Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Ecological and Water Resources Hydrologic Conditions Report This is the third installment of the monthly Hydrologic Conditions Report for 2014. For comparative purposes please reference the previous reports at: http://mndnr.gov/current_conditions/hydro_conditions.html June precipitation amounts across Minnesota were extremely heavy. was Minnesota's wettest June, and wettest month, of the modern record. Numerous locations set single-station June monthly rainfall records. A great many communities reported more than 10 inches of rain for the month, well over double the historical June average. The impacts of the heavy June rainfall were apparent: flooded farm fields and delayed field work, flooded homes, mudslides and overtopped roads leading to transportation disruptions, and negative consequences for outdoor activities including construction and outdoor recreation. The Governor declared a State of Emergency in 35 Minnesota counties on June 19. The June 19, 2014 release of the U.S. Drought Monitor marked the first time that all of Minnesota was declared drought-free since July 21, 2011. Stream discharge values were very high at most Minnesota monitoring locations during June. Minor to moderate flooding occurred at many locales. In some cases, high water from lakes led to inundated structures. Record precipitation in June led to nearly every indicator gage to report above normal or high flows. One location remains ranked as normal in Major Watershed 62 at the Red Lake outlet. Flow at this location is regulated by an outlet dam on Lower Red Lake. Fifteen out of these 24 selected lakes were at High June percentiles, with three more lakes at Above Normal levels, reflecting the heavy precipitation amounts. For the first time since June 2013, Indian Lake is in the Normal percentile. White Bear Lake also inched into the Normal percentile range for its month comparison for the first time since April 2007. At the end of this June, White Bear had similar water levels as its lake level in August 2008. When comparing June lake levels to their entire historic record, 63% of the statewide gauged lakes reporting in June were at their 90 th or above High percentile range. Another 17% were in the 75 th 90 th Above Normal percentile. Over 30 gauged lakes so far reported their highest lake level in June compared to all of their reporting history in Beltrami, Carlton, Carver, Chisago, Crow Wing, Douglas, Hennepin, Kandiyohi, Morrison, Otter Tail, Ramsey, Scott, Stearns, Todd, and Wright Counties. This June 2014 record breaking includes Lake Minnetonka and Prior Lake where lake level records exist back to 1906. Ground water levels were higher in almost every part of the state in the month of June. Ground water levels were consistently at or above normal levels in the metro area for all three types of wells. The south west and north west of the state both had buried artesian wells that were below normal levels. The Jackson County indicator well was the only well in the state showing low water levels. All but two water table wells were at or above normal water levels. The two wells below normal were in the west central part of the state. Overall it appeared the wet month did contribute to recharging aquifers and allowing relief from irrigation. The information in this report is provided by DNR through long term programs committed to recording and tracking the long term status of our water resources. The current conditions of precipitation, stream flows, lake levels and ground water levels in this report provide valuable information for natural and economic resource management on a state, county and watershed level. If you have questions on the content of this report please contact Greg Spoden: 651-296-4214, gregory.spoden@state.mn.us
