Little Rock Creek Total Maximum
Daily Load (TMDL) Study
Little Rock Creek, from the headwaters to the
Mississippi River, was listed on Minnesota's 303(d)
List of Impaired Waters in 2002 for biological
impairment. The stream was listed based on fish
samples collected in 1999 by the Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency (MPCA). Portions of Little Rock Creek
have had a self-sustaining population of Brown Trout
since 1907. DNR fisheries surveys noted that a
decline of trout populations in the early 1990's.
NEW - Stakeholder Newsletter (Winter/Spring 2008
Edition)
Little Rock Creek TMDL Facts:
- Benton SWCD has a Joint Powers Agreement Contract
with MPCA to complete Phase II of the TMDL.
- Upper Mississippi Basin Management Plan: The MPCA
recognizes that the implementation of the Little
Rock Creek Biota TMDL is the highest
priority TMDL for the Mississippi River - Sartell Watershed.
- The Little Rock Creek TMDL Study is a pilot biota
project.
- Project partners include: MPCA, Board of Water and
Soil Resources (BWSR), MN Department of Agriculture,
MN DNR, Morrison County,
Natural Resources Research Institute - University of Minnesota.
The Little Rock Creek TMDL
Study began June 15, 2006 and is scheduled to be
completed June 30, 2009. There was a total of
$86,638.60 budgeted for this TMDL study, and as of
the beginning of 2007 $15,581.67 had been expended.

Annie Felix, SWCD Water Plan
Amy Robak, NRCS Intern, collecting
Technician taking stream
samples
stream data
Phase II Goals:
Identify "stressor(s)" within watershed and develop
protocol for biological TMDLs. The MPCA will use the
Little Rock Creek TMDL Study to help create an
analytical and reproducible protocol for biological
TMDLs. To date, no biological TMDLs have been
completed in Minnesota because no approved protocol
exists.
DNR
Fisheries conducting electro-fishing