Overview

Willow Flowage, in the Middle Tomahawk River Watershed, is a 4,217.09 acre lake that falls in Oneida County. This lake is an outstanding/exceptional resource water under NR102 under the Fisheries Program. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently considered impaired.

Date  2011

Author   Aquatic Biologist

Historical Description

Source: 1966, Surface Water Resources of Oneida County Willow Reservoir, T37N, R5E., Section 9 Surface Acres = 5,134.9, S.D.F. = 7.29, Maximum Depth = 22 feet.

A soft water drainage lake having slightly acid, light brown water of moderate transparency. Sand is the predominant littoral material with significant areas of gravel and rubble with some muck. Shoreline is predominantly upland, however, wetlands adjoin significant portions of the lake basin. Muskellunge, northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, perch, bluegill, crappie, rock bass, pumpkinseed, bullhead and sucker are fish species inhabiting this lake. Public access without parking is available. However, the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company maintains a landing with parking for use by the public. Six resorts, 8 boat rentals and 12 dwellings are located on the shoreline. Mallard and black duck use this lake as a nesting site. Puddle ducks, diving ducks and Canada geese use this lake on their spring and fall migrations. This lake is actually an impoundment on the Tomahawk and Willow Rivers with water levels maintained by a water control structure of 18 feet head.

Date  1966

Author   Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin

Condition

Wisconsin has over 84,000 miles of streams, 15,000 lakes and milllions of acres of wetlands. Assessing the condition of this vast amount of water is challenging. The state's water monitoring program uses a media-based, cross-program approach to analyze water condition. An updated monitoring strategy (2015-2020) is now available. Compliance with Clean Water Act fishable, swimmable standards are located in the Executive Summary of Water Condition in 2018. See also the 'monitoring and projects' tab.

Reports

Management Goals

Wisconsin's Water Quality Standards provide qualitative and quantitative goals for waters that are protective of Fishable, Swimmable conditions [Learn more]. Waters that do not meet water quality standards are considered impaired and restoration actions are planned and carried out until the water is once again fishable and swimmable

Management goals can include creation or implementation of a Total Maximum Daily Load analysis, a Nine Key Element Plan, or other restoration work, education and outreach and more. If specific recommendations exist for this water, they will be displayed below online.

Monitoring

Monitoring the condition of a river, stream, or lake includes gathering physical, chemical, biological, and habitat data. Comprehensive studies often gather all these parameters in great detail, while lighter assessment events will involve sampling physical, chemical and biological data such as macroinvertebrates. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish communities integrate watershed or catchment condition, providing great insight into overall ecosystem health. Chemical and habitat parameters tell researchers more about human induced problems including contaminated runoff, point source dischargers, or habitat issues that foster or limit the potential of aquatic communities to thrive in a given area. Wisconsin's Water Monitoring Strategy was recenty updated.

Grants and Management Projects

Monitoring Projects

Watershed Characteristics

Willow Flowage is located in the Middle Tomahawk River watershed which is 233.30 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (64.60%), wetland (26.90%) and a mix of open (7%) and other uses (1.50%). This watershed has 191.49 stream miles, 4,575.90 lake acres and 42,061.39 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Not Ranked for runoff impacts on streams, Low for runoff impacts on lakes and Low for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of Low. This value can be used in ranking the watershed or individual waterbodies for grant funding under state and county programs.However, all waters are affected by diffuse pollutant sources regardless of initial water quality. Applications for specific runoff projects under state or county grant programs may be pursued. For more information, go to surface water program grants.