Minnesota Counties and Major Watershed Index 70 71 80 69 KITTSON ROSEAU 79 68 65 LAKE OF THE WOODS 78 75 BELTRAMI 74 MARSHALL 67 73 PENNINGTON 63 RED LAKE 66 CLEARWATER 62 KOOCHICHING ITASCA 77 76 72 1 NORMAN 57 POLK 59 WILKIN 54 55 TRAVERSE BIG STONE 22 58 CLAY 61 GRANT 24 23 STEVENS LAC QUI PARLE LINCOLN 60 MAHNOMEN BECKER OTTER TAIL 56 YELLOW MEDICINE LYON POPE 25 26 13 DOUGLAS SWIFT CHIPPEWA RENVILLE 14 12 HUBBARD WADENA TODD 27 28 81 29 39 REDWOOD STEARNS 16 KANDIYOHI BROWN 7 18 MEEKER 19 8 11 15 MORRISON CASS CROW WING 10 SHERBURNE 17 33 BENTON WRIGHT 82 STEELE DODGE 41 51 40 31 32 PIPESTONE BLUE MURRAY COTTONWOOD WATONWAN EARTH WASECA OLMSTED WINONA 42 JACKSON FILLMORE 83 43 30 48 ROCK NOBLES 84 52 53 49 50 46 MARTIN FARIBAULT FREEBORN MOWER 47 46 HOUSTON Cedar River MCLEOD SIBLEY NICOLLET AITKIN MILLE LACS CARVER LE SUEUR 20 9 21 36 KANABEC ISANTI HENNEPIN SCOTT RICE ANOKA RAMSEY Level 2 Hydrologic Unit (HUC4) Des Moines River Lower Mississippi River Minnesota River Mississippi - Upper Iowa Rivers Mississippi River - Headwaters CARLTON PINE 35 37 CHISAGO WASHINGTON DAKOTA GOODHUE 3 ST. LOUIS 5 WABASHA Missouri - Big Sioux Rivers Missouri - Little Sioux Rivers Rainy River Red River of the North St. Croix River Western Lake Superior 4 LAKE 2 COOK DNR Major Watershed - Level 4 Hydrologic Unit (HUC8) 1. Lake Superior - North 2. Lake Superior - South 3. St. Louis River 4. Cloquet River 5. Nemadji River 6. (none) 7. Mississippi River - Headwaters 8. Leech Lake River 9. Mississippi River - Grand Rapids 10. Mississippi River - Brainerd 11. Pine River 12. Crow Wing River 13. Redeye River 14. Long Prairie River 15. Mississippi River - Sartell 16. Sauk River 17. Mississippi River - St. Cloud 18. North Fork Crow River 19. South Fork Crow River 20. Mississippi River - Twin Cities 21. Rum River 22. Minnesota River - Headwaters 23. Pomme de Terre River 24. Lac Qui Parle River 25. Minnesota - Yellow Medicine Rivers 26. Chippewa River 27. Redwood River 28. Minnesota River - Mankato 29. Cottonwood River 30. Blue Earth River 31. Watonwan River 32. Le Sueur River 33. Lower Minnesota River. Upper St. Croix River 35. Kettle River 36. Snake River 37. Lower St. Croix River. Mississippi River - Lake Pepin 39. Cannon River 40. Mississippi River - Winona 41. Zumbro River 42. Mississippi River - La Crescent 43. Root River 44. Mississippi River - Reno 45. (none) 46. Upper Iowa River 47. Upper Wapsipinicon River 48. Cedar River 49. Shell Rock River 50. Winnebago River 51. Des Moines River - Headwaters 52. Lower Des Moines River 53. East Fork Des Moines River 54. Bois de Sioux River 55. Mustinka River 56. Otter Tail River 57. Upper Red River of the North 58. Buffalo River 59. Red River of the North - Marsh River 60. Wild Rice River 61. Red River of the North - Sandhill River 62. Upper/Lower Red Lake 63. Red Lake River 64. (none) 65. Thief River 66. Clearwater River 67. Red River of the North - Grand Marais Creek 68. Snake River 69. Red River of the North - Tamarac River 70. Two Rivers 71. Roseau River 72. Rainy River - Headwaters 73. Vermilion River 74. Rainy River - Rainy Lake 75. Rainy River - Black River 76. Little Fork River 77. Big Fork River 78. Rapid River 79. Rainy River - Baudette 80. Lake of the Woods 81. Upper Big Sioux River 82. Lower Big Sioux River 83. Rock River 84. Little Sioux River
Climatology TotalPre c ipitation - (pre lim inary) TotalPre c ipitation - De parture from Norm al: (pre lim inary) TotalPre c ipitation - Historic alr ank: (pre lim inary) 14.0 12.0 10.0 9.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 inc h e s 10.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0-1.0 inc h e s 99 95 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 1 0 pe rc e ntile * U.S.Drough tmonitor July1,2014 June 3,2014 DNR Major Wate rsh e d Drought Intensity D0Drough t-abnorm alydry D2Drough t-se v e re D1Drough t-mod e rate D3Drough t-extre m e D4Drough t-exc e ptional Note s: Th e June 19,2014re le ase of th e U.S.Drough tmonitor m arke d th e first tim e th atallof Minne sotawas d e c lare d d rough t- fre e sinc e July21,2011. June pre c ipitation am ounts ac ross Minne sotawe re e xtre m e lyh e av y.was Minne sota's we tte st June,and we tte stm onth,of th e m od e rn re c ord.num e rous loc ations se tsingle -station June m onth lyrainfalre c ord s.agre atm any c om m unitie s re porte d m ore th an 10inc h e s of rain for th e m onth,we llov e r d ouble th e h istoric aljune av e rage. Th e im pac ts of th e h e av yjune rainfall we re appare nt:flood e d farm fie ld s and d e laye d fie ld work,flood e d h om e s, m ud slid e s and ov e rtoppe d road s le ad ingto transportation d isruptions,and ne gativ e c onse que nc e s for outd oor ac tiv itie s inc lud ingc onstruc tion and outd oor re c re ation.th e Gov e rnor d e c lare d astate of Em e rge nc yin 35Minne sotac ountie s on June 19. Stre am d isc h arge v alue s we re v e ryh igh at m ost Minne sota m onitoringloc ations d uring June.Minor to m od e rate flood ingoc c urre d at m anyloc ale s. Wate r le v e ls on m anyminne sotalake s re spond e d m arke d lyupward to June 's large rainfalltotals.in som e c ase s,h igh wate r le d to inund ate d struc ture s. MNDNR State Clim atologyoffic e
