As the snow melts every spring, the Nemadji River ‘unloads’ red clay sediment into the Lake Superior harbor, and in June 2018, the Duluth-Superior region of Minnesota and Wisconsin experienced heavy rains – causing property damage and high river discharge levels. A stunning photo of red clay sediment flowing into the lake was captured by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station.
The sediment runoff may be a result of more people living and working in the area, logging, farming, and building roads, and according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, improvements may be possible. The Pine Journal reported that the PCA, Nemadji River Watershed stakeholders group, and the Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District proposed steps in 2017 to reduce runoff and improve water quality. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is now monitoring the Nemadji River Watershed for ‘pollutant loads’ and long term climate change impacts.
Residents of the area may remember another dramatic sediment runoff in 2012 when ‘floods muddied Lake Superior’- via the Duluth News Tribune.