PINE ISLAND, Minn. – Minor flooding on the Zumbro River has Pine Island people on edge. Sandbags are ready, said Mayor David Friese. The concern is mostly about the city’s 70-year-old sewage treatment plant. In the past the plant has discharged wastewater into the Zumbro in high water. The city sought emergency permission from the state in 2019 to pump untreated water directly into the river.
Zumbro profile
Headwaters of the forks of the Zumbro River are near Hayfield in Dodge County, West Concord in Steele County, and Faribault in Rice County. The forks are each about 50 miles long. The South Fork flows through Rochester. From there the fork is dammed near Oronoco and backs up Lake Zumbro. The fork picks up other forks and branches as it flows through Pine Island, Hammon and Millville and into the Mississippi at Kellogg. Fish include bass, common carp, catfish, chub, northern pike and sunfish