ABOUT
About the Planning Group and JPB
The Lake of the Woods Watershed (LOWW) Planning Group is a coalition of political subdivisions located in north-central Minnesota and is comprised of Lake of the Woods and Roseau Counties, Lake of the Woods and Roseau SWCDs, and the Warroad Watershed District. The formation of the coalition signifies an important step in local efforts to manage, restore, and protect water and natural resources within the Minnesota portion of the LOWW. The Planning Group prepared a plan to develop implementation strategies that are prioritized and targeted resulting in measurable resource improvements; as well as providing a framework to be effective in managing, restoring and protecting resources within the Lake of the Woods Watershed area. The state of Minnestoa approved the Plan in 2019 with the Lake of the Woods Watershed Joint Powers Board being formed at the end of the year.
About the Watershed Area
The LOWW area is comprised of the immediate watershed flowing into Lake of the Woods, within north-central Minnesota. This watershed plan encompasses an area of approximately 1,178 square miles (754,116 acres). The boundary of the watershed area mostly follows the boundary of the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watershed (090300009) within Minnesota. The boundary was modified by the LOWW Planning Group and approved by BWSR to include all areas of the WWD along the western and southern plan boundary. The watershed is located within the Rainy River Basin. The watershed encompasses parts of Roseau (20%) and Lake of the Woods (80%) Counties (including Lake of the Woods and the Northwest Angle (NWA)). There are three municipalities (Roosevelt, Warroad, and Williams) located completely within the boundaries of the watershed, as well as several unincorporated communities.
Land use in the LOWW is primarily wetlands in the southern portion of the watershed interspersed with areas of forest/shrub. The area of the watershed nearest the south shore of Lake of the Woods is comprised of agricultural areas and rangeland. There is very little urban and commercial land use in the watershed; these land uses are located primarily within the municipalities. The total population of the watershed is approximately 9,832 people. Surface waters within the watershed include Lake of the Woods, three small lakes, 540 small ponds, and vast areas of wetlands. Surface watercourses within the watershed include various lengths of intermittent streams, intermittent drainage ditches, perennial drainage ditches, perennial streams, and rivers. Unlike many watersheds that consist of many small streams flowing together to form one large river, the rivers in the LOWW all flow into Lake of the Woods at many different entry points.
Within the watershed, four predominant watercourses flow into Lake of the Woods along the south shore: the Warroad River, Willow Creek, Zippel Creek, and Bostic Creek. Several additional creeks flow into Lake of the Woods within the NWA, including Stony Creek, Poplar Creek, and Pickerel Creek. There is little relief in the watershed as it drains from south to north, with elevations ranging from 1,311 feet in the south to 1,060 feet at Lake of the Woods.
