Overview

Mayflower Lake, in the Middle and South Branches Embarrass Rive Watershed, is a 98.56 acre lake that falls in Marathon County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently considered impaired.

Date  2011

Author   Aquatic Biologist

Historical Description

Source: 1977, Surface Water Resources of Marathon County Mayflower Lake, T28N, R10E, Section 14 Surface Acres = 98.3, Maximum Depth = 16 feet, Secchi Disk = 6 feet.

A hard water seepage lake having slightly alkaline, light brown water of moderate transparency. The immediate shoreline is primarily upland (65 percent), of hardwood, conifer, and cultivated land with the remainder wetland of conifer, hardwood and marsh. The littoral materials consist of sand (45 percent), muck (35 percent), gravel (15 percent), and boulders (5 percent). The growth of floating and submergent aquatic vegetation is dense while emergent types are sparse. Fish inhabiting the lake include northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, and panfish. Occasional winterkill of game fish is considered a problem. An unimproved public boat landing with parking is located on the east shore adjacent to Highway "D". Shoreline developments include 26 dwellings and one resort having a private campground and boat rental.

Date  1977

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

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

Mayflower Lake is located in the Middle and South Branches Embarrass Rive watershed which is 250.01 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (41.90%), wetland (26.70%) and a mix of agricultural (18.70%) and other uses (12.60%). This watershed has 273.90 stream miles, 632.66 lake acres and 38,496.80 wetland acres.

Nonpoint Source Characteristics

This watershed is ranked Low for runoff impacts on streams, Not Ranked for runoff impacts on lakes and Medium for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of Medium. 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.