Study Unit Fact Sheet - Western Lake Michigan Drainages
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 91-161
by J.G. Setmire
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey(USGS) began to implement a
full-scale National Water-Quality Assessment(NAWQA) program.
The long-term goals of the NAWQA program are to describe the status
and trends in the quality of a large,representative part of the Nation's
surface- and ground-water resources and to provide a sound, scientific
understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting the
quality of these resources. In meeting these goals, the program will
produce a wealth of water-quality information that will be useful to
policy makers and managers at the national, State, and local levels.
A major design feature of the NAWQA program will enable water-quality
information at different areal scales to be integrated. A major component
of the program is study-unit investigations, which comprise the pricipal
building blocks of the program on which national-level assessment
activities are based. The 60 study-unit investigations that make up the
program are hydrologic systems that include parts of most major river
basins and aquifer systems. These study units cover areas of 1,200 to
more than 65,000 square miles and incorporate about 60 to 70 percent of
the Nation's water use and population served by public water supply. In
1991, the Western Lake Michigan drainage basin was among the first 20
NAWQA study units selected for study under the full-scale implementation
plan.
Study Unit Description
The Western Lake Michigan study unit drains a 20,000-square mile area
located in eastern Wisconsin and upper peninsula of Michigan. The unit is
comprised of Lake Michigan, the Fox-Wolf River, and the
Menominee-Oconto-Peshtigo River basins in Wisconsin, and the Ford and
Escanaba basins in Michigan. The overall population in the study unit is
2,240,000(1988). The major cities and their population are Milwaukee,
636,000; Green Bay, 88,000; Racine, 86,000; and Appleton, 59,000. The
Green Bay area, located along the lower Fox River, has the highest density
of paper pulp mills in the world. Agriculture also is a major activity,
with 27 percent of the study unit devoted to cropland and 6 percent to
pasture. About 50 percent of the study area, predominantly in the
northwestern part of the basin, is forested, with streams and lakes
offering excellent fishing (trout, walleye, northern pike, and bass),
canoeing, and other recreation. Lake Winnebago, a 137,000-acre lake in
the Fox River basin, is a maajor surface-water feature of the study unit.
The Milwaukee River basin in the south (part of the Lake Michigan basin)
has the greatest population, with agriculture and Wisconsin's trademark
cheese and milk industry the major economic activities.
Silurian dolomite is the uppermost bedrock in the Lake Michigan
basin; Ordovician and Cambrian sandstones and dolomite are exposed in the
Fox River basin; and Precambrian crystalline rocks are exposed in the
Wolf, Menominee, Oconto, Peshtigo, Ford, and Escanaba River basins. The
topography of the study area was shaped by glaciation. Diagonally from
northwest to southeast(divided roughly in thirds), surficial deposits are
generally predominantly outwash and ice-contact desposits; glacial lake
and ground- and end-moraine deposits. Some isolated lake deposits occur
along the western shores of Lake Michigan.
The study unit has a mean annual air temperature of 44 degrees
Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 28 to 32 inches, of which 8 to 15
inches leaves the unit as streamflow. This runoff is carried by numerous
streams throughout the study unit, the major ones being the Escanaba,
Blue-Menominee, Oconto, and Peshtigo Rivers in the northwest; Fox and Wolf
Rivers in the central area; and Kewaunee, Twin, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and
Milwaukee Rivers in the eastern and southern part of the study unit.
Freshwater use in the study unit totals about 704 million gallons per
day. Publc suppliers provide about 371 million gallons per day, of which
69 million gallons per day is from ground-water sources. Rural domestic
users obtain about 8 million gallons per day from surface-water sources
and about 13 milion gallons per day from ground-water sources. Industrial
water use totals about 253 million gallons per day, of which 239 million
gallons per day is from surface-water sources. Commercial, agricultural,
and mining uses total about 53 million gallons per day. The major
industrial instream use of surface water is for hydroelectric and
thermoeletrric power. Ground water is the major source of public water
supply except in those areas that border Lake Michigan and some
communities adjacent to Lake Winnebago.
Major water-quality issues
The major water-quality issues in the Western Lake Michigan drainage
basin study unit are:
- Nonpoint-source contamination of surface and ground water by
agricultural chemicals, including nitrate and pesticides. Aldicarb,
atrazine, and alachlor are the most commonly detected pesticides;
- Contamination by toxic substances, including PCBs, other synthetic
organic compounds, and trace elements in bottom sediments of rivers and
harbors(Menominee River at Marinette, lower Fox River, Sheboygan Harbor,
and Milwaukee Harbor);
- Nonpoint-source pollution and nutrient enrichment of rivers and lakes
from industrial and municipal waste discharges; and
- Acidification and mercury contamination of recreational lakes in poorly
buffered watersheds in the northwestern part of the study unit.
Communication and Coordination
Communication and coordination between USGS personnel and other
interested scientists and water-management organizations are critical
components of the NAWQA program. The Western Lake Michigan drainage basin
study will have a local liaison committee consisting of representatives
from Federal, State, and local agencies, and universities and the private
sector. The liaison committee for the Western Lake Michigan study unit
will be formed in summer 1991.
Information on technical reports and hydrologic data related to NAWQA
and the Western Lake Michigan drainage basin study can be obtained from:
District Chief, Water Resources Division
U.S. Geological Survey
8505 Research Way
Middleton, Wisconsin 53562
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