Overview

Minocqua Lake, in the Upper Tomahawk River Watershed, is a 1,339.43 acre lake that falls in Oneida County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently considered impaired.

Date  2016

Author  Ashley Beranek

Historical Description

Source: 1966, Surface Water Resources of Oneida County Minocqua Lake, T39N, R6E, Section 13 Surface Acres = 1,285, S.D.F. = 3.68, Maximum Depth = 60 feet.

A soft water drainage lake having slightly acid, light brown water of moderate transparency. Sand is the predominant littoral material (65 percent) with muck (16 percent), gravel (15 percent) and some rubble present. Shoreline is mostly upland with marsh and bog wetland adjoining approximately 16 percent of the lake basin. Submergent vegetation is moderate in density in the shoal areas. Muskellunge, northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, perch, bluegill, crappie, rock bass, pumpkinseed, bullhead, cisco, dogfish and sucker inhabit this lake. Aquatic vegetation and algae are problems in parts of this lake basin. Public access with parking is available. Fifteen resorts, one boat rental, four marinas, one organizational camp, 271 dwellings and the Village of Minocqua are located on the shores of this lake. A public beach and park area is also available. Mallard, black duck, wood duck and hooded merganser use this lake as a nesting site. Puddle ducks and diving ducks use this lake on their spring and fall migrations. Canada geese have used this lake on their fall migration. Water levels are maintained by a water control structure with 4 foot head on the outlet of Kawaguesaga Lake. Part of the Minocqua Chain of Lakes.

Date  1966

Author   Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin

Impaired Waters

Minocqua Lake was placed on the impaired waters list for high phosphorus levels in 2014; this listing was confirmed with new data every two years from 2016 to 2022. The algae and aquatic plant communities were also evaluated and found in good condition. Aquatic plant communities were evaluated in two separate years, 2014 and 2017.

Date  2022

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

Minocqua Lake is located in the Upper Tomahawk River watershed which is 186.83 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (67%), wetland (16%) and a mix of open (14%) and other uses (3.10%). This watershed has 139.00 stream miles, 17,609.90 lake acres and 20,470.21 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked High 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.