Price
Yes
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Historical Description
Source: 1983, Surface Water Resources of Price County Otter Tail Spring - T35N, RIE, Sec. 25. Surface area = 2.5 acres, maximum depth = 6 ft, MPA = 68 ppm, Secchi disk = bottom. Otter Tail Spring, a spring pond, is the headwaters of Ottertail Creek and has an outlet flow of 2.0 ft(3)sec. Its fish population consists of brook and rainbow trout. The spring shoreline is 80% upland hardwood and 20% tag alder swamp. The entire east side of the lake has a steep bank. Sand makes up 60% of the littoral bottom with muck and detritus the remaining 40%. Aquatic vegetation is scarce. Mallards and wood ducks nest here each year. Other than the ducks, wildlife values are limited. There is no private development, public frontage or access road.
Date 1983
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.
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
| Project Name (Click for Details) | Year Started |
|---|
|
|
Monitoring Projects
| WBIC | Official Waterbody Name | Station ID | Station Name | Earliest Fieldwork Date | Latest Fieldwork Date | View Station | View Data |
|---|
|
|
Watershed Characteristics
Ottertail Springs is located in the Upper South Fork Jump River watershed which is 322.41 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (56.60%), wetland (34.60%) and a mix of grassland (5.20%) and other uses (3.50%). This watershed has 396.77 stream miles, 1,735.99 lake acres and 55,733.47 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Medium 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.