If you are a frequent visitor to the St. Croix Riverway website, or any other National Park website, you have probably noticed a recent change in the look and feel of these. Beginning several months ago all NPS.gov websites were given an upgrade in appearance to make them more manageable and easier to navigate and find information. While the changes were needed and each park has more flexibility in posting specific types of information, some of the previous park developed pages were not converted as quickly.
Such was the case of the River Currents Blog which we are now able to access and again begin posting to.
Unfortunately, while the webpage was inaccessible we experienced two weather events that produced heavy rainfall and a record high river flow for this time of year. The St. Croix River in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, peaked at 37,000 cubic feet per second on May 31, roughly equivalent to 1,110,000 gallons of water passing by our visitor center every four seconds!
River Landings from near Danbury, Wisconsin, to Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, were closed for a number of days as streams in the watershed fed the swollen river with more and more water. From May 29 to June 8 the lower St. Croix from U.S Hwy 8 to the Mississippi was placed under a "no-wake" rule to prevent shoreline erosion while the high water lasted.
Fortunately the water has now dropped, but river users are encouraged to check current river conditions on our website as part of their standard trip planning in the future. In addition, on this webpage park staff will again be sharing some of their favorite places to visit, information about park cultural and natural resources, and programs and special events planned for the summer.