Des Moines River Watershed
The Three Rivers Trail gets its name because it crosses three rivers: the Boone River, the East Branch of Des Moines River, and West Branch of Des Moines. All of these rivers are part of the Des Moines River watershed.
.Every stream, every creek, every ditch and every drop of water that flows overland within the Des Moines River Watershed ends up in the Des Moines River. In turn the Des Moines River is part of the Mississippi Watershed.
Pre White Settlement
The Des Monies and Boone Rivers are typical of rivers in this area. Their river valley’s were cut by the tremendous runoff from the melting glaciers, about 12,000 years ago. Their wide U-shaped valleys are characteristic of glaciated areas. Look west from the TRT bridge over Highway 3 and imagine the entire valley with roiling flood waters from the melting glaciers. Look east from the TRT bridge over Main Street in Dakota City, past the Humboldt County Museum, to the hill on the east side of the county road over half a mile away. Now imagine you are an elk stuck on the ridge in what is now Dakota City between two raging rivers. It was a much different world when the glaciers were melting.
Burial mound builders lived here thousands of years ago, predating the tribes who made contact with settlers. Their mounds are found exclusively along rivers and streams.
The importance of the river to the First Peoples for water, for fishing, for hunting, and for transportation seems to go without saying. The area that now occupies the Three Rivers Trail was home to the Dakota, the Ho Chunk, and the Meskwaki. The last recorded battle between Native American tribes in Iowa took place near the west end of the Three Rivers Trail.
White Settlement
Early settlements in this area followed the rivers–and later the railroads. While the prairie might have been good for the sodbuster, the rivers were good for towns for the same reason the First Peoples gravitated toward them.
Compare a portion of the 1840 Iowa Map to the 1850 Iowa Map. You can see how the towns sprout up along our rivers.
Engine of the Economy
The Des Moines and Boone Rivers in our area were not reliable transportation routes because of fluctuating water levels. However, some evidence exists for the transportation of lumber and grain up and down the rivers by small steam ships.
The river towns of Rutland, Humboldt, and Dakota City all had flour and grist mills on the river. Stephen H. Taft, the founder of the town of Humboldt, recounted the trials and tribulations of building his grist and saw mill. All the old dams for the flour and grist mills either gone or just remnants remain. You can see part of the remaining Dakota City dam and mill just a block east of the Three Rivers Trail in Dakota City. This is the site of the Humboldt County Museum.
In 1911, two hydroelectric power mills were erected on the West Branch of the Des Moines River in Rutland and Humboldt. The dams are still in place. The powerhouse at Rutland is still standing and just a few blocks from the Three Rivers Trail. In their hey day, the dams provided electricity to their respective towns.
In 1949, another hydroelectric dam was installed just south of Gotch Park on the Des Moines River. This was removed in 2016.
Recreation
Whether fishing, canoeing, kayaking, or hiking and biking along our rivers, they are an endless sources of recreation, memory-making, and outdoor therapy of the best (and cheapest) kind. Our rivers provide habitat for all kinds of native flora and fauna.
Map of water trails goes here.
Conduit for Pollution
Excess nitrate in agricultural fertilizer enters our streams and rivers mainly through drainage tile flow. This is a serious problem for folks downstream.
The Des Moines River along with the Raccoon River in western Iowa are the source of drinking water for more than 1 in 5 Iowans. Scientists have discovered that nitrates in drinking water cause a range problems, not the least of which is methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) and increased risk of some kinds of cancers.
Adding nutrients to the our surface waters also contribute to toxic algae blooms and the growth of E. coli. bacteria. High levels of either close beaches and make it unsafe to swim. In addition, Iowans do not have the expensive equipment need to treat the toxins released in the water by toxic algae blooms. Cyanotoxins, released by blue-green algae, are so toxic it can cause skin irritation. If ingested, it can cause liver failure. For animals that drink this water, including dogs, death comes quickly.
Our excess nutrients from our farm fields don’t stop at the Iowa border. The problems continue to the Gulf of Mexico and the waters just off shore. These nutrients in the gulf cause different types of algae to bloom. When these algae die, they decay. The process of decay uses oxygen in the water. There is so much decaying algae that all the oxygen in the water is used up, leaving no oxygen for other living things like fish. We refer to this as the “dead zone.”