Impaired Waters Detail

Impaired Water - Baird Creek (Baird Creek)

Excerpt from “BAIRD CREEK WATERSHED MANAGEMENT STUDY”, J. Reyburn WDNR Green Bay

“NORTHVIEW SITE
The water chemistry and flow stage measurements were taken at the Northview Road bridge crossing. Due to little or no flow at this site later in the year, the habitat and biological assessments were taken at a downstream crossing at Woodside Rd.

Habitat Study Section The habitat evaluation section began 43.5m upstream of the Woodside Rd. bridge crossing and extended 108.8m upstream. The bottom was composed primarily of rubble and gravel with minor amounts of sand and silt. The section had 8 riffles totaling 41.5 m, 10 runs for 53.45m and 3 pools totaling 14m. The riparian land use within 5m of the stream was primarily shrubs, however the overall land use in this area is developed/agriculture. The minimum stream depth was 0.02 m and the maximum depth was 0.315m . The stream width ranged from 2.4m to 4.1m with a calculated mean stream width of 3.1m. The habitat rating score for this section was 52 indicating good habitat.

Discharge Table 1 shows a calculated stream discharge at Northview Rd ranging from 35.7 on April 11, 2001 to no discharge on nine occasions. There was ice cover recorded 4 times preventing the recording of the stage. Average discharge over the study period was 9.28 cfs. In April of 2002, a section of the Northview bridge used as a reference point to measure stage collapsed into Baird Creek. A new reference point was established at the top of the middle culvert. This required additional flow measurements and development of a new discharge rating curve, adding variability to the discharge calculations. Discharge at this site was intermittent during the summer and fall of 2001 and 2002.

Water Quality - Water Chemistry and field measurements were not taken during periods of no flow. Dissolved oxygen levels were recorded below the standard of 5.0 ppm four times out of the twenty-eight times sampled. Coliform bacteria exceeded 400 counts six times and ranged from 10 counts/100ml to 71000 counts/ 100ml on June 4, 2002. Total phosphorous concentrations ranged from 0.10 mg/l on January 30, 2002 to 0.74 mg/l on August 23, 2001. The average total phosphorous value at this site for the study period was 0.42 mg/l. These values are considered very high compared to the statewide surface water phosphorous average of 0.065. Continuos water temperatures were not recorded at this site due to the intermittent flow. The suspended solids ranged from no detect on four occasions to a high of 182 mg/l on August 23, 2001. The average suspended solid concentration was 13.5 mg/l.. The discharge permit value of 45 mg/l was exceeded only once out of the 19 times sampled.

Biological Assessment Invertebrate samples were collected on October 4, 2001 upstream of the Woodside Road bridge crossing. A
total of 23 taxa were identified and 143 individual organisms counted. The orders Tricoptera (50 organisms) and Coleopetera ( 35
organisms) comprised the majority of the macro invertebrates found. The Hilsenhoff biotic index value of 4.867 was calculated
indicating good water quality.

A total of 206 fish representing 12 native species were collected on August 14, 2001 (see Table 4). Seven specimens of redside dace
(Clinostomus elongatus) were collected. This species is identified as rare or uncommon in Wisconsin. The IBI score for the
woodside site is 32 indicating fair biotic integrity.”

8/21/2013

The Lower Fox River Basin TP and TSS TMDL was approved by the U.S. EPA on May 18, 2012. The TMDL covers 27 waterbody segments impaired by total phosphorus and 18 waterbodies impaired by TSS for a total of 45 TMDLs. These TMDLs address degraded habitat, low Dissolved Oxygen (DO), eutrophication, and turbidity impairments.

5/25/2012

Excerpt from “BAIRD CREEK WATERSHED MANAGEMENT STUDY”, J. Reyburn WDNR Green Bay

“NORTHVIEW SITE
The water chemistry and flow stage measurements were taken at the Northview Road bridge crossing. Due to little or no flow at this site later in the year, the habitat and biological assessments were taken at a downstream crossing at Woodside Rd.

Habitat Study Section The habitat evaluation section began 43.5m upstream of the Woodside Rd. bridge crossing and extended 108.8m upstream. The bottom was composed primarily of rubble and gravel with minor amounts of sand and silt. The section had 8 riffles totaling 41.5 m, 10 runs for 53.45m and 3 pools totaling 14m. The riparian land use within 5m of the stream was primarily shrubs, however the overall land use in this area is developed/agriculture. The minimum stream depth was 0.02 m and the maximum depth was 0.315m . The stream width ranged from 2.4m to 4.1m with a calculated mean stream width of 3.1m. The habitat rating score for this section was 52 indicating good habitat.

Discharge Table 1 shows a calculated stream discharge at Northview Rd ranging from 35.7 on April 11, 2001 to no discharge on nine occasions. There was ice cover recorded 4 times preventing the recording of the stage. Average discharge over the study period was 9.28 cfs. In April of 2002, a section of the Northview bridge used as a reference point to measure stage collapsed into Baird Creek. A new reference point was established at the top of the middle culvert. This required additional flow measurements and development of a new discharge rating curve, adding variability to the discharge calculations. Discharge at this site was intermittent during the summer and fall of 2001 and 2002.

Water Quality - Water Chemistry and field measurements were not taken during periods of no flow. Dissolved oxygen levels were recorded below the standard of 5.0 ppm four times out of the twenty-eight times sampled. Coliform bacteria exceeded 400 counts six times and ranged from 10 counts/100ml to 71000 counts/ 100ml on June 4, 2002. Total phosphorous concentrations ranged from 0.10 mg/l on January 30, 2002 to 0.74 mg/l on August 23, 2001. The average total phosphorous value at this site for the study period was 0.42 mg/l. These values are considered very high compared to the statewide surface water phosphorous average of 0.065. Continuos water temperatures were not recorded at this site due to the intermittent flow. The suspended solids ranged from no detect on four occasions to a high of 182 mg/l on August 23, 2001. The average suspended solid concentration was 13.5 mg/l.. The discharge permit value of 45 mg/l was exceeded only once out of the 19 times sampled.

Biological Assessment Invertebrate samples were collected on October 4, 2001 upstream of the Woodside Road bridge crossing. A
total of 23 taxa were identified and 143 individual organisms counted. The orders Tricoptera (50 organisms) and Coleopetera ( 35
organisms) comprised the majority of the macro invertebrates found. The Hilsenhoff biotic index value of 4.867 was calculated
indicating good water quality.

A total of 206 fish representing 12 native species were collected on August 14, 2001 (see Table 4). Seven specimens of redside dace
(Clinostomus elongatus) were collected. This species is identified as rare or uncommon in Wisconsin. The IBI score for the
woodside site is 32 indicating fair biotic integrity.”

8/21/2013

The Lower Fox River Basin TP and TSS TMDL was approved by the U.S. EPA on May 18, 2012. The TMDL covers 27 waterbody segments impaired by total phosphorus and 18 waterbodies impaired by TSS for a total of 45 TMDLs. These TMDLs address degraded habitat, low Dissolved Oxygen (DO), eutrophication, and turbidity impairments.

5/25/2012

This water was assessed during the 2018 listing cycle; new total phosphorus sample data exceed 2018 WisCALM listing criteria for the Fish and Aquatic Life use, however, available biological data do not indicate impairment (i.e. no macroinvertebrate or fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scored in the "poor" condition category).

4/14/2017

This water was assessed during the 2022 listing cycle; new total phosphorus sample data exceed 2022 WisCALM listing criteria for the Fish and Aquatic Life use.

5/24/2021