Sediment cores were recovered from a grid of 20 sampling stations to assess sediment deposition and total phosphorus and P-fractions. Wetland sediments were never more than two cm thick and in most cases were one cm or less. The restored wetland retained all of its watershed runoff nutrients and sediment during the first four years of restoration. Water years 1992 through 1994 were climatically normal to slightly above normal precipitation. However, specific runoff events varied with P exports occurring in the spring.
Results indicate that the restored wetland remains physically and biochemically in transition.
The most dominant factor influencing wetland redevelopment and affecting wetland water quality was the hydrology driven by climatic variability. Developed as a joint project by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, University of Minnesota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Upper Minnesota River Watershed District.