Surface Water: Stream Flow KITTSON 69 71 70 ROSEAU 80 79 Stream Flow Conditions 67 NORMAN 57 68 63 POLK 59 WILKIN 54 55 TRAVERSE BIG STONE 22 24 PENNINGTON 58 CLAY 61 GRANT LAC QUI PARLE LINCOLN 83 23 25 26 14 27 28 81 29 39 16 18 19 82 STEELE DODGE 41 51 40 31 32 PIPESTONE ROCK STEVENS RED LAKE 60 BECKER OTTER TAIL 56 YELLOW MEDICINE LYON NOBLES 65 MARSHALL 66 MAHNOMEN POPE CLEARWATER 13 DOUGLAS SWIFT CHIPPEWA RENVILLE REDWOOD LAKE OF THE WOODS 12 HUBBARD WADENA TODD STEARNS KANDIYOHI BROWN BELTRAMI 62 7 MEEKER 78 75 8 11 KOOCHICHING 15 MORRISON CASS CROW WING WRIGHT MCLEOD 10 33 SIBLEY NICOLLET BENTON 17 ITASCA 77 76 AITKIN MILLE LACS SHERBURNE CARVER LE SUEUR 20 21 43 84 30 48 52 49 MARTIN FARIBAULT 50 46 FREEBORN MOWER 47 46 44 9 36 KANABEC ISANTI HENNEPIN SCOTT RICE ANOKA RAMSEY 74 CARLTON PINE 35 37 CHISAGO WASHINGTON DAKOTA GOODHUE 73 3 ST. LOUIS 5 WABASHA MURRAY BLUE COTTONWOOD WATONWAN EARTH WASECA OLMSTED WINONA JACKSON Designated major watershed gage * Percentile ranking based on mean daily flows for the current month averaged and ranked with all historical mean daily flows for that month. A watershed ranked at zero means that the present month flow is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the present-month flow is in the middle of the historical distribution. June Percentile * FILLMORE 4 High Flows (>90th percentile) LAKE 72 2 42 HOUSTON Above Normal Flows (75-90th percentile) Normal Flows (25-75th percentile) Below Normal Flows (10-25th percentile) Low Flows (<= 10th percentile) COOK 1 Previous Flow Conditions May 2014 This map is based on provisional stream gage data from the USGS National Water Information System Flow affected by backwater
Surface Water: Lake Levels Lake of the Woods Lake Level Status KITTSON ROSEAU LAKE OF THE WOODS BELTRAMI MARSHALL POLK PENNINGTON RED LAKE Sarah CLEARWATER Turtle River KOOCHICHING ITASCA Vermilion Burntside COOK Poplar NORMAN MAHNOMEN LAKE Upper Cormorant BECKER CLAY OTTER TAIL WILKIN DOUGLAS AITKIN HUBBARD CASS WADENA ST. LOUIS CROW WING MORRISON GRANT TODD KANABEC STEVENS POPE TRAVERSE BIG STONE East Battle Minnewaska SWIFT CHIPPEWA LAC QUI PARLE RENVILLE YELLOW MEDICINE LYON LINCOLN REDWOOD Shetek MILLE LACS STEARNS BENTON SHERBURNE ISANTI KANDIYOHI Swan BROWN Edward Green MEEKER WRIGHT Minnetonka MCLEOD CARVER West Jefferson Upper Prior SCOTT SIBLEY LE SUEUR NICOLLET Mille Lacs HENNEPIN ANOKA CARLTON PINE RAMSEY CHISAGO DAKOTA WASHINGTON Marion Pokegama Chub North Center White Bear RICE GOODHUE WABASHA STEELE DODGE Tamarack Previous Conditions May 2014 PIPESTONE MURRAY BLUE COTTONWOOD WATONWAN EARTH WASECA OLMSTED WINONA JACKSON FILLMORE ROCK NOBLES Indian MARTIN FARIBAULT * Percentile ranking based on last reported reading for the current month compared to all historical reported levels for that month. A lake ranked at zero means that the present reported level is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the presentmonth reported lake level is in the middle of the historical distribution. FREEBORN Source data from: MN DNR Waters Lake Level Minnesota Monitoring Program MOWER HOUSTON June Percentile * High Water Levels (>90th percentile) Above Normal Water Levels (75-90th percentile) Normal Water Levels (25-75th percentile) Below Normal Water Levels (10-25th percentile) Low Water Levels (<= 10th percentile) No reading available Level 2 Hydrologic Unit DNR Major Watershed
Ground Water Ground Water Level Historical Rankings May 2014 Indicator Wells Aquifer Water Level Water Table Buried Artesian Bedrock * Percentile ranking based on last reported reading for the current month compared to all historical reported levels for that month. A water level ranked at zero means that the present reported level is the lowest in the period of record; a ranking of 100 indicates the highest in the period of record. A ranking at the 50th percentile (median) specifies that the presentmonth reported water level level is in the middle of the historical distribution. Source data from: MN DNR Ground Water Level Monitoring Program High Water Levels (> 90% percentile) Above Normal Water Levels (75% - 90% percentile) Normal Water Levels (25% - 75% percentile) Below Normal Water Levels (10% - 25% percentile) Low Water Levels (< 10% percentile)