Historical Description

Source: 1969, Surface Water Resources of Sawyer County Lac Court Oreilles, T39, 40N, R8, 9W,

A soft water, drainage lake having a normal estimated outlet Of 25.0 cfs flowing into Little Court Oreilles Lake on the Couderay River. It is of the largest natural lakes in the state. It has a varied fish population of northern pike, walleye, muskellunge, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, perch, black crappie, rock bass, pumpkinseed, and brown and yellow bullheads. Cisco are also abundant and lake trout have been recently stocked. Other fish species present include longnose gar, white suckers, and minnow species. Competition between northern pike and muskellunge has been a management problem here. Northern pike, apparently recently, have introduced expanded at the sacrifice of muskellunge. All the streams flowing into the lake are non-trout waters. The shoreline is predominately upland pine with steep bluffs in many places; however, nearly 500 acres of predominately bog wetlands provides habitat for waterfowl. Muskrats are also common. Private development amounts to 14 resorts, five boat rentals, 206 cottages, and the facilities of four private fishing clubs. Three commercial cranberry marshes utilize water from the lake. Of the 25.36 miles of lakeshore only 0.85 miles is in public ownership. The Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources owns 0.54 miles of this, while the remaining public frontage consists of 34 platted access sites, only three of which are developed. Two of these developed accesses are located southwest of the inlet from Grindstone Creek, and the other is at Victory Heights opposite Musky Bay.

Surface Acres = 5,638.8, Maximum Depth = 90 feet, M.P.A. = 45 ppm, Secchi Disk = 15 feet

Date  1969

Author   Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin

General Condition

Lac Courte Oreilles (2390800) was assessed during the 2016 listing cycle; total phosphorus and chlorophyll sample data were clearly below 2016 WisCALM listing thresholds for the Recreation use and Fish and Aquatic Life use.

Date  2015

Author  Aaron Larson

Impaired Waters

Lac Courte Oreilles (WBIC 2390800) was assessed during the 2018 listing cycle; new dissolved oxygen data clearly exceeded the listing thresholds for the Fish and Aquatic Life Use. Total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a sample data clearly met the Fish and Aquatic Life and Recreation use thresholds. This lake was proposed for listing.

Date  2017

Author  Ashley Beranek

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

Lac Courte Oreilles is located in the Couderay River watershed which is 212.25 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (64.90%), wetland (13.50%) and a mix of open (12.90%) and other uses (8.70%). This watershed has 211.96 stream miles, 18,300.76 lake acres and 14,697.69 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Low for runoff impacts on streams, High 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.