Mason Creek 303d listed water
Return to Search

Purpose

The purpose of the project is to monitor and evaluate portions of Mason Creek and its tributaries in Waukesha and Washington Counties. Mason Creek is currently 303d listed for pollutants including total phosphorus and sediment/total suspended solids, with impairments including low DO, degraded habitat and elevated Temperatures and yet it is still listed as a Class I Trout stream. It is also part of the Rock River TMDL area. CBSM volunteers currently collected data at multiple stations along the stream and have concerns with high turbidity even during drought periods. This project will also be used to augment the Mason Creek Watershed Protection Plan that Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRC) in conjunction with other local stakeholders are completing this year. Mason Creek and its tributaries drain to North Lake and are of particular concern to water quality of the lake and the water quality of the streams themselves.

Objective

The data are necessary to determine whether these streams are achieving their attainable uses in order to update the watershed tables, list segments of the waterbody that are not meeting their attainable uses, and assess the overall health of the watershed as required by Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. This will also provide a current baseline for any of the protection measures the local stakeholders plan to implement from the Protection Plan that will be created in conjunction with this work. Fisheries, water chemistry, quantitative habitat, continual temperature monitoring and macroinvertebrate data will be collected up to 4 sites on Mason Creek and one of its tributaries to help augment the data SEWRPC is collecting. The waterbody WBICs that will be sampled are Mason Creek (851100) and Unnamed Tributary to Mason Creek (851200). Current and new volunteers will be utilized to help with collecting samples where available. Currently level 2 CBSM monitoring has occurred on portions of Mason Creek.

Outcome

Fishery, water chemistry, quantitative habitat, and macroinvertebrate data will be collected on 3 sites on Mason Creek and 1 site on a tributary to Mason Creek. The four sites will be reconned, and stations will be established early during the field season. Data will be collected during the field season of the 2014 calendar year. Data will be entered into the FH database and SWIMS in 2014. These data will be analyzed in late 2014 through early 2015. This information will help augment the Mason Creek Protection Plan that SEWRPC is developing this year. This information will also help provide a baseline of data for when the very enthusiastic local stakeholders start implementing protective measures for Mason Creek.

Related Reports

Run Project Summary Report
View Umbrella-Projects
View Related-Projects

TMDL/303d Projects
Identify Impaired Waters
SCR_05_CMP14
2014
Active
 
Reports and Documents
Mason Creek Tier III request
SCR_05_CMP14 status 10132016
SCR_05_CMP14 status 10 13 2016
 
Activities & Recommendations
Monitor Water Quality or Sediment
The purpose of the project is to monitor and evaluate portions of Mason Creek and its tributaries in Waukesha and Washington Counties. Mason Creek is currently 303d listed for pollutants including total phosphorus and sediment/total suspended solids, with impairments including low DO, degraded habitat and elevated Temperatures and yet it is still listed as a Class I Trout stream. It is also part of the Rock River TMDL area.
Monitor Baseline Survey
The purpose of the project is to monitor and evaluate portions of Mason Creek and its tributaries in Waukesha and Washington Counties. Mason Creek is currently 303d listed for pollutants including total phosphorus and sediment/total suspended solids, with impairments including low DO, degraded habitat and elevated Temperatures and yet it is still listed as a Class I Trout stream. It is also part of the Rock River TMDL area.
TMDL Monitoring
The purpose of the project is to monitor and evaluate portions of Mason Creek and its tributaries in Waukesha and Washington Counties. Mason Creek is currently 303d listed for pollutants including total phosphorus and sediment/total suspended solids, with impairments including low DO, degraded habitat and elevated Temperatures and yet it is still listed as a Class I Trout stream. It is also part of the Rock River TMDL area.
Monitor or Propose 303(d) Listing
Mason Creek is currently 303d listed for pollutants including total phosphorus and sediment/total suspended solids, with impairments including low DO, degraded habitat and elevated Temperatures and yet it is still listed as a Class I Trout stream. It is also part of the Rock River TMDL area.
 
Watershed
Oconomowoc River
 
Waters
Mason Creek
Monitoring Data