Watershed - Yellowstone River (SP04)
Yellowstone River Watershed

Details

The Yellowstone River Watershed is located in southeastern Iowa county and northeastern LaFayette County and is 36,772 acres in size. The watershed contains 159 miles of streams and rivers, nine acres of lakes and and 636 acres of wetlands. The watershed is dominated by agriculture (60%), forest (26%) and grassland (11%) and is ranked high for nonpoint source issues affecting streams and groundwater and medium for nonpoint source issues affecting lakes.

Date  2010

Ecological Landscapes for Yellowstone River Watershed

Ecological Landscapes

The Southwest Savanna Ecological Landscape is located in the far southwestern part of the state. It is characterized by deeply dissected topography, unglaciated for the last 2.4 million years, with broad open hilltops and river valleys, and steep wooded slopes. The climate is favorable for agriculture but the steep slopes limit it to the hilltops and valley bottoms. Soils are underlain with calcareous bedrock. Soils on hilltops are silty loams, sometimes of shallow depth over exposed bedrock and stony red clay subsoil. Some valley soils are alluvial sands, loams, and peats. Some hilltops are almost treeless due to the thin soil while others have a deep silt loam cap. Historic vegetation consisted of tall prairie grasses and forbs with oak savannas and some wooded slopes of oak. Almost three-quarters of the current vegetation is agricultural crops with lesser amounts of grasslands, barrens, and urban areas. The major forest types are oak-hickory and maple-basswood. High-quality prairie remnants occur on rocky hilltops and slopes that are not farmed. Some prairie pastures and oak savannas still exist. The grassland areas harbor many rare grassland birds, invertebrates, and other grassland species. Relict stands of pine occur on bedrock outcroppings along some stream systems.

Date  2010

Watershed Documents
Watershed Grants
Grant Details
Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Date
4/1/2014
Waters Involved
Yellowstone Lake
Status
Complete

Southwest Badger R C & D: Yellowstone Lake Clean Boats Clean Waters Project 2014: Southwest Badger RC&D Council, Inc. will sponsor a Clean Boats Clean Water landing inspection program at 1 public access on Yellowstone Lake in 2014.


Grant Details
Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Date
2/15/2015
Waters Involved
Yellowstone Lake
Status
Complete

Southwest Badger R C & D: Yellowstone Lake 2015 Clean Boats Clean Waters Project: Southwest Badger RC&D Council is sponsoring a 2015 Clean Boats Clean Waters project inlcuding 2 landings on Yellowstone Lake.


Grant Details
Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Date
4/1/2014
Waters Involved
Yellowstone River
Status
Complete

Southwest Badger R C & D: Yellowstone Lake Clean Boats Clean Waters Project 2014: Southwest Badger RC&D Council, Inc. will sponsor a Clean Boats Clean Water landing inspection program at 1 public access on Yellowstone Lake in 2014.


Grant Details
Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Date
2/15/2015
Waters Involved
Yellowstone River
Status
Complete

Southwest Badger R C & D: Yellowstone Lake 2015 Clean Boats Clean Waters Project: Southwest Badger RC&D Council is sponsoring a 2015 Clean Boats Clean Waters project inlcuding 2 landings on Yellowstone Lake.


Grant Details
ARRA Pass Through Project
Date
12/7/2009
Waters Involved
Cherry Br
Status
In_Progress

Arra 11 Lafayette Co. Tmdl Planning Grant 2p-00e73201: Contract for county staff to conduct on-site assessments in the Silver Spring, Cherry Branch, and Apple Branch sub-watersheds to develop TMDLs for these impaired waters.


Grant Details
Lake Protection Grant
Date
9/1/1998
Waters Involved
Yellowstone Lake
Status
Complete

Southwest Badger R C & D: Lmi-Yellowstone Lake Watershed Improvement: Southwest Badger Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.in cooperation with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the WI Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will significantly reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients entering Yellowstone Lake through installation of conservation best management practices (BMPs). The 25% matching sponsor share of the costs of this project will be payments made by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for cost sharing with landowners for installation of BMPs and in-kind labor costs and fringe benefit costs of the Lafayette County NRCS Conservation Technician providing technical assistance to survey, design, and install BMPs in the Yellowstone Lake Watershed.

