Washburn
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Alder Lake, in the Shell Lake and Upper Yellow River Watershed, is a 13.08 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
Alder Lake, T38N, R11W, Section 8, 17, Surface Acres-11.3, Maximum
Depth-32 feet,
M.P.A.-9 ppm, Secchi Disk-7 feet
A soft water, seepage lake in the terminal moraine of the
southeast part of the county. It is landlocked and lies in a "kettle
hole" depression of this hilly countryside. Its fishery consists of
northern pike, largemouth bass, and panfish. Because of adequate lake
depths, winterkills do not occur. The water quality shows moderately
acid pH and light brown water color, characteristic of this lake type in
wooded terrain on light soils. The shore is also typically unsorted sand
and gravel with overlying muck in most of the shallow littoral zone. A
bed of cattails borders the east shore while water lilies and other
cattails are the dominant species of aquatics around the lake. The land
beyond the shore drops off sharply toward the lake on the north and south
sides. Hardwood uplands of oak, birch, maple, and aspen surround the
lake except for the north shore which is pastured grass upland. There is
no private development directly on the lake and the entire shore is
privately owned. Mallards, blue-winged teal, and Possibly a few wood
ducks nest here, but the lake's small size limits its value as a
waterfowl and furbearer resource. There is no public access to 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 |
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| 1831900 | Alder Lake | 100564 | Alder Lake | 9/16/2004 | 9/15/2015 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Alder Lake is located in the Shell Lake and Upper Yellow River watershed which is 166.67 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (56.10%), agricultural (12.10%) and a mix of grassland (11%) and other uses (20.70%). This watershed has 118.54 stream miles, 5,764.04 lake acres and 9,834.60 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Not Ranked 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.