The Contamination of the Fond du Lac County Watershed
My hometown, Rosendale, WI, lays within Fond du Lac County which is found directly south of Lake Winnebago. Fond du Lac County's watershed takes up approximately 245 square miles (shown above in yellow) and contains 461 miles of streams and rivers. Out of the watershed's total 156,642 acres, 67.9% (106,383 acres) is used for agricultural land with the rest being urban, suburban, wetland, barren, grassland, forest, open water, and open space, in the respective decreasing order. The dominant waterways in the watershed are the west branch of the Fond du Lac River and the east branch of the Fond du Lac River. There are also a few unnamed ponds and millponds as well as a small number of streams. The major wetland of the watershed is the Eldorado Marsh State Wildlife area which is a 36 sq. mile wetland complex that is managed by the WI DNR.
The only stream running through my hometown, the Rosendale Creek, is found within the watershed. it originates in the Village of Rosendale ending in the western branch of the Fond du Lac River, flowing 5.2 miles. There is a one-mile stretch that can be considered coolwater due to its fish biota and summer temperatures. The creek is at risk for a few different threats. One of the potential threats is degradation due to urban construction. This is being monitored by ensuring that any urban development doesn't impede on the stream and its surrounding land. There has been a negative impact on the stream's biota due to the poor habitat on a local road. This issue can be solved by restoring the habitat downstream on the road. There is also dam downstream that is a boundary to the migration of fish. If the dam is removed, gamefish such as northern pike would be able to move upstream for spawning.
The watershed as a whole has various threats that affect multiple different streams and rivers. The main threat is habitat degradation that pollutes the waterway with sediment. In order to reduce the amount of sediment introduced into the watershed, these areas need their habitats repaired in order to reduce runoff. There is also contaminated fish tissue, chronic aquatic toxicity, eutrophication, and turbidity found within the largest river and main lake (Lake Winnebago) due to PCBs, phosphorous, mercury, unspecified metals, and sediment. The main cause of this contamination is runoff. However, in order to determine effective management strategies water quality data would need to be collected. Although invasive species aren't heavily affecting the watershed, the main issue remains as contamination.
Sources:
https://dnr.wi.gov/water/basin/upfox/wtplans/uf03/uf03_wtplan.pdf
https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/watershed/documents/fdl_gw.pdf
https://www.swwtwater.org/our-watersheds
Hi Alexis! It is actually encouraging to hear that despite all the issues of the Fond du Lac Watershed area, invasion from exotic species is not the highest concern. With all the reading we are doing about aquatic invasives and the bleak outlook on the future unless certain solutions can be found, it is exciting to hear that there are still places where (with good monitoring and protective services) the streams and lakes thrive. With all the issues of land degradation however, I wonder what specific practices are in place or are encouraged in order to help discontinue the loss of biota of your streams.
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ReplyDeleteHi Alexis, great post. While reading I noticed a lot of similarities between your small-town water shed and mine. The main one of those being the threats to it which was degradation and urbanization. While reading your post and others as well as writing mine it seems like not a lot is being done to restore these water sources however the places in charge seem to want to keep expanding and growing their area leading me to the question how they are going to do this if they don't have a finite water source. As the main resource in any area, it is interesting to me how so many places continue to expand and not worry about not only current water issues but all in general as they are not going to go away on their own.
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