Washburn
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Sams Lake, in the Red Cedar Lake Watershed, is a 24.21 acre lake that falls in Washburn County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.
Date 2011
Author Aquatic Biologist
Historical Description
A soft water, seepage lake, it is landlocked and subject to partial winterkill conditions due to the irregular configuration of the basin. Its present fishery is probably largemouth bass andbluegills. An 8 foot high dike was once placed at the south end of the lake which probably raised the level of the lake about six feet. As a result of the flooding two donut-shaped bogs floated up. The center of the middle bog ring has the maximum depth of Sam's Lake within it. The bog at the northern end has a depth of only five feet. The irregular shoreline is mostly steeply sloping and wooded with birch, oak, maple, aspen and red pine, except for a part of the west shore which is open pasture. A wooded island of 0.3 acre is at the lower end of the lake. There is a small amount of bog shoreline at the northwest corner and a tag alder swamp of one acre off a bog at the southeast corner. The latter wetland swamp has a low head beaver dam across it at the shoreline. The littoral bottom is about half
hard sand and gravel materials and half muck. About three acres of wetlands border the lake. Beaver have been quite active here. Nesting ducks include mallards, teal and wood ducks. There is no private
development. Most of the lakeshore, except part of the west shore, is Washburn County Forest land. Access is only by walk-in over county land from the east.Source: 1978, Surface Water Resources of Washburn County Sams Lake, T38N, R10W, Section 36, Surface Acres-16.2, Maximum Depth-31
feet, M.P.A.-7 ppm
Date 1978
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
| Project Name (Click for Details) | Year Started |
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Monitoring Projects
| WBIC | Official Waterbody Name | Station ID | Station Name | Earliest Fieldwork Date | Latest Fieldwork Date | View Station | View Data |
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| 1879800 | Sams Lake | 10006769 | Sams Lake | 9/5/2000 | 10/3/2016 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Sams Lake is located in the Red Cedar Lake watershed which is 140.01 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (74%), wetland (11.20%) and a mix of open (7.40%) and other uses (7.40%). This watershed has 167.65 stream miles, 6,893.24 lake acres and 7,428.58 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Low for runoff impacts on streams, Medium 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.