3.93 Miles
1.32 - 5.25
Cool-Cold Headwater, Coldwater
2015
Good
Vernon
No
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Frohock Creek, located in southwestern Vernon County, flows for nearly three miles in a northerly direction until it reaches the South Fork of the Bad Axe River. It has a steep gradient of 63 feet per mile and drains hilly forests, lowland pasture and agricultural land. Frohock Creek is a Class I trout stream for its entire length.
The most recent survey, conducted in 1984, documented cool, clear water that carried a low suspended silt load. The streambed consisted mainly of boulder and rubble with lesser amounts of silt, sand and gravel. Bank cover consisted of various grasses, cottonwood, willow and box elder. Boulders, undercut banks, aquatic vegetation, logs and downed trees provided good in-stream cover in some stretches. Fish found during this survey included brown, brook and rainbow trout as well as a variety of forage fish species. The Frohock Creek fishery would benefit from additional in-stream cover. A fish and habitat survey should be conducted on Frohock Creek to update available information. WDNR records indicate Frohock Creek has not been stocked since 1978. Access is possible from one road crossing.
Date 2002
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
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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| 1640400 | Unnamed | 10032332 | Unnamed 15-14 (Frohock Valley) - Anderson Ridge Rd. crossing (Near Rag Hollow Rd.) | 1/1/2015 | 1/1/2015 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Unnamed is located in the Bad Axe River watershed which is 195.49 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (40%), agricultural (29.60%) and a mix of grassland (24.60%) and other uses (5.80%). This watershed has 468.27 stream miles, 489.81 lake acres and 2,552.28 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked High 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.
Local Water is considered a Cool-Cold Headwater, Coldwater under the state's Natural Community Determinations.
Natural communities (stream and lake natural communities) represent model results and DNR staff valiation processes that confirm or update predicted conditions based on flow and temperature modeling from historic and current landscape features and related variables. Predicated flow and temperatures for waters are associated predicated fish assemblages (communities). Biologists evaluate the model results against current survey data to determine if the modeled results are corect and whether biological indicators show water quaity degradation. This analysis is a core component of the state's resource management framework. Wisconsin's Riverine Natural Communities.
Cool (Cold-Transition) Headwaters are small, usually perennial streams with cold to cool summer temperatures. Coldwater fishes are common to uncommon (<10 per 100 m), transitional fishes are abundant to common, and warm water fishes are uncommon to absent. Headwater species are abundant to common, mainstem species are common to absent, and river species are absent.