Water Resources of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, East-Central Minnesota

Abstract

This interesting report presents the findings of a hydrologic study of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. The study is the outcome of a 1978 Federal mandate to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review Indian water-rights claims in reservations throughout the United States. The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation study, done by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation Business Committee, is the first of the these studies undertaken in Minnesota under the Federal mandate. The report notes that ground water resources derive from three aquafers, and that surface waters derive from wetlands and surficial waters within the St. Louis River watershed. Except for a small number of well-water samples, water quality was found to be within EPA limits for pollutants and was determined to be safe for human and animal consumption. A few wells had elevated levels of lead and manganese; four principal streams contained E. coli and Streptococcus.