For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTo order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).Elevation, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.Water year is the 12-month period of October 1 through September 30 designated by the calendar year in which it ends. Floods of June 2012 in Northeastern MinnesotaBy Christiana R. Czuba, James D. Fallon, and Erich W. Kessler AbstractDuring June 19-20, 2012, heavy rainfall, as much as 10 inches locally reported, caused severe flooding across northeastern Minnesota. The floods were exacerbated by wet antecedent conditions from a relatively rainy spring, with May 2012 as one of the wettest Mays on record in Duluth. The June 19-20, 2012, rainfall event set new records in Duluth, including greatest 2-day precipitation with 7.25 inches of rain. The heavy rains fell on three major watersheds: the Mississippi Headwaters; the St. Croix, which drains to the Mississippi River; and Western Lake Superior, which includes the St. Louis River and other tributaries to Lake Superior. Widespread flash and river flooding that resulted from the heavy rainfall caused evacuations of residents, and damages to residences, businesses, and infrastructure. In all, nine counties in northeastern Minnesota were declared Federal disaster areas as a result of the flooding.Peak-of-record streamflows were recorded at 13 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages as a result of the heavy rainfall. Flood-peak gage heights, peak streamflows, and annual exceedance probabilities were tabulated for 35 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages. Flood-peak streamflows in June 2012 had annual exceedance probabilities estimated to be less than 0.002 (0.2 percent; recurrence interval greater than 500 years) for five streamgages, and between 0.002 and 0.01 (1 percent; recurrence interval greater than 100 years) for four streamgages. High-water marks were identified and tabulated for the most severely affected communities of Barnum (Moose Horn River), Carlton (Otter Creek), Duluth Heights neighborhood of Duluth (Miller Creek), Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth (St. Louis River), Moose Lake (Moose Horn River and Moosehead Lake), and Thomson (Thomson Reservoir outflow near the St. Louis River). Flood-peak inundation maps and water-surface profiles were produc...

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTo order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).Elevation, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. Low-Flow Characteristics of the Mississippi River Upstream from the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, Minnesota, 1932-2007By Erich Kessler and David L. Lorenz AbstractThe U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Council, conducted a study to characterize regional low flows during 1932-2007 in the Mississippi River upstream from the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota and to describe the low-flow profile of the Mississippi River between the confluence of the Crow River and St. Anthony Falls. Probabilities of extremely low flow were estimated for the streamflow-gaging station (Mississippi River near Anoka) and the coincidence of low-flow periods, defined as the extended periods (at least 7 days) when all the daily flows were less than the 10th percentile of daily mean flows for the entire period of record, at four selected streamflow-gaging stations located upstream. The likelihood of extremely low flows was estimated by a superposition method for the Mississippi River near Anoka that created 5,776 synthetic hydrographs resulting in a minimum synthetic low flow of 398 cubic feet per second at a probability of occurrence of 0.0002 per year. Low-flow conditions at the Mississippi River near Anoka were associated with low-flow conditions at two or fewer of four upstream streamflow-gaging stations 42 percent of the time, indicating that sufficient water is available within the basin for many low flows and the occurrence of extremely low-flows is small. However, summer low-flow conditions at the Mississippi River near Anoka were almost always associated with low-stage elevations in three or more of the six upper basin reservoirs. A low-flow profile of the Mississippi River between the confluence of the Crow River and St. Anthony Falls was completed using a real-time kinematic global positioning system, and the water-surface profile was mapped during October 8-9, 2008, and annotated with local landmarks. This was done so that water-use planners could relate free-board elevations of selected water utility structures to the lowest flow conditions during 2008.

For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov.Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. Supplemental Information AbstractThe Interstate 94 Corridor has been identified as 1 of 16 Minnesota groundwater areas of concern because of its limited available groundwater resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, completed six seasonal and annual groundwater balances for parts of the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer to better understand its long-term (next several decades) sustainability. A high-precision Mississippi River groundwater discharge measurement of 5.23 cubic feet per second per mile was completed at low-flow conditions to better inform these groundwater balances. The recharge calculation methods RISE program and Soil-Water-Balance model were used to inform the groundwater balances. For the RISE-derived recharge estimates, the range was from 3.30 to 11.91 inches per year; for the SWB-derived recharge estimates, the range was from 5.23 to 17.06 inches per year.

Inch/Pound to SI Multiply By To obtain Area square mile (mi 2) 259.0 hectare (ha) square mile (mi 2) 2.590 square kilometer (km 2) Flow rate cubic foot per second (ft 3 /s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second (m 3 /s) Water year is the 12-month period October 1 through September 30, designated by the calendar year in which the water year ends. Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).