Overview

Round Lake (Big Round), in the Couderay River Watershed, is a 3,293.90 acre lake that falls in Sawyer County. This lake is an outstanding/exceptional resource water under NR102 under the Fisheries Program. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.

Date  2011

Author   Aquatic Biologist

Historical Description

Source: 1969, Surface Water Resources of Sawyer County Round Lake, T41N, R8W, Section = several

A soft water, seepage lake with an outlet channel to Little Round Lake, and an intermittent inlet from Placid Lake. The lake level is regulated by the water control structure on Little Round Lake. The lake is the Couderay River drainage system. Common fish species include muskellunge, walleye, smallmouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, rock bass, cisco, and white suckers. Other species present in lesser number are northern pike, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, bullhead and minnows. The lake has also been stocked in the part with brown and rainbow trout. Crayfish are present in large numbers and at times reach problem proportions. This large clear water lake has sparse aquatic vegetation growth. Only a few bog sedge meadow and tag alder swamps border the lake, and duck nesting is minor. Large numbers of migratory waterfowl use thelake in spring and fall. The shoreline is highly developed with 23 resorts, two boat rental places, and 179 cottages and dwellings. There are four public accesses, one located off a town road on the northwest side of the lake, one on the north shore and two others, located on either side of the peninsula at Hinton Bay. Twelve other platted access sites have not been developed. Other than the accesses, the only other public frontage is the state owned island. Of the lakes 19.7 miles of shoreline, only 0.4 miles is in public ownership. Runzel Lake, T39N, R9W, Section 27, 34 Surface Acres= 45.3, Maximum Depth = 23 feet, M.P.A. = 11 ppm A soft water, seepage lake, landlocked with a fish population of largemouth bass and panfish. The shoreline is entirely upland, except for a small area on the north end. There is minor use of the lake by nesting waterfowl and furbearers. Aquatic vegetation growth is sparse. The bottom type near shore is mostly gravel. The lakeshore has five cottages. None of the shoreline is in public ownership and the lake has no public access.

Surface Acres = 2,783.5, Maximum Depth = 70 feet, M.P.A. = 41 ppm, Secchi Disk = 18 feet

Date  1969

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

Watershed Characteristics

Round Lake is located in the Couderay River watershed which is 212.25 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (64.90%), wetland (13.50%) and a mix of open (12.90%) and other uses (8.70%). This watershed has 211.96 stream miles, 18,300.76 lake acres and 14,697.69 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Low 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.This water is ranked High Lake for individual Lakes based on runoff problems and the likelihood of success from project implementation.