University of Massachusetts - Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst International Conference on Engineering and Ecohydrology for Fish Passage International Conference on Engineering and Ecohydrology for Fish Passage 2014 Jun 11th, 11:40 AM - 12:00 PM Oxbows and Sloughs: Wisconsin s Forgotten Lakes D. Marshall University of Wisconsin - Madison Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference Marshall, D., "Oxbows and Sloughs: Wisconsin s Forgotten Lakes" (2014). International Conference on Engineering and Ecohydrology for Fish Passage. 23. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2014/june11/23 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the The Fish Passage Community at UMass Amherst at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Conference on Engineering and Ecohydrology for Fish Passage by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact scholarworks@library.umass.edu.
Oxbows and Sloughs: Wisconsin s Forgotten Lakes The Spring Slough was the magnet which drew me afternoons and evenings in the spring Quote from late author August Derleth, Walden West
15,000 lakes
Floodplain Lake Surveys 2007-2008 SP River PAL River Grant 2008 Sauk County LCD - Lakes Grant 2009 Dane Co. Dept. LWR - Lakes Grant 2009 Crawford Co. LCD - Lakes Grant 2009-10 USRWA River Grant 2010 Richland Co LCD Lakes Grant 2010 River Alliance Lakes Grant 2009-2010 State Wildlife Grant - ER 2011-2012 (2) State Wildlife Grants - ER
Floodplain River Surveys 2007-12
Starhead topminnow (Fundulus dispar) State Endangered
Lower Wisconsin River
Low Flow Modified from Amoros and Bornette 2002 Upland groundwater river oxbow river High flow oxbow Low oxbow dissolved oxygen occurs during summer high flows, (> 1-year storm) and reduced upland groundwater flow Alluvial seepage Flood river oxbow Cutoff channel oxbows become active flowing channels and scouring occurs
Depth (m) August Temperature C Profile of Jones Slough 0 0 5 10 15 20 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Cut-off Channel Oxbow
2011 2012 1 Largemouth bass Bluegill 2 Bluegill Largemouth bass 3 Grass pickerel Mudminnow 4 Mudminnow Grass pickerel 5 Mud darter Starhead t. m. 6 Starhead t. m. Yellow bullhead 7 Warmouth Mud darter 8 Yellow bullhead Tadpole madtom 9 Green sunfish Warmouth 10 Tadpole madtom Green sunfish 1 Bluegill Bluegill 2 Largemouth bass Largemouth bass 3 Grass pickerel Mudminnow 4 Pirate perch Grass pickerel 5 Mudminnow Green sunfish 6 Warmouth Pirate perch 7 Starhead t. m. Starhead t. m. 8 Green sunfish Pumpkinseed 9 Warmouth Yellow bullhead 10 Yellow bullhead Brook silverside 1 Largemouth bass Bluegill 2 Bluegill Largemouth bass 3 Grass pickerel Mudminnow 4 Pirate perch Grass pickerel 5 Mudminnow Pirate perch 6 Mud darter Mud darter 7 Warmouth Warmouth 8 Yellow bullhead Green sunfish 9 Lake chubsucker Yellow bullhead 10 Johnny darter Lake chubsucker Floodplain lakes associate species Pirate perch Mud darter Starhead topminnow
Low Flow Modified from Amoros and Bornette 2002 Upland groundwater river oxbow river High flow oxbow Low oxbow dissolved oxygen occurs during summer high flows, (> 1-year storm) and reduced upland groundwater flow Alluvial seepage Flood river oxbow Cutoff channel oxbows become active flowing channels and scouring occurs
6/1/2013 6/2/2013 Water Levels and Norton Slough Dissolved Oxygen Levels 6/3/2013 6/4/2013 6/5/2013 6/6/2013 6/7/2013 6/8/2013 6/9/2013 6/10/2013 6/11/2013 6/12/2013 6/13/2013 6/14/2013 6/15/2013 6/16/2013 6/17/2013 6/18/2013 6/19/2013 6/20/2013 6/21/2013 6/22/2013 6/23/2013 6/24/2013 6/25/2013 6/26/2013 6/27/2013 6/28/2013 6/29/2013 6/30/2013 7/1/2013 7/2/2013 7/3/2013 7/4/2013 8 16 7 14 6 12 5 10 ft. 4 8 mg/l 3 2 1 6 4 2 W. Q. Criterion River 0 0 Norton D.O.
groundwater contamination score = 49.76 > 30 = HIGHLY Susceptible HIGH MODERATE LOW
Norton Slough 2008
Norton Slough 2011
Sediment deposition was minimal, suggesting scouring during floods and no internal loading.
mg/l NO x Levels 25 20 15 10 5 5/9/2013 5/19/2013 6/1/2013 7/29/2013 8/13/2013 8/20/2013 8/30/2013 0
14 SLOH - YSI NO 3 Concentrations mg/l 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SLOH Meter Minn. NO3 Camargo NO3 USEPA T.N. USGS T.N.
Sugar River
Mean Summer Monthly Sugar River Flows and Starhead topminnow Collections Sept. Flow Aug. Flow July Flow 2009 2010 2011 2012 June Flow Starhead t. m. 0 1 0 302 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
2010 Shallow wildlife scrape
2012 Sugar River oxbow restoration was unsustainable due to shallow depth perched above groundwater.
Baraboo River Fish Migration Restored 120 mile long Baraboo River
100 La Valle Slough Chlorophyll and Phosphorus TSI 80 84 85 83 87 87 84 80 hypereutrophic 60 Chl a 40 TP 20 0 July 2012 Aug 2012 July 2013 Aug 2013
La Valle Secchi Data and TSI 0 1 100 2 3 80 ft 4 5 60 TSI 6 7 85 87 95 91 91 96 95 91 40 8 20 9 10 0
Conclusions I propose that floodplain lakes are the most endangered class of lakes in Wisconsin Their ecosystem functions and lateral connections with rivers are too important to ignore any longer. The Lower Wisconsin River is an example of floodplain lake degradation linked to groundwater contamination The Sugar River is an example of off-channel habitat loss due to floodplain aggradation. Future restorations should consider the importance of groundwater connectivity and quality.