River and Stream Narratives of the Upper Chippewa Basin

Below are narrative descriptions for waters for which we have a description on file. Not all waters in the basin are listed below.

Douglas Creek, 1996

Douglas Creek drains mostly wild land with a few small farms. It is listed as a Class II trout stream for part of its length. Its existing use is as a Class II and III trout stream and is stocked

Holmes Creek, 1996

Holmes Creek flows past the village of Ogema where it is impounded to form a mill pond. The Ogema wastewater treatment plant discharges to a wetland draining to Holmes Creek. Excellent water quality was indicated by 1979 macroinvertebrate surveys.

Mondeaux River, 1996

The Mondeaux River, a warm water stream, originates and flows through the Chequamegon National Forest. The Mondeaux Flowage is aerated and drawn down periodically for vegetation control. The river continues out of Mondeaux Flowage to join the South Fork of the Jump. Biotic indices from 1979 are indicative of fair water qualm.

Ottertail Creek, 1996

Ottertail Creek feeds into Douglas Creek. It is listed in the Wisconsin Trout Stream Book as a Class II trout fishery for some of its length, but its existing use is that of Class I trout stream (Lealos. 1993). The stream begins at Ottertail springs where there are private fish hatcheries. It is proposed that the headwaters area eventually be turned over to the public.

Silver Creek, 1996

Silver Creek is a Class I trout stream in its headwaters area where it drains mostly wild land, both public and private. Further downstream it becomes a Class III trout stream. It becomes a warm water stream where it flows through the Chequamegon National Forest. The village of Westboro will discharge to the cold water portion of Silver Creek when its new wastewater treatment facility is completed. Goodweiler (1991) notes that the 1980 Basin Plan for the Upper Chippewa references possible dissolved oxygen problems in the 1970s for Silver Creek, falling below the 6 mgll standard for cold water streams. Also noted is low dissolved oxygen measured in 1978 in Fisher Creek, a tributary to Silver Creek. Fisher Creek flows out of Chelsea Lake. though private land supporting a few small farms. The Bureau of Endangered Resources indicates that healthy populations of invertebrates are found in Silver Creek. Feeders to Silver Creek include Levitt, and Alcohol Creeks which come off the hilly area east of Ogema. Other warm water forage fish type streams, Black Brook and Shady Brook. enter Silver Creek further downstream. Shady Brook lies within Chequamegon National Forest. Not much is known about any of these streams.