This project has four goals: 1) Reduce sediment delivery to Yellowstone Lake from upland sources by 3,300 tons per year. 2) Reduce Phosphorus delivery to the lake from non-point sources by 2,735 lbs./yr. 3) Reduce soil erosion to ? "T" or less on all pasture land in the watershed. 4) Improve and develop wildlife cover throughout the Yellowstone watershed.

As a condition of grant approval, the project sponsor agrees to submit quarterly reports made on progress toward the above goals. Payment request can be made no more often than on the same quarterly schedule as the progress reports. The reports will describe efforts to meet the goals and summarize the number of landowner contacts, location and description of practices being proposed, summary of practices installed, and effectiveness of practices installed. Progress reports are due April 15th (for the Jan. - March quarter), July 15th, October 15th, and January 15th. The January 15th year-end report should include a summary of the year?s activities.

Electronic copies will be made available upon request of all final reports and maps.

A full description of the project and its scope is available in the grant application, which is a part of this agreement.



Yellowstone River Watershed
Watershed Recommendations
Citizen-Based Stream Monitoring
Citizen Stream Monitoring
Date
Status
Collect chemical, physical, and/or biological water quality data to assess the current overall stream health. The data can inform management decisions and may be used to identify impaired waters for biennial lists.
1/1/2012
In Progress
Projects
 
Monitor Aquatic Biology
Monitor biology on WBIC: 905300
Date
Status
Conduct biological (mIBI or fIBI) monitoring on Unnamed, WBIC: 905300, AU:5543486
5/21/2016
Proposed
Projects
 
Monitor Water Quality or Sediment
Yellowstone River
Date
Status
New 303(d) Listing for TP and Biology (5A).
1/1/2018
Proposed
Projects
 
Monitor Water Quality or Sediment
Yellowstone River TP
Date
Status
Category 5A. Only 2012 temperature data was exceeded based on biologist's analysis of data. 2018 TP Results: May Exceed. Station: 333235. AU: 13713.
1/1/2018
Proposed
Projects
 
TMDL Implementation
Otter Creek (1237100) TMDL
Date
Status
Otter Creek is impaired due to degraded habitat because of excessive sediment loading from surrounding agricultural lands to the Creek. Otter Creek is currently not meeting the applicable narrative water quality standard (WQS) that prohibits objectionable deposits on the shore or in the bed of a water in amounts that interfere with public rights in the water. To address the degraded habitat impairments, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) determined that sediment, specifically TSS, is the pollutant that must be addressed to attain designated uses and meet WQS.
9/22/2012
In Progress
Projects
Documents
 
TMDL Implementation
ARRA 11 Lafayette Co. TMDL Planning Grant
Date
Status
Contract for county staff to conduct on-site assessments in the Silver Spring, Cherry Branch, and Apple Branch sub-watersheds to develop TMDLs for these impaired waters.
12/7/2009
In Progress
Projects
Documents
 
TMDL Monitoring
Dougherty Creek TMDL
Date
Status
Monitor impaired portion of creek for D.O., nutrients, and BOD to determine level of impairment. Fisheries IBI conducted to determine contemporary status of stream. Sondes, conduct monthly nutrient analysis (12) and event sampling (10). Conduct watershed assessment to determine sources. Conduct macroinverterbrate analysis at 3 sites. July 06-June 07 Upper 4 miles of Dougherty Creek
7/1/2006
In Progress
Projects
Documents
 
Water Quality Planning
Yellowstone River TWA [HUC10] 2016
Date
Status
Yellowstone River TWA [HUC10] 2016
12/16/2015
Proposed
Projects
 
Yellowstone River WatershedWatershed History Note