Overview

Eau Claire River - The North Fork of the Eau Claire River originates in southwestern Taylor County. It flows for approximately 48 miles before joining up with the South Fork in Eau Claire County. The South Fork of the Eau Claire River originates in northwestern Clark County and is approximately 40 miles in length. The main stem of the Eau Claire River flows in a westerly direction for approximately 34 miles before emptying into the Chippewa River in the City of Eau Claire. The Eau Claire County Forest lies along the majority of the river’s main stem. The Clark County Forest lies along approximately the lower five miles of the South and North Forks. Two major impoundments are present on the main stem of the river - Lake Eau Claire (1,118 acres) and Lake Altoona (840 acres). The flowages are used exclusively for recreation although historically there were efforts to convert both dams to hydropower generation.

Mead Lake is a 320-acre impoundment of the South Fork in Clark County, used exclusively for recreation. Numerous small streams drain into the North Fork, South Fork and main stem of the river. The average annual flow of the river is 557 cfs at the Lake Eau Claire dam and 568 cfs at the Lake Altoona dam. The drainage area upstream of the Lake Altoona dam is approximately 811 square miles.

Water Quality: The Eau Claire River has slightly brown-stained, generally clear water with a shifting sand substrate. Planktonic algae from Lake Altoona cause some turbidity during summer. Also, the Otter Creek watershed in Eau Claire contributes considerable suspended sediment loading during storm events.

Fishery: Limited fishery surveys have been conducted in the Eau Claire River and very little is known about the fish community in the river below the Altoona dam. It is assumed that many of the fish species present in the Chippewa River below the Dells dam also may use this portion of the Eau Claire River. Fifty-two fish species have been collected from the river upstream of the Lake Altoona dam. None of these species are on the state endangered or threatened species list. Ten additional species are known to exist below the Altoona dam. Of these, the paddlefish and blue suckers are state-threatened species.

The major sport fish species in the river include walleye, muskellunge, smallmouth bass, yellow perch and black crappie. Currently, no commercial fishing is allowed in the Eau Claire River. Except for the flowages, no fish stocking occurs in the
river.

Voss, Karen and Sarah Beaster. 2001. The State of the Lower Chippewa River Basin. PUBL-WT-554 2001. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI.

Date  2001

Author   Aquatic Biologist

Overview

Summary of Mainstem River Resource Issues, Threats and Opportunities
Protection and Management of Threatened and Endangered Species: The Chippewa, Red Cedar and Eau Claire rivers are complex and very dynamic, and are some of the last free-flowing segments of “big rivers” in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Many of the state's endangered and threatened resources and some of the states “big rivers species” are found in the free-flowing segments of these Rivers. The status, life history and range of these species needs to be more well defined in order to provide effective preservation and habitat management.

Inventory and Monitoring Needs: Lack of information on the biological community of the “big rivers” in the basin contributes to sub-optimal management of these complex resources. Inventory and monitoring needs include sedimentation, non-point source influences, contaminated fish monitoring, fish migration and passage, water level fluctuations from hydropower operations, water quality impacts from reservoirs and agricultural uses, waste assimilation, increased recreational use demands and land use changes in the watershed. Effective future management will require that multiple stakeholders participate in identifying common goals for the big river resources.

Hydropower relicensing opportunities: Hydropower peaking operations, lack of fish passage, or poor water quality can negatively affect the aquatic ecosystem of many rivers. Periodic relicensing requirements provide an opportunity to adjust hydropower operations for the benefit of river ecosystems. Relicensing generally occurs about once every 30 years, and should be considered a high priority opportunity.

Voss, Karen and Sarah Beaster. 2001. The State of the Lower Chippewa River Basin. PUBL-WT-554 2001. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI.

Date  2001

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

Eau Claire River is located in the Lower Eau Claire River watershed which is 216.31 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (44.70%), agricultural (30%) and a mix of grassland (16.20%) and other uses (9.00%). This watershed has 414.24 stream miles, 937.46 lake acres and 10,770.45 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

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