Fox River Background

This page contains geographical and ecological information concerning the Fox River and Green Bay.

The Lower Fox River/Green Bay Project

The Lower Fox River and Green Bay are portions of the project site that experienced both the good and the bad sides of economic development. Once described as the hardest working river in the world because of the amount of industry that used the waterway, it now shows the results of the past municipal and industrial discharges to the system.

Since the 1970´s there have been significant improvements in the water quality in this system. This has resulted in the restoration of a diverse fishery including a world-class walleye fishery, but the legacy of past discharges still contribute to fish contaminant levels which result in consumption advisories for most species to protect human health. The advisories are triggered by the levels of PCB (poly-chlorinated biphenyl) and mercury in the fish.

This web site is maintained in order to provide the public with current information about the studies and plans which has resulted in the decisions on how to clean up the contamination and restore the environment. It will also inform the public on the progress being made to implement those plans.

The Lower Fox River

The Lower Fox River is part of northeast Wisconsin´s Fox-Wolf River system. The Fox River is the largest tributary to Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, draining approximately 6,330 square miles. The river flows northeast approximately 39 miles from Lake Winnebago to its mouth, which discharges into lower Green Bay. The Lower Fox River falls approximately 168 feet over that stretch, and is harnessed with 12 dams and 17 locks. The river flows through the cities of Appleton and Green Bay and several smaller communities. The Lower Fox River is relatively narrow, generally less than 1,000 feet wide over much of its length, and ranging up to approximately 20 feet deep in some areas. Where the river widens significantly, the depth generally decreases to less than 10 feet deep, except in the main channel. The main channel of the river ranges from six to 20 feet deep.

To make data evaluation easier and to help describe the river system, the Lower Fox River was divided into four reaches, often called "operable units" or OUs:

1. Little Lake Butte des Morts to Appleton (see map)
2. Appleton to Little Rapids (see map)
3. Little Rapids to De Pere (see map)
4. De Pere to Green Bay (see map)
5. Green Bay (see map)

Green Bay

Green Bay is a narrow, elongated bay, approximately 119 miles long and an average of 23 miles wide. The bay is bounded by the City of Green Bay at the south end and by both Big and Little Bays de Noc, in Michigan´s Upper Peninsula (UP), on the north end. In Wisconsin the bay is separated from Lake Michigan by the Door Peninsula, while the UP´s Garden Peninsula separates Big Bay de Noc from Lake Michigan. At the south end the bay is a freshwater estuary, due to the shallow water depths, while the northern end is a deep-water lake. The average depth of the bay is approximately 65 feet, with much shallower bottoms near its shores. Few areas of the bay are more than 131 feet deep. Green Bay covers an area of approximately 1,600 square miles. The Green Bay watershed drains approximately 15,625 square miles, or about one-third of the Lake Michigan drainage basin. Two-thirds of the Green Bay drainage is in Wisconsin and one-third in Michigan´s UP.

The Lower Fox River is the largest tributary to Green Bay, contributing approximately 42% of the total drainage, over 95% of the PCB load, and 70% of the suspended sediments. Because of the dominant currents in the bay, the majority of Fox River sediment gets deposited along the southern and eastern portions of Green Bay. For purposes of evaluation and planning, Green Bay has been subdivided into four zones:

1. The De Pere to Green Bay reach of the Fox River (also known as OU 4)
2. From the mouth of the Fox River to about 7.6 miles into Green Bay
3. From the northern boundary of Zone 2 to just south of Chambers Island (about 53.9 miles north of the mouth of the Fox River)
4. The remainder of Green Bay from the northern boundary of Zone 3 (about 63 miles to the northern shores of Big Bay de Noc).