Project Detail

Eagle Creek and Joos Valley Creek TMDL

Purpose

Eagle and Joos Creeks In Buffalo County, Wisconsin, both streams were listed due to not meeting their potential designated uses. The upper 7 miles of Eagle Creek is identified as currently supporting a warmwater forage fishery (WWFF), but has potential to support a coldwater (Class II) sport fishery. Joos Valley Creek is identified as currently supporting a warmwater forage fishery (WWFF), but has potential to support a coldwater (Class III) sport fishery (WDNR 1990, 1996). Both streams are severely limited by excessive sediment loading, elevated water temperatures and habitat unsuitable to support a coldwater fishery. TMDL for Eagle Creek and Joos Valley Creek

Objective

USEPA Decision Document for the Approval of the Eagle Creek Joos Valley Creek Sediment TMDL is documented and the streams have been delisted.

Outcome

While the management practices installed in the Eagle and Joos Valley creeks watershed clearly have made improvements in water quality, what wasn’t anticipated was the change in the land use related to economic and generational shifts. As many of the watershed’s dairy farmers retired, younger family members were not interested in continuing dairy farming. The cows were sold off and about 40% of the farms are now owned by absentee owners who use the farms for hunting and recreation. Those lands are often leased to local farmers for predominantly corn production. Some of the smaller farms in Buffalo County are converting to less labor-intensive poultry farming. A few dairy farms still pasture cows, but the number of cows in the watershed has substantially decreased. Cows that once roamed woodland pastures on the steeper portions of the watersheds also created soil erosion due to compaction and disturbance of the more erodible soils. Woodland pastureland has been virtually abandoned – which has been extremely beneficial to water quality. The voluntary removal of a significant number of cows from the landscape may also be an important unintended contributor to water quality improvement. The long-term USGS study supports historical observations that BMPs can and do make a difference in water quality. Those monitoring results support a sense of what are the "right" changes that have been made. Wisconsin’s Priority Watershed Program has ended, but the state’s investment in the installation of watershed management practices continues to pay off. With time, these changes will bring a healthy trout population back to Eagle and Joos Valley creeks.

Project Type

TMDL/303d Projects

Project Sub Type

Implement TMDL

Project ID

Eagle and Joos TMDL

Year Started

2003

Status

Active

Reports and Documents

Joos Valley Creek 1808900 Impaired Waters Listing Documentation 2008

Data Documentation

Summary of data used to support Eagle Creek delisting

Assessment documentation

Effects of Best-Management Practices in Eagle and Joos Valley Creeks...1990-2007

Joos Valley and Eagle Creeks Success Story

Eagle Creek WBIC 1808400 TP Report 2012

Condition Assessment Report

Joos Valley Creek WBIC 1808900 TP Report 2012

Condition Assessment Report

Effects of Best Management Practices in Eagle and Joos Valley Creeks in the Waumandee Creek Priority Watershed, Wisconsin, 1990-2007

USEPA Decision Document for the Approval of the Eagle Creek Joos Valley Creek Sediment TMDL

Waumandee Priority Watershed Project

Eagle Creek 1808400 Impaired Waters Listing Documentation 2008

Data Documentation

Eagle Creek 1808400 and Joos Valley Creek 1808900 Sediment TMDL

Final TMDL Report

Eagle Creek 1808400 Impaired Waters Listing Documentation 2002

Data Documentation Eagle Creek, Impaired Waters Delisting Documentation, Buffalo County

Joos Valley Creek 1808900 Impaired Waters Listing Documentation 2002

Data Documentation Joos Valley Impaired Waters Listing Documentation, Buffalo County

Activities & Recommendations

TMDL (USEPA) Approved

This Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for sediment addresses sedimentation and degraded habitat impairments conditions in the upper 7 miles of Eagle Creek, and the entire 7 mile length of Joos Valley Creek, a tributary of Eagle Creek. The TMDL identifies load allocations and management actions that will restore the biological integrity of these streams. Both streams were identified as a medium priority on the 1998 303(d) list. USEPA Decision Document for the Approval of the Eagle Creek Joos Valley Creek Sediment TMDL is documented and the streams have been delisted.

TMDL Implementation

TMDL Development

TMDL Development for Eagle and Joos Valley Creeks addressing sedimentation and degraded habitat impairments conditions.

TMDL Monitoring

Watershed

Middle Trempealeau River

Lower Trempealeau River