A slow thaw would really benefit everyone. Repeated rain events while the frost is still in-place will only send the runoff from North to the ditches, rivers, and right on through the River rapidly flushing things without filling the backwater areas for crucial spawning periods.
Locally on the banks of Pool 4 the snow not piled up by plows or tucked on the North side of structures will be gone by the end of the week. We’re counting on that snow up north to melt slowly and steadily to raise the flow and water levels. Locally here near Lake City & Wabasha, a nice 3-4 week window with slightly high water at 8-10′ at the Wabasha gauge is ideal for the spawn, fishability, and not impacting any infrastructure. It’s currently at about 6.8 feet.
It does take a lot of water to start filling the backwater areas, but don’t ever underestimate mother nature’s Spring storms mixed with ever increasing drain tile, urban runoff, etc. getting water into the system in a hurry. It looks like the NWS is predicting that snow pack from the North or some increasing number of local Spring storms to start changing things soon (see attached image).
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WABM5.SSTG_.prob_.weekint.gif
