Washburn
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No
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Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Big Devil Lake (Audubon), in the Brill and Red Cedar Rivers Watershed, is a 166.04 acre lake that falls in Washburn County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.
Date 2011
Author Aquatic Biologist
Historical Description
Source: 1978, Surface Water Resources of Washburn County Big Devil Lake, T38N, R11W, Section 32, 33,
A hard water, drainage lake in the upper part of the Brill River watershed, with an outlet flow of about 2.0 cubic feet per second flowing into Twin Lake and then Long Lake. A broad inlet channel also connects Big Devil to Little Devil Lake upstream. The fishery of the clear-water lake is made up of walleyes, northern pike, largemouth bass, bluegills, black crappies, pumpkinseeds, perch, brown bullheads, and possibly cisco. Along with these species, the brook silverside minnow is abundant and a few bowfin and white suckers are present. About 90 percent of the shore is upland most of which slopes steeply to the lake. The remaining lowland shore varies from tamarack bog and cattails to tag alder swamp. These 30 acres of adjoining wetlands provide habitat for muskrats and nesting mallards, teal, and wood ducks. A number of other migratory waterfowl also utilize the lake in season. The National Audubon Society maintains a summer camp off the south shore of Big Devil Lake. There is also a resort and thirty-six cottages at the lake. There is no public frontage and public access is limited to the waterway from Little Devil Lake.
Surface Acres-162.2, Maximum Depth-75 feet, M.P.A.-60 ppm, Secchi Disk-12 feet
Date 1978
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 |
|---|
| 2107500 | Big Devil Lake | 10019888 | Big Devil Lake -- Ramp | 6/23/2011 | 5/21/2022 | Map | Data |
| 2107500 | Big Devil Lake | 663094 | Big Devils Lake - Deepest Point | 7/25/1979 | 8/22/1994 | Map | Data |
| 2107500 | Big Devil Lake | 10006886 | Big Devil Lake | 9/5/2000 | 9/12/2017 | Map | Data |
| 2107500 | Big Devil Lake | 664005 | Big Devil Lake - Deep Hole | | | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Big Devil Lake is located in the Brill and Red Cedar Rivers watershed which is 297.68 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (49.40%), agricultural (20.30%) and a mix of grassland (10.70%) and other uses (19.60%). This watershed has 264.90 stream miles, 6,282.34 lake acres and 15,832.05 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Medium for runoff impacts on streams, Medium 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.