Notes: This is a medium-large creek that originates from Ekstrom Lake in north-central Burns Township, flows through Burns Township, and outlets to the Rum River in northeast Ramsey. It does not inlet or outlet to any lakes. Overall, the watershed is rural residential with 5 acre lots. The creek is about 25 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep at the monitoring site during baseflow.

Low rainfall in 2006 (and preceding months and years) resulted in the lowest water levels in Ford Brook since monitoring began in 1996. Water levels also varied little, even in spring when water typically rises. The highest water was in response to a 1.41-inch late-April storm . There was little variation the remainder of the year, when moderate drought conditions developed. Soil moisture was low and the rainfalls that did occur resulted in little response from creeks.

In 2005 the difference between the highest and lowest water levels on Ford Brook was 2.94 feet. The most extreme conditions occurred in the fall. Notable rain events included 1.9in on 8-26, 1.6in on 9-4, 2.68in on 9-13, 2.34in on 9-22, and 4.96in on 10-4 and 10-5 combined. The highest water levels in 2005 (on 10-6) were just 0.22 feet below the highest ever recorded since 1996.

In 2004 a professional paper was published in the Journal Environmental Science and Technology that relied upon hydrology data from this site. The paper on methylmercury, the form of mercury that causes fish consumption advisories, was authored by a staff person from the Metropolitan Council and others.

S Summary of All Monitored Years

*Note: Not all monitored years are listed. Please refer to mapping utility for complete data.

"All Years" is not an average of each year's summary statistic. Rather, it is calculated from the continuous, multi-year record.