Sawyer
No
Yes
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Sand Lake, in the Couderay River Watershed, is a 949.48 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 Sand Lake, T39N, Section 16, 17, 20, 21, 22
A soft water, drainage lake with an outlet, Sand Creek, flowing into nearby Whitefish Lake. The normal estimated flow of the outlet controls the level of Sand Lake. It is operated by the state in conjunction with control type rearing ponds located downstream on Sand Creek. The most abundant fish species in Sand Lake are walleyes, and perch. Muskellunge and white suckers are common, and other fish species present in small numbers include smallmouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, rock bass, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, redhorse, longnose gar, and minnows. The only inlet, Sissabagama Creek, is a warmwater stream. Only a relatively small amount of shoreline, on the south lake edge is wetlands, and they are mainly tag alder shrub swamps. There are two prominent beds of Scirpis, one along the north shore and one on a sand bar along the south shore. Muskrats are common here. The nesting waterfowl includes mallards, blue-winged teal, and loon. A large number of other migratory waterfowl, including Canada geese, use the lake during the spring and fall. At least 85 percent of the shore bottom type is sand, while the remainder is coarse gravel and boulder. Private development includes five resorts and boat rental places, 40 cottages, and two private campgrounds. An access is located at the outlet and other than six undeveloped platted access sites, there is no other public frontage.
Surface Acres = 928.0, Maximum Depth = 46 feet, M.P.A. = 34 ppm, Secchi Disk = 11 feet
Date 1969
Author Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin
General Condition
Sand Lake (2393200) was assessed during the 2016 listing cycle; total phosphorus sample data were clearly below 2016 WisCALM listing thresholds for Recreation use and Fish and Aquatic Life use. Chlorophyll sample data were clearly below FAL use listing thresholds and did not exceed REC listing thresholds. This water is meeting these designated uses and is not considered impaired.
Date 2015
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 |
|---|
| 2393200 | Sand Lake | 10005589 | Sand Lake | 5/3/1996 | 7/1/2022 | Map | Data |
| 2393200 | Sand Lake | 583047 | Sand Lake - Deep Hole | 7/27/1989 | 8/20/2024 | Map | Data |
| 2393200 | Sand Lake | 10018782 | Sand Lake -- Access at E End Of Lake Cth E | 6/29/2008 | 7/1/2022 | Map | Data |
| 2393200 | Sand Lake | 583221 | Sand Lake - 00 T39r9w S21 | | | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Sand 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.