Overview

Crawford Creek is a warmwater tributary to the Nemadji River, located just south of Superior, Wisconsin. It is primarily a runoff stream, with a turbid water supply due to mucky clay substrates and highly eroded clay banks. It is flashy in nature, characterized with low flows (it can be intermittent or dry in its upper portions) and having very high flows during storm or runoff events. Evidence of high flow or flooding events is common throughout, with banks five to six feet high and eroding into the creek, and log or brush jams common (Johnson, 1964 - fisheries file).

In 1998, Crawford Creek was listed on the 303d impaired waters list for chronic aquatic toxicity, with the pollutant changed to creosote under 2006 303D list. PAH's are also listed as a pollutant, with sources being contaminated sediment and also industrial point source discharge from Koppers Industries, a wood treatment facility near Superior.

In 2009, Crawford Creek was included in special project monitoring for evaluation of the Nemadji River and selected tributaries for potential impairment of habitat or turbidity/sedimentation. Water chemistry parameters were sampled on six occasions during 2009 between June and November. Preliminary results for turbidity, total suspended solids, and transparency tube readings were high for Crawford Creek, with an average of 62.6 NTU for turbidity; results suggest Crawford is possibly impaired for turbidity as well habitat. Johnson (1964) wrote that cattle graze along the banks and frequently in the stream also in portions of the creek. Further monitoring/evaluation in regards to other impairments is recommended when the future TMDL work is done on Crawford Creek.

The current use condition of Crawford Creek is probably partially supporting that of a warmwater forage fishery. Baseline monitoring was conducted in 2006 at Hammond and Kronberg Road. Results from "Intermittent fish IBI's" were "fair" (Hammond-40) and "poor" (Kronberg-10). However, the fish IBI conducted at Hammond Avenue in 2006 noted "very inefficient shocking". Further IBI evaluations for fish and invertebrates are recommended to confirm the condition and the appropriate attainable use category for Crawford Creek. This work could possibly wait until BMPs are implemented and then re-evaluate. One item of note is that the species list from a 1999 consultant study (in fisheries file) shows more species (14) than 2006 data (6), but this could have been dependent on where sampling occurred.

Date  2010

Author  Cordell Manz

Historical Description

A 1986 sample taken from sediments in this creek revealed it contained unidentified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A possible cause of contamination was the wastewater outfall from Koppers Industries, a wood treatment facility near Superior. Koppers had been working with U.S. EPA and WDNR to license the surface impoundments and a barrel storage area as a hazardous waste treatment and storage facility. In 1988, Koppers proposed closing the lagoons and agreed to abandon a spray irrigation field. Sludges and soils were excavated from the lagoons, but not all contamination could be removed so the site was capped with a composite cap.

In 1988, sediment sampling indicated PAH contamination. The lagoon was capped and abandoned in 1989. Koppers installed a wastewater system that processed all wastewater through a dissolved air flotation unit and then a biotrol (for bacteria decomposition) to destroy any remaining cresol and organic pollutants. In 1992, WDNR's hazardous waste section collected samples from the creek that showed contamination consistent with cresol. Koppers proposed sampling its outfalls and Crawford Creek, but this was postponed for two summers until an agreement could be reached with U.S. EPA on a dioxins analysis quality assurance plan. WDNR petitioned U.S. EPA for lead status in the corrective action as WDNR has done at other Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) sites in the state. WDNR will likely take over the lead on this project when the project moves from the investigative phase to remediation. The department completed review of the preliminary sediment assessment report submitted and has requested additional assessment (Liebenstein).

Date  

Author   Aquatic Biologist

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

Recommendations

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

Monitoring Projects

Watershed Characteristics

Crawford Creek is located in the St. Louis and Lower Nemadji River watershed which is 159.67 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily wetland (44.10%), forest (32.50%) and a mix of grassland (11.10%) and other uses (12.40%). This watershed has 432.66 stream miles, 8,490.75 lake acres and 26,945.85 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Not Ranked for runoff impacts on streams, Not Available 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.