Little Lake Buttes Des Morts Watershed, LF06

Map of the Watershed

The Little Lake Butte Des Morts (LLBDM) Watershed drains to the Fox River beginning at the outlet of Lake Winnebago (Neenah & Menasha dams) to where the Appleton dam is located, which holds back the Fox River to form the impoundment. The 44 square mile (113 square Kilometers) watershed includes many unnamed tributaries to the Fox River as well as one named stream; Neenah Slough. The Little Lake Butte des Morts Watershed was added to the Lower Fox River Basin in 1995, when the basin and watershed boundaries of the Upper & Lower Fox River basins were revised. Modifications were made to the boundaries to show correct drainage to Lake Winnebago and to the Lower Fox River Basin.

The Little Lake Butte Des Morts ranked as a AHigh@ priority for streams under the Nonpoint Source Pollution Abatement Program basin plan ranking process. The watershed's land area is almost entirely within Winnebago County with the remaining small percent in Calumet County. The watershed also includes the cities of Neenah, Menasha and the southern edge of Appleton. Many of the small, urbanized unnamed tributaries to LLBDM are severely impacted by stormwater runoff via storm sewers and direct runoff. Many industrial and municipal dischargers are located within the basin. Agriculture is the predominant land use in the outlying areas of the watershed. Many of the unnamed streams have been ditched and are heavily impacted by stormwater runoff.

Silt and nutrients comprise the most abundant pollutants in this watershed. The major river channels are affected by siltation, which reduces the fish habitat and increases the severity of flooding. LLBDM is also affected by sedimentation and algal blooms.

Sediments contaminated with PCBs in LLBDM is a large problem. Deposit "A", is located on the upstream (south) end of Little Lake Butte des Morts, the deposit is mapped to be 43 acres in size, averages 2-3 feet in thickness and contains 1500 pounds of PCBs (Turville-Heitz 1992). Remediation efforts are ongoing to remove the PCBs from the system. Refer to the Little Lake Butte des Morts narrative for detailed information on the remediation process.

Routine fish monitoring identified high levels of PCB in fish from LLBDM. A Fish Consumption Advisory exists for LLBDM and the Lower Fox River. Additional monitoring will be conducted to determine trend levels of PCBs and mercury to update the Fish Consumption Advisory. Presently, the fish consumption advisory splits the Lower Fox River into two sections, Little Lake Butte des Morts (LLBDM) to the De Pere dam and the De Pere dam to the mouth of the Fox River. Collections should continue to occur in both sections of the river. Walleye, northern pike, white bass, yellow perch, white perch, smallmouth bass, channel catfish and carp should be collected in the section of the Fox River from LLBDM to the De Pere dam. Walleye, northern pike, white sucker, white bass, white perch, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, carp and sheepshead should be collected from the De Pere dam to the mouth of the Fox River. Monitoring in the above two reaches of river will cover fish populations in watersheds LF06, LF04, LF03, LF02 and LF01.

The last remnant of northern pike spawning marsh is located along inside (west side) of Streobe Island. Northern pike is an important predator species and this spawning marsh should be protected from future dredging or fill (Meyers, 1998).

There are two municipal point source dischargers and 15 industrial point source dischargers in the Little Lake Butte des Morts Watershed: Grand Chute Menasha West, Neenah Menasha Sewerage Commission, American National Can Co. (2 facilities), Beloit Manhattan Inc., Galloway Co., James River Corp. (Fort-James) (2 facilities), Kimberly Clark Corp. (3 facilities), Mead Corp. Gilbert Paper Co., Menasha Electric & Water Utility, PH Glatfelter Co. Bergstrom Paper Div., US Papers Mills Menasha and Wis. Tissue Mills.

Recommendations

1. WDNR FH staff should analyze walleye, northern pike, white bass, crappie, yellow perch, carp, gizzard shad, common shiners and smallmouth bass, from Little Lake Butte des Morts to determine PCB concentrations and to update the Fish Consumption Advisory. Large walleye should also be analyzed for mercury (Type B).

