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Sherburne County Multi -Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2020 <br />Since 1.998, the county has acquired land for four parks: Bridgeview Park Reserve, Grams Regional Park, <br />Island View Regional Park and Oak Savanna Park. <br />3.3 Geology <br />Sherburne County lies almost completely within a geologic landform known asthe Anoka Sand Plain, <br />which is a broad, sandy lake plain containing small dunes, kettle lakes and tunnel valleys. The other <br />important landform is a series of sandy terraces associated with historic levels of the Mississippi River <br />and its major tributaries. <br />Near St. Cloud there are deposits of granite and other rock products of significant value, including <br />crushed rock, aggregates, riprap and dimensional stone. The eastern portion of Sherburne County has <br />potential for industrial minerals such as lead and zinc, in addition to the gravel mined in this area. <br />3.4 Hydrography <br />Sherburne County is drained by two major watersheds. The Mississippi —St. Cloud watershed drains <br />89%of Sherburne County, while the Rum River watershed drains ii%. Within each major watershed <br />are a number of minor watersheds. Forty-six minor watersheds exist entirely or partially within <br />Sherburne County. The size of watersheds and dominant land -use therein greatly affects water quality <br />in streams, lakes and wetlands. <br />Impaired waters are an increasing problem as Sherburne County has many rivers, lakes and creeks that <br />are on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Impaired Waters lists, including the Mississippi River, <br />Elk River, St. Francis River, Rum River, Rice Creek, Tibbets Brook, Elk Lake, Briggs Lake, and Fremont <br />Lake, among others (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2o3.8). Impaired waters have become a <br />priority issue because they do not meet state water quality standards, they affect growth and health of <br />communities and economies, and the Clean Water Act has a mandate requiring every state to address <br />impairments. Impairments found in Sherburne County waters include fecal coliform, turbidity, E. coli, <br />PCB in fish tissue, mercury in fish tissue and dissolved oxygen. <br />Basic hydrography in Sherburne County is mapped in Figure A-i in Appendix A <br />3.4.1 Groundwater <br />Groundwater in Sherburne County is heavily utilized for drinking water, as a cooling agent in <br />manufacturing plants, and for irrigating agricultural crops. According to the 2o3.8-2028 Sherburne <br />County Local Water Management Plan, <br />There are several aquifers lying beneath Sherburne County. The Mt. Simon aquifer, covering <br />eastern Sherburne County and expanding southeast through most of the Minneapolis — St. Paul <br />metro area, is the deepest bedrock aquifer of eastern central Minnesota. The aquifer, between So <br />and Zoo feet thick in this area, provides drinking water to over 1 million people. Several studies <br />(Berg and Pearson 2o13 and Tipping 2ozz) have shown that the most critical recharge areas for the <br />Mr. Simon -Hinckley aquifer include eastern Sherburne County, as well as northeastern Wright <br />County and southern Isanti County. While the aquifer has seen some depletion in the metro region <br />where water is being withdrawn for municipal and industrial use, it is currently believed the levels <br />Page117 <br />