Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) Soil Erosion Susceptibility

The soil erodibility index shows the relative potential for soils within the MRCCA to erode. The index combines the inherent erodibility of a soil type (K-factor) with the slope on which the soil type is located. The soil erosion index value is derived by multiplying the slope class with the K-Factor resulting in a relative index range from 0.02 to 1.96. The K-factor value was retrieved from the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) on 2/1/2017. The percent slope was calculated from a 10-meter LiDAR-derived digital elevation model (DEM). LiDAR data for the Twin Cities Metro area was collected in the spring and fall of 2011.<br/><br/>The index is only calculated where SSURGO soils data is available. Soil survey data is not available for some areas where there is a history of urban use including use of fill, or areas with restricted access.<br/><br/>The MRCCA is a land corridor along the Mississippi River in the seven-county metro area in which special land use regulations guide development activity. The corridor extends 72 miles along the Mississippi River from the cities of Ramsey and Dayton in the north to the City of Hastings and Ravenna Township in the south. It includes 54,000 acres of land along both sides of the river. The State of Minnesota created the corridor and land use regulations in 1976. Local governments administer the regulations through their local plans and zoning ordinances. <br/><br/>Rules regulating the MRCCA were published on December 27, 2016 and became effective January 4, 2017.<br/>