Washburn
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Little Mud Lake, in the Brill and Red Cedar Rivers Watershed, is a 61.02 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 hard water, drainage lake located adjacent to the tip of the east arm of Long Lake. It is separated from Long Lake by only the town road width and a small culvert. The estimated normal outlet flow is 0.6 cubic foot per second. A small spring feeder stream flows into Little Mud Lake off the east shore. Some additional spring water enters the lake from bottom springs within the lake. One such spring is probably located at the lake's deepest point on the north end. The average depth of the lake
is 4.3 feet, thus much of the lake is less than five feet in depth. The fishery is made up of mostly northern pike, bluegills, pumkinseeds, perch, bullheads and white suckers. A few walleye, largemouth bass and black crappies may also be present in small numbers Aquatic vegetation is
abundant in this shallow lake. The common species are wild rice, cattail, bulrush, white and yellow water lilies, pondweed, and coontail. Dead trees and snags are common along shore.
Only eight percent of the lake's watershed is in agricultural use. Twelve acres of mostly fresh meadow wetlands adjoin the lake. Two large sedge islands are also found within the lake. Eighty percent of the shoreline is wetland, of which only 10 percent is leatherleaf bog. The upland shore on the east side of the lake is steeply sloping and covered with mixed hardwoods. Nesting waterfowl include all the native puddle ducks and a number of other seasonal emigrants along with coot and a few Canada geese also use the lake in season. Muskrats are common and beaver have presently damned the small inlet feeder. One cottage is found near the outlet and public frontage and access are limited to the Town of Long Lake road right-of-way of 0.02 mile.Source: 1978, Surface Water Resources of Washburn County Little Mud Lake, T37N, R11W, Section 1, 12, Surface Acres-70.7, Maximum Depth-12 feet, M.P.A.-133 ppm, Secchi Disk-Bottom
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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| 2107100 | Little Mud Lake | 10006885 | Little Mud Lake | 9/5/2000 | 9/12/2017 | Map | Data |
| 2107100 | Little Mud Lake | 663098 | Little Mud Lake - Deep Hole (37 11w 01 Nese) | 4/26/1994 | 8/22/1994 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Little Mud Lake is located in the Brill and Red Cedar Rivers watershed which is 297.68 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (49.40%), agricultural (20.30%) and a mix of grassland (10.70%) and other uses (19.60%). This watershed has 264.90 stream miles, 6,282.34 lake acres and 15,832.05 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Medium for runoff impacts on streams, Medium for runoff impacts on lakes and High for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of High. 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.