2006 Water Quality Assessment

Currently, waters in Wisconsin are primarily assessed for Fish and Aquatic Life use and Public Health (Fish Consumption). In the coming years, the state will broaden its focus to more evenly implement protcols for assessing Recreation and Drinking Water Supply, and to fill in gaps in areas of the state where Fish and Aquatic Life Uses and Public Health have not been fully evaluated.

The state has a variety of historical and current data. The challenge before researchers deal less with how or what to gather in a monitoring plan and more with how to apply the information gained through monitoring to properly assess resources and make management decisions. The assessment information below reflects historical protocols for assessing waterbodies. The 2008 Integrated Report will provide assessments based on new protcols and the incorporation of extrapolated assessments based on random stratified sample design studies.

• Assessment Methodology
• Water Quality Assessment Summary, Rivers
• Water Quality Assessment Summary, Lakes
• Water Quality Assessment Summary, Wetlands
• Impaired Waters Program
• Category 5 Impaired Waters (303d List)
• Impaired Waters Categories (Listing Reason)
• Category 5 Waters newly listed, changed or delisted in 2006 - PDF file
• Approved TMDLs
• Sources of Pollutants/Impairments
• Pollutants/Impairments

Assessment Methodology

Chapter NR 102.04 (Wisconsin Administrative Code) establishes water quality standards for surface waters of the state and describes the designated use categories and the water quality criteria necessary to support these uses. The state is responsibile for assigning designated uses and conducting periodic assessments of these uses on individual waterbodies. Assessments result in a picture of the status of waterbodies for "305b" reporting, as well as background information to evaluate listing impaired waterbodies for possible Total Management Daily Load (TMDL) work based on evidence of impairment and written documentation. Wisconsin´s current general assessment methodology and 303(d) Impaired Waters Listing Methodology [PDF 78KB].

The state´s current assessment methodology has supported the wastewater, point source and nonpoint source programs over the years, and has provided information for past and current USEPA Water Quality Reports to Congress. However, new information on biologically based use designation and assessment methods has prompted review of the state´s current methodology. This review process includes how the state establishes designated uses for the key areas of Fish and Aquatic Life, Recreation, Drinking Water Supply and Public Health to all surface waters, as well as documentation standards and procedures for determining attainment and, relatedly, impairment.

The state´s monitoring strategy and assessment strategy are interlinked -- as we are able to generate more scientifically valid monitoring data, more options are available to the state for using that data in an assessment approach. Conversely, national experts in USEPA and their partner agencies are advocating for increased use of biological data in the methodologies that states use to evaluate and target resources. This leadership at the federal level is influencing the way our state is planning for and executing monitoring. There is an awareness and an increased emphasis on paired biological and chemistry monitoring, as well as more emphasis on gathering and analyzing fisheries, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and habitat data to determine waterbody potential and status.

In 2007, the state intends make significant movement forward to initiate use of a new approach for assessing waterbodies for a variety of designated uses, including:

• Fish and Aquatic Life Uses: streams, lakes
• Drinking Water Supply: all surface waters
• Public Health (Fish Consumption): all surface waters
• Recreation: all surface waters

The primary focus for this initial effort to update use designation and assessment methods will be on the Fish and Aquatic Life (FAL) use designation for streams/rivers and lakes. Special issues relating to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi will be addressed during subsequent efforts. In addition, protocols and needed monitoring for Recreation, Public Health, and Drinking Water Supply designated use categories will also be addressed during the 2006-07 period. Future efforts will address additional designated use categories and specific water bodies, including wetlands.

More on Water Quality Standards...

Water Quality Assessment - Rivers and Streams

As the table below shows, two designated uses have been assessed for Rivers in the state -- Fish and Aquatic Life Use and Public Health (Fish Consumption). For Fish and Aquatic Life Use, of the state's approximately 80,000 stream miles, cumulatively only 33,000 have been assessed over the years using historical assessment procedures. Of the waterbodies that have been individually assessed and documented in the state's data system, the majority of the recent work have been those which are perceived as the most degraded or impaired, thus skewing the overall picture of statewide river and stream conditions.

Random Stratified Sample Design

These figures illustrate the potential value of using a random stratified sample design for monitoring and assessment work. Many of the stream miles displayed are mainstem or higher order waterbodies. The map below depicts a visual of assessment units (AU´s) in the WADRs system in a given area. This picture illustrates that many of our first and second order streams go unassessed unless they are specifically identified in a management plan or code. Future use of a random stratified sample design can help rectify this disparity by reducing the waterbody-to-assessed waterbody ratio. By employing statistical techniques in sampling, the random stratified sample design allows managers to group waterbody types of similar condition, land use characteristics and ecoregions (ie., streams that naturally behave similarly) to make assumptions about their condition based on the similarity of these fundamental characteristics. Ascertaining how to use this approach at the waterbody level is a challenge for resource specialists in the coming years.

Water Quality Assessment - Freshwater Lakes

The chart below depicts summary scores for three designated uses for inland Lakes in the state -- Fish and Aquatic Life Use, Public Health (Fish Consumption), and Recreation. Wisconsin has over 1.2 million acres of freshwater inland lakes. However, some of the data in this table are more than 10 years old and reflect outdated methodologies. Fish consumption advisory data and other recently generated impaired water data has been updated in the system. In the coming year, the state will employ the application of new metrics including summary data on plant communities such as the floristic quality index (FQI), which is part of the baseline lakes monitoring program. Thus, better summary scores will be available for the 2008 Integrated Report.

Water Quality Assessment - Wetlands

• Wisconsin Wetlands: Assessment and Monitoring
• Wetland Acreage
• Wetland Mapping
• Coastal Wetlands of Wisconsin´s Great Lakes A Data Compilation and Assessment

Sources of Water Quality Problems

The chart below represents 79% of the documented sources of water quality problems found on Wisconsin Rivers. Lakes are not included because lake data is over 10 years old.

For the river data, sources of problems greater than 2% were included. Also omitted from these figures is the source atmospheric deposition of mercury, which due to its dominance in causing documented problems, skewed the data.

Pollutants/Impairments

The chart below represents 91% of the documented pollutant/impairments related to water quality problems found on Wisconsin Rivers. Lakes are not included because lake data is over 10 years old.

For the river data, pollutant/impairments representing greater than 5% were included. Also omitted from these figures is the source atmospheric deposition of mercury, which due to its dominance in causing documented problems, skewed the data.