Barron
No
No
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Hemlock Lake, in the Unknown watershed, is a 364.48 acre lake that falls in Unknown county. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently not considered impaired.
Date 2011
Author Aquatic Biologist
Historical Description
Source: 1964, Surface Water Resources of Barron County Hemlock Lake T36N, R10W, Sections 25, 26
A soft water drainage lake on Hemlock Creek with an outlet flowing into Red Cedar Lake. Water control structure in Red Cedar Lake maintains the level of Hemlock Lake. The most common fish species here include northern pike, walleyes, largemouth bass, perch, bluegills, black crappies and white suckers. Other species present are smallmouth bass, muskellunge, rock bass, pumpkinseeds, black, brown and yellow bullheads, redhorses, bowfin, common shiners, golden shiners, creek chubs and brook silversides. Most of the lakeshore is covered by upland hardwoods and scattered white pine. Forty acres of predominantly marshy woodlands provides habitat for muskrats, mallards, black ducks, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, mergansers, coot and loon. Besides these species, Canada geese may also use the lake during migratory seasons. There are two resorts, two boat liveries and 16 cottages on the lake and the public access is located on the south side. This town access road and the county-owned land near the inlet has a total of 0.14 miles of public-owned frontage. There is also 0.75 miles of Conservation Department lakeshore frontage on the three state-owned islands, a total of 0.99 miles of town, county and state-owned frontage.
Surface Acres = 410.2, S.D.F. = 2.72, Maximum Depth = 21 feet
Date 1964
Author Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin
General Condition
Hemlock Lake (WBIC 2109800) was assessed during the 2018 listing cycle; new total phosphorus sample data were clearly below the 2018 WisCALM listing thresholds for the Recreation use and the Fish and Aquatic Life use. New chlorophyll-a sample data were clearly below the Fish and Aquatic Life use. For the Fish Consumption use, new fish tissue analysis showed no need for specific fish consumption advisories for this lake. This water was meeting these designated uses and was not considered impaired.
Date 2017
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
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 |
|---|
| 2109800 | Hemlock Lake | 10014593 | Hemlock Lake | 9/16/2004 | 10/3/2016 | Map | Data |
| 2109800 | Hemlock Lake | 10052486 | Hemlock Lake - CT-15 | 5/29/2019 | 5/30/2019 | Map | Data |
| 2109800 | Hemlock Lake | 033142 | Hemlock Lake - Deep Hole | 9/27/1991 | 8/26/2022 | Map | Data |
| 2109800 | Hemlock Lake | 10018440 | Hemlock Lake -- Access at 28 1/2 Ave | 10/26/2007 | 8/13/2024 | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Hemlock Lake is located in the Red Cedar Lake watershed which is 140.01 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (74%), wetland (11.20%) and a mix of open (7.40%) and other uses (7.40%). This watershed has 167.65 stream miles, 6,893.24 lake acres and 7,428.58 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Low for runoff impacts on streams, Medium 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.