic Library for Minnesota http://www.elm4you.org/ Fitzgerald Library Saint Mary's University of MN 700 Terrace Heights Winona, MN 507-457-1561 www2.smumn.edu/deptpages/winlibrary/ Kasson Public Library (Serving the Kasson-Mantorville area) 16 1st Avenue NW Kasson, MN 55944 507-634-7615 http://www.kasson.lib.mn.us/ Kenyon Public Library 709 2nd Street Kenyon, MN 55946 5-7-789-6821 http://kenyon.lib.mn.us/ Maxwell Library Winona State University 175 W. Mark Street Winona, MN 55987 507-457-5140 https://www.winona.edu/library/ Minnesota Historical Society 345 Kellogg Blvd West St. Paul, MN 55102 651-259-3300 http://www.mnhs.org/ Minnesota Reflections Project of the Minnesota Digital Library (Photos, maps, documents available on line) http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/

Owatonna Public Library 105 North Elm Avenue Owatonna, MN 55060 507-444-2460 http://ci.owatonna.mn.us/library Red Wing Public Library 225 East Avenue Red Wing, MN 55066 651-328-2300 http://redwing.lib.mn.us/ Rochester Public Library 101 2nd Street SE Rochester, MN 55904 507-328-2300 http://www.rochesterpubliclibrary.org/ Van Horn Public Library 115 3rd Street Pine Island, MN 55963 507-356-8558 http://pineisland.lib.mn.us/ Wabasha Public Library 168 Allegheny Avenue Wabasha, MN 55981 651-565-3927 http://wabasha.lib.mn.us/about/ Zumbrota Public Library 100 West Avenue Zumbrota, MN 55992 507-732-5211 http://www.zumbrota.inf

III.

Environmental Learning Centers

The Bell Museum of Natural History University of Minnesota 10 Church Street SE (University at 17th Ave SE) Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612) 626-9660 http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/index.htm (Including “The Watershed Game” online) Cascade Meadow Wetlands and Environmental Science Center 2900 19th Street NW Rochester, MN 55901 (507) 252-8133 http://www.cascademeadow.org/

National Eagle Center 50 Pembroke Ave Wabasha, MN 55981 (651) 565-4989 (877)-332-4537 http://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/

Quarry Hill Nature Center 701 Silver Creek Road Rochester, MN 55906 507-328-3950 | http://www.qhnc.org/index.html

River Bend Nature Center PO Box 186, 1000 Rustad Rd, Faribault, MN 55021-0186 (507) 332-7151 http://www.rbnc.org.

Cascade Meadow Environmental Science Center

Appendix B: Oral History Interviews The 10 hours of Zumbro Watershed Oral History Interviews collected for this project are available as M4V (MPEG_4) video files for viewing in the History Center of Olmsted County Archives (www.olmstedhistory.com) and at the office of the Zumbro Watershed Partnership (www.zumbrowatershed.org). A copy of signed Zumbro Watershed Oral History Interview Agreements appears on Disk 5.

Disk 1 Janice Domke (41 minutes) Domke is a member of the Hammond City Council. She explains how the Zumbro River has impacted her city through history and how the historic 2010 Flood almost destroyed the community. Sue Kruger (32 minutes) Kruger is a retired farmer, a business owner, a rural landowner, and homeowner on Lake Zumbro. She explains how land use affects the river and how landowners can work for cleaner water and fewer floods. Larry Liffrig (37 minutes) Liffrig grew up in the Mazeppa/Rochester area and has lived there his whole life. His grandfather managed the Lake Zumbro Dam. He gives a 50-year perspective on the river and the watershed.

Disk 2 Tim Buri (23 minutes) Buri has worked at Oxbow Park near Byron, Minnesota since the 1980s. He tells how 1980-era Conservation Reserve landscapes seemed to soak up rainfall and how recent and historic flooding in the park correlates with the change of land from grasslands and pasture to watershedding row crops like corn and soybeans. Bill Plantan (42 minutes) Plantan is a canoe-builder and fishing guide on the Zumbro River. His property borders the South Fork Zumbro River near Rochester, Minnesota. He describes how he has seen the river change through the flood mitigation project in Rochester and how the fishing has changed over time. Rod Sommerfield (1 hour 40 minutes) Sommerfield farms corn and soybeans near Mazeppa, Minnesota. He uses low-till and no-till practices to build healthier soils and to absorb and capture more rainfall. He tells a story about how most of the 13 inch rain that fell on his farm in September 2010 (causing the devastating 2010 Zumbro River Flood) soaked into his healthy soil.

Disk 3 George Poch (1 hour 4 minutes) Poch had a long career working in conservation agencies in the Zumbro Watershed. He describes the land use changes over the past 60 years as pasture and hayfields have been replaced with row crops like corn and soybeans. This seems to have increased erosion, river sedimentation, and high water and flooding events. Randy Domke (28 minutes) Randy Domke is the owner of the Hammond Bar and a longtime resident of Hammond. He explains how human behavior has affected the river and how the historic 2010 Zumbro River Flood affected Hammond. Tom Gosse (1 hour 8 minutes) Gosse spent most of his career working for the Wabasha County Soil and Water Conservation District on the eastern end of the Zumbro Watershed. In retirement he raises walnut trees on the floodplain of the Zumbro River farming “other people’s (river-deposited) soil.” He describes the changes in land use that he has witnessed over 40 years and describes how federal farm polices encourage aggressive farm practices that lead to erosion and river pollution.

Disk 4 Bill Beckman (1 hour 9 minutes) Beckman lives next to the North Fork Zumbro River just upstream of Mazeppa. As an agronomist, he helps farmers grow healthier soil and more profitable crops. He explains how he has convinced farmers to adopt new farming practices and how some new (or very old) farming practices could lead to cleaner water and fewer floods in the Zumbro Watershed. Vernetta Pahl (1 hour) Pahl is a retired farmer and resident of Pine Island, Minnesota. She grew up in the watershed and shares 80 years of history, including the 2010 Zumbro River Flood in Pine Island.

Disk 5 Gary Neumann (1 hour) Neumann is the Assistant City Administrator in Rochester and was instrumental in that city’s Flood Prevention Projects in the 1980s and 1990s. He describes the process for planning, getting funding, and installing the projects. He tells how 1978 flood spurred government action and how the Rochester projects affect water flow in the rest of the watershed. Scans of signed Zumbro Watershed Oral History Interview Agreements