Wild Rice-producing Lakes: Historic to Present Water Levels and its Effects on Wild Rice Production

Wild rice (Zizania palustris L.) is an aquatic grass species that grows in the lakes and rivers of the White Earth Reservation in northwestern Minnesota.  Concern from the tribal community, that fluctuating water levels in Lower Rice Lake may have detrimental effects on the wild rice crop, promulgated this investigation.  Using historic maps and geospatial technology, an assessment of Lower Rice Lake was conducted to determine how the lake level perimeters have changed over a period of time.  After digitizing historic maps of 1843, 1870 and 1929 of the region which lies within the reservation boundaries, it was discovered that Lower Rice Lake was missing from these historic maps, therefore the study relied upon data for a 25-year period (1985-2010).  Results indicated minor changes in lake perimeter at the north and south end of the study area, but the lake has maintained its current lake perimeters during this study period.  It was determined that fluctuating water levels were not significant enough to detrimentally impact the wild rice crop on Lower Rice Lake.