Washburn
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Wilkerson Lake, in the Shell Lake and Upper Yellow River Watershed, is a 108.02 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
Source: 1978, Surface Water Resources of Washburn County Wilkerson Lake, T39N, R13W, Section 7, 18, Surface Acres-85.6, Maximum Depth-8 feet, M.P.A.-19 ppm, Secchi Disk-6 feet A soft water, seepage lake it is landlocked and surrounded mostly by extensive fresh meadow wetlands. There are small parts of the shoreline that have mixed upland hardwood and pine stands. A portion of the east bay is bordered by tag alder and leatherleaf bog. The lake has a variety of vegetation cover along its irregular shoreland, while rooted aquatics are common within the lake. The average depth of the lake is four feet, making it unsuitable as habitat for most fish species except minnows. Northern pike have been stocked here without successful survival. Winterkills due to lack of dissolved oxygen are frequent, probably occurring annually. Most of the lake is a littoral zone of floating and emergent vegetation with a mucky, detritus-covered bottom, except for sandy stretches along the higher shorelands. Nesting duck use of the lake is high and the species most frequently using the lake for nesting include mallards, teal, ringnecks, and a few black ducks and mergansers. Loons may also be found here nesting. Fall migrant duck use is heavy and it is one of the chief hunting lakes in this area. Muskrat use is also heavy. There is 0.14 mile of county-owned, wetland frontage on the lake, but it has no public access. The only development is one cottage.
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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2600600 | Wilkerson Lake | 10007062 | Wilkerson Lake | 9/5/2000 | 10/3/2016 | Map | Data |
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![](wsWaterEcosystem.ashx?watershed=SC15)
Watershed Characteristics
Wilkerson Lake is located in the Shell Lake and Upper Yellow River watershed which is 166.67 miĀ². 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.