Wetlands Hydrology Monitoring

Effective wetland management and restoration requires a fundamental understanding of the frequency, timing, duration, and depth of water level fluctuations in different types of wetlands -- the hydrologic regime. Wetlands depend on surface and groundwater that can be affected by Minnesota’s water appropriations (MN DNR Groundwater Thresholds Project). The hydrology of lakes, streams and groundwater has been systematically monitored for decades, yet there have been few comprehensive programs to monitor wetland hydrology. To address this lack of foundational data, we built a network of 60 reference (minimally disturbed) wetland sites across Minnesota to monitor hydrology. Long-term data collected from the network will be used to develop “target hydrographs”, illustrating normal, infrequent, and rare water levels for a given wetland type.

Sites span the ecological provinces of Minnesota as well as common wetland types, including deep marsh, shallow marsh, fen, wet meadow, wet prairie, forested swamp, shrub swamp, and bog. Sites are located on public land, have limited impacts on their hydrology, and have relatively high-quality plant communities.

We are collecting water level data using shallow wells. Inside the wells are transducers that record water elevation every 15 minutes. We download the data twice per year. At each site, have conducted vegetation and soil surveys. Hydrological data can be accessed using the links provided below.

Monitoring well at Lake Maria State Park.

For more information and preliminary data please contact:

Jennie Skancke 
Wetlands Program Consultant 
Conservation Management and Rare Resources 
651-259-5721 
[email protected]

Amy Kendig 
Biometrician/Wetland Research Scientist 
Minnesota Biological Survey 
651-259-5116 
[email protected]