The Whitewater River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 4, 2012 tributary of the

Upper Mississippi River The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River. History In terms of geologic and hydrographic history, the Upper ...

which flows through the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, reaching its mouth in

Wabasha County Wabasha County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,387. Its county seat is Wabasha. Wabasha County is part of the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The recently organized Mi ...

at the community of Weaver opposite Buffalo, Wisconsin. The nearest towns are Altura, Saint Charles, and

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...

. The region hosts endangered native dry oak savannas, semiforested areas that seem to have been dependent on fire for their well-being. The main stem of the Whitewater River is formed by the confluence of the North Fork Whitewater River and Middle Fork Whitewater River at Elba, and is joined by the South Fork Whitewater River, just downstream. The North Fork flows through Wabasha,

Olmsted Olmsted may refer to: People * Olmsted (name) Places * Olmsted Air Force Base, inactive since 1969 * Olmsted, Illinois * Olmsted County, Minnesota * Olmsted Falls, Ohio * Olmsted Point, a viewing area in Yosemite National Park * Olmsted Town ...

, and Winona counties, with a "channel length of 47 km" (c. 30 miles). The upper branches of the Whitewater River system including the portion that flows through Whitewater State Park are designated trout streams. Native brook, wild brown and occasionally stocked rainbow trout populate the streams. The state maintains Whitewater State Park on the upper reach of the main stem, on the Middle Fork and on Trout Run Creek. Crystal Springs Fish Hatchery is located on the lower portion of the South Fork. Whitewater River is the English translation of the native

Sioux language Sioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 30,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo, Cree, Inuit languages, and Ojibwe. Regional variation Si ...

name. At Beaver, Minnesota, the river had an average discharge of 133 cubic feet per second between 1940 and 1957.

Conservation and restoration

In the 1990s the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recre ...

restored nearly of the river (including a straight channel dug in the 1950s) to a more natural, meandering form. Designed to allow the river to access its floodplain, the restored section is supposed to disperse high water levels over a relatively wide area and reduce shoreline erosion.Kallok, Michael A. ''Minnesota Conservation Volunteer'' (March–April 2008). Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 74-75.

Floods

The year 1938 saw major flooding and sediment deposition along the river. As a result of the 2007 Midwest flooding, the river overtopped its dikes, flooding the town of

on August 18, 2007.

References

External links

* * {{Minnesota tributaries of the lower Mississippi drainage basin, state=collapsed Rivers of Minnesota Tributaries of the Mississippi River Driftless Area Rivers of Winona County, Minnesota Rivers of Olmsted County, Minnesota Rivers of Wabasha County, Minnesota Southern Minnesota trout streams