The Nemadji River is a river rising in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, which flows through Carlton County, Minnesota, and Douglas County, Wisconsin, to Lake Superior.[1] The river is 70.8 miles (113.9 km) long measured from its source in Maheu Lake in Pine County, and 34.9 miles (56.2 km) from its confluence with the South Fork in Carlton County just east of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.[2] The Nemadji River empties into Lake Superior in an industrial neighborhood at Allouez Bay in the city of Superior's east-side neighborhood of Allouez and Wisconsin Point.

Nemadji River
A BNSF Railway freight train crosses the Nemadji near Boylston, Wisconsin
Mouth of the Nemadji River
Native name	Nemanjitigweyaag  (Ojibwe)
Location
Country	United States
State	Minnesota and Wisconsin
Counties	Carlton County, Minnesota, Pine County, Minnesota, Douglas County, Wisconsin
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Nickerson, Minnesota
• coordinates	46.4007777°N 92.5079727°W / 46.4007777; -92.5079727
Mouth	Lake Superior
• location	Alouez Bay, Wisconsin
• coordinates	46°42′12″N 92°01′39″W
Length	70.8 miles (113.9 km)

Course

Most of the rivers' length flows in Douglas County, Wisconsin, entering near Foxboro and exiting in East End, Superior, near Loons Foot Boat Landing, USH 2/53, and the BNSF Taconite Plant

History

Nemadji comes from the Ojibwe language, "ne-madji-tic-guay-och" (Namanjinik-tigweyaag in the current spelling), meaning "left-hand river,"[3] [4] opposed to the Saint Louis River, which when viewed from Allouez Bay is the "right-hand river."

In 1992 a Burlington Northern train derailed south of Superior, releasing 30,000 gallons of aromatic hydrocarbons, a highly toxic chemical, into the Nemadji River. Fish, wildlife, and other resources were severely affected by the incident. In March 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a draft that would use funds received from a settlement with Burlington Northern to restore a portion of the Lake Superior basin affected by the incident. The river runs through the City of Superior, Town of Summit, Town of Superior, and the counties of Douglas, Carlton, Pine.

See also

• List of rivers of Minnesota
• List of longest streams of Minnesota

References

Further reading

• Waters, Thomas F. (1977), The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 0-8166-0821-0

External links

• "Nemadji River Basin Project Final Report" (PDF). Wisconsin DNR. US Forest Service. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
• "Permanent Protection for Strategic Wisconsin Lake Superior Basin Brook Trout and Migratory Bird Habitat". US Field and Wildlife Service. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
• Nemadji River Basin Project, Carlton Co. SWCD
• ^{[dead link]}Nemadji River Home Page
• ^{[dead link]}Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for Natural Resource Injuries Resulting from the Nemadji River Spill
• ^{[dead link]}Columbia Gazetteer - Nemadji River, Archived May 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine