Price
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No
Yes
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Blockhouse Lake, in the Upper South Fork Flambeau River Watershed, is a 241.06 acre lake that falls in Price County. This lake is managed for fishing and swimming and is currently considered impaired.
Date 2016
Author Ashley Beranek
Historical Description
Source: 1983, Surface Water Resources of Price County,WI: WI-DNR
Blockhouse Lake, T40N, RIE, Section 10
Surface Area = 241.8 acres, Maximum Depth = 12 ft, MPA = 21 ppm,
Secchi disk = 2 ft
This soft water, drainage lake is the headwaters of
Blockhouse Lake Creek. The estimated outlet flow is 2.0 ft(3)
sec. The lake has three feeder streams. Inhabited by minnows,
two on the west side and one on the north. The lake has three
feeder streams, inhabited by minnows, two on the west side and
one on the north. The lake suffers from an occasional partial
winterkill. It has a fish population of muskellunge, northern
pike, walleyes, perch, largemouth bass, black crappies,
pumpkinseeds, brown bullheads, white suckers, redhorse and lake
shiners.
Blockhouse Lake's littoral bottom types are mainly sand and
detritus with a small amount of bedrock. Seventy-five percent of
the shoreline is mixed hardwood and pine. The remaining 25% of
the shoreline is 419 acres of wooded swamp and open marsh.
Abundant aquatic vegetation is located all around the lake, and
in late summer this vegetation can be a problem. A few broods of
ducks are raised here each year and other ducks, coots and a few
geese use the lake during spring and fall migrations. Furbearer
use is unimportant.
Private development consists of 24 cottages and 2 boat
rentals. There is an excellent public boat landing on the
northeast side of the lake; this is part of the 0.55 mile of
shoreline owned by the Chequamegon National Forest.
Date 1983
Author Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin
Impaired Waters
Blockhouse Lake was put on the impaired waters list in 2016 for total phosphorus and excess algal growth. The listings were confirmed in the 2018 cycle.
Date 2018
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 |
|---|
| 2256800 | Blockhouse Lake | 513138 | Blockhouse Lake - Deep Hole | 8/2/2000 | 1/1/2015 | Map | Data |
| 2256800 | Blockhouse Lake | 10019229 | Blockhouse Lake -- Access | | | Map | Data |
| 2256800 | Blockhouse Lake | 10005234 | Blockhouse Lake | 5/11/1994 | 9/21/2017 | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Blockhouse Lake is located in the Upper South Fork Flambeau River watershed which is 278.98 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (54.80%), wetland (38.80%) and a mix of open (4.60%) and other uses (1.70%). This watershed has 254.56 stream miles, 8,509.29 lake acres and 63,099.27 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Not Ranked for runoff impacts on streams, Low 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.