2.10 Miles
0 - 2.10
Cool-Warm Headwater
2016
Poor
Degraded Habitat
Sediment/Total Suspended Solids
Walworth
No
No
Yes
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Spring Brook, North Branch (SB1) is located in the Spring Brook subwatershed. It originates from a pond and flows 2.6 miles to the confluence with Spring Brook. SB1 has a contributing drainage area 1.3 square miles. The entire reach is listed as impaired for habitat degradation, turbidity, and sedimentation. The lower reaches of this branch have been channelized and flow through agricultural fields. Its current classified existing use is as a Limited Forage Fishery.
The impairments in the lower reaches include lack of adequate substrate and habitat to support a healthy fishery. Cobble, gravel, and woody debris are 75 to 100 percent embedded in fine sediments. Undercut banks are inundated with fines and the sides of the channel and pools have soft sediment from 0.5 to 1.0 foot deep.
The cause of the problems is agricultural use, including cropland erosion and drain tiles, and channelization of the stream. Recommendations in the watershed plan are to reduce sedimentation and nutrient inputs to the stream through the use of buffers, provide shading to the streams to improve habitat, and discourage future channelization of the streams. Its potential use is a Warm Water Forage Fishery. It is unlikely to meet the codified classification as a Warm Water Sport Fishery due to the limitations listed above.
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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| 752500 | Unnamed | 653208 | Spring Brook North Branch at Cth G 2m (Bi) | 5/23/1979 | 10/28/2016 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Unnamed is located in the Sugar and Honey Creeks watershed which is 166.22 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily agricultural (55.30%), forest (15.10%) and a mix of wetland (10.90%) and other uses (18.60%). This watershed has 208.62 stream miles, 1,943.12 lake acres and 9,489.18 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked High for runoff impacts on streams, Medium for runoff impacts on lakes and High for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of High. This value can be used in ranking the watershed or individual waterbodies for grant funding under state and county programs.This water is ranked High Stream for individual Rivers based on runoff problems and the likelihood of success from project implementation.
Spring Brook, North Branch is considered a Cool-Warm Headwater 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 (Warm-Transition) Headwaters are small, sometimes intermittent streams with cool to warm summer temperatures. Coldwater fishes are uncommon to absent, transitional fishes are abundant to common, and warm water fishes are common to uncommon. Headwater species are abundant to common, mainstem species are common to absent, and river species are absent.