9.26 Miles
0 - 9.26
Cool-Cold Mainstem, Cool-Warm Mainstem
2022
Fair
Sauk
No
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
This stream joins Honey Creek near the community of Witwen. The creek has been
impounded to form the Leland Mill Pond. The North Branch of Honey Creek above the pond is identified as 4 miles of Class II trout water. Overall, however, the stream is heavily impacted by agricultural use in the watershed and experiences many of the same problems as Honey Creek.
In addition, the creek has some problems with manure spills and it is likely that there are other barnyard and manure handling problems on or near the creek. Acquisition of the stream corridor and instream habitat improvement would benefit this area.
Date 2002
Author Cynthia Koperski
Historical Description
This stream joins Honey Creek near the community of Witwen. About four miles of its
16-mile length are Class II trout waters (WDNR, 1980). The stream experiences many of
the same problems as Honey Creek (Schlesser, 1991-1992) . There is one recorded
manure management complaint along the North Branch (WDNR, 1991). It is likely that
there are other barnyard and manure handling problenls on or near the creek.
Date 1994
Author Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin
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
Monitoring Projects
| WBIC | Official Waterbody Name | Station ID | Station Name | Earliest Fieldwork Date | Latest Fieldwork Date | View Station | View Data |
|---|
| 1255600 | North Branch Honey Creek | 10044481 | North Branch Honey Cr. US Elm Rd. | 1/1/2015 | 11/19/2020 | Map | Data |
| 1255600 | North Branch Honey Creek | 10056300 | N Branch Honey Creek at CTH C | 5/19/2022 | 11/28/2022 | Map | Data |
| 1255600 | North Branch Honey Creek | 10056297 | N Branch Honey Creek at CTH E | 5/19/2022 | 10/17/2022 | Map | Data |
| 1255600 | North Branch Honey Creek | 10038027 | North Branch Honey Cr. 61 meters US CTH-PF | 7/8/2021 | 7/8/2021 | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
North Branch Honey Creek is located in the Honey Creek watershed which is 217.78 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (39.50%), agricultural (33.20%) and a mix of grassland (15.80%) and other uses (11.40%). This watershed has 430.53 stream miles, 301.07 lake acres and 9,324.41 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Medium for runoff impacts on streams, Not Ranked 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.
North Br Honey Creek is considered a Cool-Cold Mainstem, Cool-Warm Mainstem 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) Mainstem streams are moderate-to-large but still wadeable perennial streams with cold to cool summer temperatures. Coldwater fishes are common to uncommon, transitional fishes are abundant to common, and warm water fishes are uncommon to absent. Headwater species are common to absent,
mainstem species are abundant to common, and river species are common to absent.