Sawyer
No
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Deer Lake, in the Weirgor Creek and Brunet River Watershed, is a 419.60 acre lake that falls in Sawyer County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.
Date 2011
Author Aquatic Biologist
Historical Description
Source: 1969, Surface Water Resources of Sawyer County Deer Lake, T37N, R8W, Section 8
A soft water drainage lake with an outlet water control structure 8 feet in height. The normal estimated flow over this concrete spillway is 4.8 cfs. Its inlet on the north end is a brook trout stream, and its outlet, also known as Deer Creek, flows immediately into Rusk County and then into the Big Weirgor Creek. Below Deer Lake, Deer Creek is a forage minnow stream to the county line. The dam was constructed in 1959 by Sawyer County. Extensive areas of bog are covered with water. Some parts of the bog broke loose and floated freely as the lake was doubled in size. Winter freezeout conditions occurred occasionally in the years preceding the dam construction. After the dam was built, winter fish kills occurred almost annually. Restocking of northern pike, largemouth bass, and bluegills has been done, but is appears that the best surviving species were bullheads and golden shiners. Several other small feeder streams enter the lake from the north and east and an artesian well is located on the west side of the lake. When the winter ice cover thickens on the lake and water temperatures drop, fish are attracted into spring flows on the northeast side of the lake. Congregations of fish in these areas create low dissolved oxygen conditions and severe mortalities of fish occur. Waterfowl nesting here include mallards, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, and loon. About one-third of the present lakeshore is bog and is not conductive to large numbers of furbearers. Private development amounts to seven cottages, a boys camp, and a boat rental. There is a town road on the east shore and of the 10.02 miles of lake frontage 3.14 miles are in Sawyer County ownership partly as forest cropland.
Surface Acres = 423.2, Maximum Depth = 18 feet, M.P.A. = 37 ppm, Secchi disk = 4 feet
Date 1969
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
Recommendations
Land Acquisition
The West Wisconsin Land Trust proposes to purchase an easement on approximately 75 acres of the Stockman property on Deer Lake in Sawyer County. The easement protects 4,600 feet of lake frontage and eliminates any option of development on the protected property.
Easement/Buffer
The West Wisconsin Land Trust proposes to purchase an easement on 78.6 acres of the Tom McMillin property on Deer Lake in Sawyer County. The easement protects 2,640 feet of lake frontage and eliminates any option of development on the protected property.
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
| WBIC | Official Waterbody Name | Station ID | Station Name | Earliest Fieldwork Date | Latest Fieldwork Date | View Station | View Data |
|---|
| 2374600 | Deer Lake | 10043624 | Deer Lake Boat Access | 12/27/2010 | 12/27/2010 | Map | Data |
| 2374600 | Deer Lake | 10005563 | Deer Lake | 9/5/2000 | 10/3/2016 | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Deer Lake is located in the Weirgor Creek and Brunet River watershed which is 324.00 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (64.80%), wetland (24.80%) and a mix of agricultural (4.10%) and other uses (6.40%). This watershed has 407.41 stream miles, 2,240.99 lake acres and 39,377.08 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Low for runoff impacts on streams, Not Ranked 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.