Washburn
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Leach Lake, in the North Fork Clam River Watershed, is a 25.19 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
Source: 1978, Surface Water Resources of Washburn County
Leach Lake, T37N, R13W, Section 19, Surface Acres-29.8, Maximum Depth-32
feet, M.P.A.-60 ppm, Secchi Disk-7 feet
A hard water, seepage lake in the southwest corner of the county.
It is landlocked and has clear water with only a slight occasional algal
bloom. The fish population consists of walleyes, largemouth bass,
bluegills, black crappies, and white suckers. The lake is a chain of
three rather separated basins. The north basin has a large leatherleaf
bog in the middle with 5 to 11-foot deep channel of water around it. A
narrow boat channel leads to the middle basin which is similar and has a
large tamarack-leatherleaf bog attached to its north shore. It too has a
maximum depth of eleven feet. A wider, one to two-foot wide channel
connects with the larger main basin of the lake to the south. Most of
the lakeshore is steeply sloped and wooded. Other than the bogs already
mentioned, the lake has no adjoining wetlands. About 40 percent of the
lake's watershed is used for growing agricultural crops. The littoral
bottom types are 50 percent sand, 30 percent boulder, 15 percent gravel
and 5 percent muck. A few mallards and teal nestaround the lake, but
other waterfowl and furbearer use is unimportant here. There is one
summer cabin on the lakeshore. The only public frontage is the short,
carry-in town access site at the south end of the lake.
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 |
|---|
| 2474400 | Leach Lake | 10006925 | Leach Lake | 9/5/2000 | 10/3/2016 | Map | Data |
| 2474400 | Leach Lake | 664013 | Leach Lake - Leach Lake | 7/30/1979 | 7/30/1979 | Map | Data |
| 2474400 | Leach Lake | 10020332 | Leach Lake -- Access | | | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Leach Lake is located in the North Fork Clam River watershed which is 173.51 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (58.20%), wetland (13.30%) and a mix of agricultural (13.30%) and other uses (15.20%). This watershed has 231.66 stream miles, 3,278.77 lake acres and 12,359.27 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.