Sawyer
No
Yes
No
Fish and Aquatic Life
Overview
Teal Lake, in the West Fork Chippewa River Watershed, is a 1,024.36 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 Teal Lake, T42N, R6W, Section 27, 33
A soft water, drainage lake with an outlet, the Teal River (estimated flow of 26 cfs.) flowing into the West Fork o f the Chippewa River. There is also a broad inlet channel from nearby Lost Land Lake. The fish population consists of muskellunge, walleye, largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, and pumpkinseeds. Other fish species present include rock sturgeon, smallmouth bass, perch, rock bass, bullhead, and white suckers. The inlet feeders, Lynch Creek, and a small feeder on the southwest shore, are both warmwater streams inhabited by minnows. Extensivealder and fresh meadow wetlands border the lake and total over 600 acres of habitat for a large number of nesting ducks. The lake is used by large numbers of spring and fall migratory waterfowl. Muskrat and beaver are also common. There are nine resorts and 32 cottages on the lake. Access is available only by water from nearby Lost Land Lake. Public frontage is limited to 0.15 miles of shoreline in Chequamegon National Forest lands, and the shoreline of six state-owned islands in the lake.
Surface Acres = 1,048.9, Maximum Depth = 30 feet, M.P.A. = 33 ppm, Secchi Disk = 10 feet
Date 1969
Author Surface Water Inventory Of Wisconsin
General Condition
Teal Lake was evaluated every two-year cycle from 2014 to 2022; in the 2016 cycle algal levels were too high and the lake was put on the Impaired Waters List. In the 2022 cycle both phosphorus and algae levels were below thresholds. This lake is proposed for delisting in the 2022 cycle. This lake is proposed for the Healthy Waters List.
Date 2022
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
Recommendations
Educate and engage residents
The Town of Spider Lake proposes to develop a Comprehensive Land Use Plan to guide the community in establishing the long range goals, Town ordinances, and the organization of Town Government and citizen groups to protect and enhance the quality of water in our lakes and the natural lake ecosystems.
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
| Project Name (Click for Details) | Year Started |
|---|
| TOWN OF SPIDER LAKE: Spider Lake Township Comrehensive Land Use Plan | 1999 |
| TOWN OF SPIDER LAKE: LCO-Spider Lake Twnsp Ordinance Dev - Comprehensive Land Use Pla | 1999 |
| TEAL, LOST LAND & GHOST LAKES IMPROVMT ASSOC: Lost Land Lake Clean Boat Clean Water Program | 2011 |
| TEAL, LOST LAND & GHOST LAKES IMPROVMT ASSOC: Quiet Lakes - Phase 1 Teal, Lost Land, and Ghost Lakes - Surface Water Planning Project | 2022 |
| TEAL, LOST LAND & GHOST LAKES IMPROVMT ASSOC: Quiet Lakes - Phase 2 Teal, Lost Land, and Ghost Lakes - Surface Water Planning Project | 2022 |
| TOWN OF SPIDER LAKE: Methods of Aquatic Invasive Species Education, Prevention & Detection on Spider Lake | 2010 |
| TEAL, LOST LAND & GHOST LAKES IMPROVMT ASSOC: Quiet Lakes Large Scale AIS Management | 2024 |
| TEAL, LOST LAND & GHOST LAKES IMPROVMT ASSOC: Teal Lake & Teal River Dam Clean Boat Clean Water Program | 2011 |
| Fish Propagation Actions | 2001 |
|
Monitoring Projects
| WBIC | Official Waterbody Name | Station ID | Station Name | Earliest Fieldwork Date | Latest Fieldwork Date | View Station | View Data |
|---|
| 2417000 | Teal Lake | 10005617 | Teal Lake | 8/29/2000 | 9/21/2017 | Map | Data |
| 2417000 | Teal Lake | 583230 | Teal Lake - Teal Lake | | | Map | Data |
| 2417000 | Teal Lake | 583055 | Teal Lake - Deep Hole-Site A | 6/21/1992 | 8/24/2024 | Map | Data |
| 2417000 | Teal Lake | 10038515 | Teal River - Larson Road Boat Landing | 6/17/2012 | 9/1/2013 | Map | Data |
| 2417000 | Teal Lake | 10058905 | TL1 | | | Map | Data |
|
Watershed Characteristics
Teal Lake is located in the West Fork Chippewa River watershed which is 284.78 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (62%), wetland (33.60%) and a mix of open (4.30%) and other uses (0%). This watershed has 256.71 stream miles, 6,208.10 lake acres and 60,035.54 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Low 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.