Old undersized culvert restricting water flow and fish access to Templeton Bayou before replacement project. Taken by Todd Close July 2006

New larger culverts installed to improve water flow and fish passage on Templeton Bayou. Taken by Gary Van Vreede July 2007

Templeton Bayou, located just north of Freemont, Wisconsin, is a 2 mile long side channel of the Wolf River comprised of over 80 acres of backwater marsh habitat. The bayou was once the original channel of the river, but over time the main channel moved to the west, leaving the bayou as an excellent spawning area for walleyes and other fish. In 1981 an access road was built across the 50 foot wide channel that connects the bayou to the river.  The 5 foot diameter culvert installed in the crossing at that time, greatly reduced the amount of water that was allowed to pass through the bayou during high water flow events.  The restricted water flow caused the bayou to gradually fill with silt and sediment, and the once valuable spawning habitat was destroyed.  

Several years ago, this problem was brought to attention of local Walleyes for Tomorrow chapter members, who worked with the current landowner, Green Bay Field Office Biologist Gary Van Vreede, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and other local groups and individuals to develop a plan to rectify the problem.  As a result of these efforts, the existing 5 foot culvert was removed and replaced with two 6 foot diameter culverts and two 9 foot wide oval culverts.  These new culverts now provide an area for water flow and fish passage over 5 times greater than before.  Also, unlike the old culvert which was perched 9 inches above the streambed, the bottom of the two large oval culverts have been placed approximately 12 inches below the streambed.  The increased water flow and accessibility provided by these new culverts will greatly improve the quality of this backwater wetland habitat for fish, waterbirds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.  This project was partially funded through a U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Habitat Development Agreement.