2. The Land and Water Conservation Board should consider the Little Lake Butte des Morts Watershed as a potential NPS project due to its "High" streams ranking (Type B).

3. East Central Regional Planning Commission should continue updating and amending the Fox-Cities Sewer Service Area Plan (Neenah/Menasha) on an as needed basis to prevent development in unsuitable areas (environmental sensitive areas) and protect surface and ground water quality (Type B).

4. Lower Fox River Basin Team staff should conduct fixed station (ambient) monitoring on the Neenah/Menasha outlets to LLBDM (composite sample) to assess long-term water quality trends in the Lower Fox River Basin and to meet the statewide water quality monitoring network goals (Type B).

5. Lower Fox River Basin Team, Bureau of Watershed Management, Bureau of Fish Management & Habitat Protection should work with local governments, industry and other environmental agencies (USEPA, USFWS, USGS etc) to remediate contaminated sediment deposits in Little Lake Butte des Morts (Type B).

6. Lower Fox River Basin Team should conduct sediment sampling on Neenah Slough to further define the contaminant levels and to establish a Lower Fox River tributary sediment database for the Lower Fox River Basin (Type B).

7. The Lower Fox River Basin Team and stakeholders should protect the last remnant of northern pike spawning habitat (marsh) on the west side of Streobe Island from dredging or fill (Type B, C).

Little Lake Butte des Morts

In the early 1990's, the WDNR Sediment Management and Remediation Techniques (SMART) program identified Deposit A to be the inaugural clean-up demonstration site on the Lower Fox River. Located on the upstream (south) end of Little Lake Butte des Morts, the deposit is mapped to be 43 acres in size, averages 2-3 feet in thickness and contains 1500 pounds of PCBs (Turville-Heitz 1992). The deposit was slated to be removed in the mid 1990s as part of an agreement between the state, local mill, and affected municipalities. When all of the feasibility studies were completed, the project was proposed to cost $15 million. As the time approached for actual removal, concerns regarding cost and capability led to the decline of public support and eventually the project was halted.

An annual problem in LLBM is the occurrence of botulism among avian species due to a complex array of biological, weather, physical, and chemical conditions that together form the right habitat for growth of botulism. Bird die-offs from botulism occur annually when the following conditions are present: a period of dry weather, low water levels, a blue-green algae die-off, and a heavy rain storm with runoff within a week to 10-days within the date of the blue-green die-off. Annual deaths average around 100 mallard ducks and range from a low of a dozen to a high of several thousand. Botulism may also take place any place along the Fox River from Neenah to Kaukauna and has in the past decade. In addition, many small ponds are susceptible within the drainage basin. Moreover, as more detention ponds are built to retain stormwater runoff, nuisance wildlife such as too many geese, ducks and muskrats may induce disease and similar problems. Ordinances to prevent feeding of wildlife may help keep numbers down, as well as the reestablishment and preservation of natural wetlands for flood control, versus the development of conventional detention ponds (Nikolai, 1998).

Neenah Slough

Neenah Slough is a unique system in which it can be characterized as a stream, lake and marsh. Muck, silt and detritus are the major bottom materials along with some gravel, sand and debris. The slough is one of the major northern pike spawning areas adjacent to Little Lake Butte des Morts. Other fish known to be present include sucker, carp, bullhead, freshwater drum, perch and white bass. Both summer and winter fish kills have occurred. The land use near the headwaters of Neenah Slough is mainly agricultural with severe development pressures (Techlow 1998). The stream is impacted by storm sewer discharge, which carries high levels of polluted sediments. Winnebago County has worked with landowners near the headwaters of the Neenah Slough to restore wetland areas (Neu 1998). Migrating waterfowl utilize these wetlands as resting and feeding areas.

Map of the Watershed

Last Revised: Thursday August 03 2006