Tahquamenon River Assessment

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1 State owned land USFS land Superior Lower Falls USGS Gauging Station Superior Tahquamenon s Belle s Slater s Bass Betty B Dollarville Flooding Eckerman McMillan Mud East Kaks Twin McPhee s Hulbert Hulbert Strongs Figure 11. Public land ownership in the Tahquamenon River watershed. State ownership is from the MDNR Spatial Information Resource Center, unpublished data, The UFS land ownership is from the U.S. Forest Service Office, Escanaba, Michigan, unpublished shapefile data,

2 Height above Superior (ft) Lower river segment Middle river segment Marsh segment Upper river segment Dollarville segment Distance from Superior (miles) Figure 12. Mainstem elevation changes from Superior to headwaters. River segments are those described in the Tahquamenon River watershed assessment. 96

3 Superior Lower Falls USGS Gauging Station Superior Tahquamenon s Belle s Slater s Bass Betty B Dollarville Flooding Eckerman McMillan Mud East Kaks Twin McPhee s Hulbert Hulbert Strongs Known human-built dams Figure 13. Dams in the Tahquamenon River watershed (Department of Environmental Quality, Dam Safety Section), modified locally to eliminate earth-bermed, isolated ponds, July

4 First quality cold Second quality cold First quality warm Second quality warm July average water temperature F F F F 76+ F Superior Lower Falls USGS Gauging Station Superior Tahquamenon s Belle s Slater s Bass Betty B Dollarville Flooding Eckerman McMillan Mud East Kaks Twin McPhee s Hulbert Hulbert Strongs Figure 14. Stream classification and temperature data logger locations during 2004 and 2005 for the Tahquamenon River watershed. Classes are defined in Anonymous (2000a). 98

5 25 15 Average weekly temperature range (ºF) Extreme Moderate Stable Cold Cool Warm Average July temperature (ºF) 1 Tahquamenon River at County Road 442 Bridge 2 Tahquamenon River at County Road 415 Bridge 3 Tahquamenon River at Dollarville Dam, upstream side 4 Tahquamenon River at Dollarville Dam, downstream side 5 Tahquamenon River at McPhee s 6 Tahquamenon River about 2 miles downstream from Sage River confluence 7 Tahquamenon River at mouth 8 East Branch Sage River at M-28 Bridge 9 East Branch Tahquamenon River at North Hulbert Road Bridge 10 East Branch Tahquamenon River at old state hatchery site 11 East Branch Tahquamenon River at Salt Point Road 12 Sixteen Creek at Charcoal Grade Bridge 13 Auger Creek at Charcoal Grade Bridge 14 West Branch Murphy Creek at M-123 Bridge 15 Gimlet Creek at Charcoal Grade culverts Figure 15. Temperature regime profiles for sites on the Tahquamenon River and selected tributaries. The calculations and format follow the classification system described in Wehrly et al. (1999). 99

6 river mile Watershed boundary Site F river mile depth Dollarville Dam Auger Creek McPhees Murphy Creek Gimlet Creek Site A river mile depth Betty B Site E river mile depth Site D river mile depth Site C river mile depth Hendrie River East Branch Tahquamenon River Site B river mile depth Sage River Figure 16. Limnological vertical profile sites in the Tahquamenon River, September 1, Data from these sites are shown in Table

7 Height above Superior (ft) Lower Falls Hendrie River Sage River Deep holes in river bottom above the falls Dollarville Flooding Dam (3 head) Distance from Superior (miles) Figure 17. Deep holes above the documented from survey data. Mainstem elevation changes from Superior to headwaters. Elevation numbers are height above Superior in feet. Most of the known holes are somewhat smaller than the 0.5 mi figure resolution. Also, some holes may be deeper, as there are several very small diameter deep spots that are easily missed during the sonar graphing effort. 101

8 (Downstream limit) Watershed boundary Murphy Creek East Branch Tahquamenon River Auger Creek Gimlet Creek Betty B Dollarville Dam (Probable upstream limit) McPhees Hendrie River Sage River Figure 18. Walleye locations observed by radio tracking in the Tahquamenon River, Middle River segment during April Data from 13 fish implanted with radio transmitters during October

9 (Downstream limit) Watershed boundary Murphy Creek East Branch Tahquamenon River Auger Creek Gimlet Creek Betty B Dollarville Dam (Probable upstream limit) McPhees Hendrie River Sage River Figure 19. Muskellunge locations observed by radio tracking in the Tahquamenon River, Middle River segment during May Data from seven fish implanted with radio transmitters during October

10 Superior Slater s Betty B M-123 East Branch Tahquamenon River Hulbert 8 Hulbert 6 7 Old Railroad Grade 5 Eckerman M-28 4 Strongs 3 2 McLoed Ditch Hendrie River USFS Hiawatha National Forest 0 5 Figure 20. Location of electrofishing inventory stations in the East Branch Tahquamenon River in 1995 and 2004 (Bassett 2005). There was no Site 1 sampled in Data from the 2004 survey occur in Table

11 Access Carry-in or Walk-in Boat launch, shoreline or hard surface (See Table 13) Camping State Forest campground State Park campground Superior Lower Falls USGS Gauging Station Superior Tahquamenon State Park rivermouth access and campground Tahquamenon s Belle s Bass Silver Creek Pond Brockies Pond Wolverine Dollarville Dam, upstream and downstream Betty B Slater s privately owned Old Hatchery site McMillan Mud East Natalie Kaks Twin McPhee s Deadman s Farm Hulbert Hulbert Eckerman Strongs Figure 21. Tahquamenon River watershed access sites and campgrounds. 105

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Tahquamenon River Assessment Appendix

DNR DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES MICHIGAN STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES SR45 Appendix February 2008 Tahquamenon River Assessment Appendix James R. Waybrant and Troy G. Zorn www.michigan.gov/dnr/