A Description of the Spring Brook Watershed in 2050
The Spring Brook watershed is primarily a rural area on the outskirts of Northfield and Dundas. The upper part of the watershed is a prosperous farming area with scattered woodlots, wetlands, and rural residences. The soils and ditch are well managed so that erosion is minimized and the ditch rarely has to be cleaned out. The ditch has a grassed buffer along its banks, and most of the fields have good residue cover, grassed waterways, and other conservation practices. Some of the woods and wetlands are in programs such as RIM that provide some long-term protection. Feedlots are also well managed to prevent nutrients from entering the ditch. There is a commercial area around the interchange of highways 35 and 1, but it does not extend into the Spring Brook watershed.
Flood damage has been minimized by restoring some of the wetlands in the watershed, making sure bridges are large enough, and preventing development in the floodplain.
The lower end of the watershed is in Northfield and Dundas. The stream corridor from Dudnas Blvd. To 100th street is a park with a trail along it. This trail connects to a network of other trails and is a popular scenic attraction. There is no other active recreation to the creek, but limited fishing takes place, and the creek is not overfished. A naturally-reproducing population of brook trout live in the creek. Other wildlife and birds are often seen in the stream corridor, and they use it to move back and forth to the Cannon River.
Housing has been built away from the creek in clusters to minimize paved surfaces, and additional trees and prairie vegetation have been planted between the creek and the homes. This open space area is protected with conservation easements. Stormwater is managed through infiltration and overland flow, so there is no piped discharge to the stream and no need for holding ponds.
By mutual agreement, the cities, township and county have decided to design and locate roads and utilities to minimize impacts to the creek. Consequently, sewers do not run along the stream, the bridges allow fish passage, and the road ditches are designed so that runoff is collected and filtered before entering the creek. Impervious surfaces in the watershed are kept below 400 acres.
This vision of the Spring Brook watershed
in 2050 is based
on comments made by participants in the Spring Brook Committee’s
discussions.