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City of Ramsey February 12, 2007 Functional Assessment of Wetlands Study Area Description The study area includes the entire limits of the City of Ramsey. The City of Ramsey is located along the western border of Anoka County and is bounded by Burns Township to the north, Dayton and Anoka to the south, Andover to the east, and Elk River to the west (see Exhibit 1). The City of Ramsey is home to a large number of wetland communities such as shallow and deep marshes, floodplain forests, hardwood swamps, shrub swamps, shallow open waters, and wet meadows. Wetlands provide the City with a vast array of benefits such aswildlife habitat, water storage to prevent flooding and protect water quality, groundwater recharge and discharge, and recreational and educational opportunities. Wet meadows, shallow and deep marshes, hardwood swamps, and floodplain forests are the most common wetland communities within the City. Wet meadows are saturated depressions with a seasonal high water table at the surface to 12 inches below during the growing season. Wet meadows are dominated by grasses, sedges, and forbs. Shallow and deep marshes are dominated by cattail, arrowhead, bulrushes, and sedges. Throughout the growing season, shallow marshes have standing water up to six inches in depth and deep marshes have standing water between six inches and three feet in depth. Both shallow and deep marshes are common in surface water and groundwater depressional basins and in the fringes of lakes, ponds, and rivers. Hardwood swamps commonly border shallow and deep marshes and along with floodplain forests, they are also found along the Rum and Mississippi Rivers. Hardwood swamps and floodplain forests are composed of deciduous trees such as silver maple, American elm, cottonwood, and black willow. The soils within the hardwood swamps are saturated and can have up to a foot of standing water. Floodplain forests flood during flood events and are usually drained for much of the growing season and serve as migration corridors for plant and animal species. MNRAM 3.0 FUNCTION ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY The placement of wetlands into wetland management categories requires an assessment of wetland functions and values determined through the application of the Minnesota Routine Assessment Method (MnRAM) version 3.0 to the wetlands in question. The 1 MnRAM 3.0 methodology assesses 15 important wetland functions: Maintenance of Characteristic Vegetative Diversity/Integrity 1. – this function is the diversity of the wetland vegetation compared to a wetland of the same type under undisturbed conditions. Maintenance of Hydrologic Regime 2. – this function is the ability of the wetland to maintain the seasonal water level pattern for the wetland type and measures the degree of disturbance to the wetland hydrology due to human alteration. 1 Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. Comprehensive General Guidance for Minnesota Routine Assessment Method (MnRAM) Evaluating Wetland Function, Version 3.0. July 14, 2004. 2