Whitewater River (Minnesota)

The Whitewater River is a Minnesota tributary of the Upper Mississippi River reaching its mouth in Winona County, opposite Buffalo, Wisconsin. It is located in the Driftless Area of Minnesota. The nearest towns are Altura, Saint Charles and Elba. The region hosts endangered native dry oak savannas, semiforested areas that seem to have been dependent on fire for their well-being. [ [http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/ecopage/upland/oak/oak93/dunevitz.htm 1993 Proceedings of the Midwest Oak Savanna Conferences"] , EPA, Retrieved July 12, 2007]

The North Fork flows through Wabasha, Olmsted, and Winona Counties, with a "channel length of 47 km" [Mast, M.A., and Turk, J.T., 1999, [http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1173/circ1173b/chapter08.htm "North Fork Whitewater River: Environmental characteristics and water quality of Hydrologic Benchmark Network stations in the Midwestern United States, 1963-95",] U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1173-B, Retrieved July 12, 2007] (c. 30 miles).

The state maintains Whitewater State Park on the upper reach of the main branch, on the Middle Branch and on Trout Run Creek. Crystal Springs Fish Hatchery is located on the lower portion of the South branch. [ [http://www.umbsn.org/news/documents/balmm%20currents%20EXTRA%202-4-05.htm Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota, February 4, 2004] , Retrieved July 12, 2007]

2007 flood

As a result of the 2007 Midwest flooding, the river overtopped its dikes, flooding the town of Elba on August 18, 2007. [cite web| last =Steil| first =Mark| title =The town of Elba mucks out| publisher =Minnesota Public Radio| date =2007-08-22| url =http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/08/22/elbaflood/?rsssource=1| accessdate =2007-08-24]

Notes

External links

*gnis|654108|Whitewater River, Retrieved July 12, 2007
* [http://www.whitewaterwatershed.org/sitemap.htm Whitewater River Watershed Project] Retrieved July 12, 2007
*PDF| [http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/trout_streams/winter_winona.pdf Map] |771 KiB Retrieved July 12, 2007