Taylor
No
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Spruce Lake, in the Upper Yellow (Taylor Co.) River Watershed, is a 23.17 acre lake that falls in Taylor County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.
Date 2011
Author Aquatic Biologist
Historical Description
Source: 1970, Surface Water Resources of Taylor County Spruce Lake, T31N, R2W, Section 32
An acid, bog lake, it is landlocked, and has very soft light brown water. The littoral bottom material is entirely muck, and it supports very few aquatic plants. Prior to chemical treatment in 1960, the fish population consisted of northern pike, largemouth bass, bluegills, crappies, and pumpkinseeds. After chemical treatment, brook and rainbow trout have been stocked annually. The shoreline vegetation is 95 percent conifer-bog and five percent grass upland. Furbearer use is insignificant here. Puddle and diving ducks use the lake occasionally during the spring and fall. There is an unimproved access on State lands. A total of 0.79 miles of frontage is publicly owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Chequamegon National Forest lands. Private development consists of one boat rental place and one dwelling.
Surface Acres = 22.5, Maximum Depth = 60 feet, M.P.A. = 4 ppm, Secchi Disk = 8 feet
Date 1970
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 |
|---|
| 2163800 | Spruce Lake | 10019674 | Spruce Lake -- Access | 9/10/2013 | 9/10/2013 | Map | Data |
| 2163800 | Spruce Lake | 10005885 | Spruce Lake | 8/8/2001 | 8/19/2017 | Map | Data |
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Watershed Characteristics
Spruce Lake is located in the Upper Yellow (Taylor Co.) River watershed which is 241.08 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (51.50%), wetland (30.60%) and a mix of agricultural (10.80%) and other uses (7.10%). This watershed has 306.51 stream miles, 682.42 lake acres and 30,178.84 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Low 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.