A Lake Management Plan for Green Lake Green Lake, Wisconsin Wisconsin’s Deepest Natural Inland Lake Developed in Partnership January 2013 (Revised 2015) Partners Green Lake Sanitary District Green Lake Association Green Lake County Land Conservation Department Fond du lac County Land and Water Conservation Department Green Lake Conservancy Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources United States Geological Survey City of Green Lake City of Ripon Citizens of Wisconsin Acknowledgements The principal consultant and author of this lake management plan is Mark F. Sesing, retired WDNR Water Resource Management Specialist. For their contributions, thanks to the following and their respective boards and agencies: Charlie Marks, Jen Kaiser, Derek Kavanaugh, Ted Johnson, Tom Eddy, Lynn Mathias, Paul Tollard, Glen McCarty, Jim Hebbe, David Bartz, and Phil Hoopman. We offer special thanks to the Public Advisory Group members and the citizens of Wisconsin for their guidance in developing this document. ii Table of Contents Table of Figures ........................................................................................................................................... vii 2014 LMP Addendum Report – News, Accomplishments, 2015 Goals and Objectives ............................... 1 Big Green Lake Impairment ...................................................................................................................... 1 LMP 2014 Accomplishments .................................................................................................................... 3 2015 Goals and Objectives for the Green Lake Watershed ..................................................................... 5 Introduction and Background ....................................................................................................................... 9 Today’s Threats ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Stakeholders and Public Participation .................................................................................................... 14 Project Guidance .................................................................................................................................... 15 Plan Development Process ..................................................................................................................... 16 Natural Resource Appraisals, Objectives and Strategy ............................................................................... 18 Water Quality of the Lake ....................................................................................................................... 18 WisCALM (Wisconsin Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology) ..................................... 24 Objectives for Lake Water Quality ..................................................................................................... 28 Strategy for Lake Water Quality ......................................................................................................... 29 Water Quality of Tributary Streams ....................................................................................................... 30 Objectives for Stream Water Quality ................................................................................................. 32 Strategy for Stream Water Quality..................................................................................................... 32 Lake Habitat and Plants .......................................................................................................................... 33 Sensitive Area Designations (aka Critical Habitat Designations)........................................................ 34 Aquatic Plant Survey records .................................................................................................................. 34 Objectives for Aquatic Plants and Habitat ......................................................................................... 42 Strategy for Aquatic Plants and Habitat ............................................................................................. 42 Strategy – Woody Structure and Critical habitat Areas ..................................................................... 42 Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) ................................................................................................................ 42 Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Objectives .......................................................................................... 45 Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Strategy .............................................................................................. 45 Watershed .............................................................................................................................................. 46 Watershed Statistics ......................................................................................................................... 46 SWAT – Soil and Water Assessment Tool........................................................................................... 51 Phosphorus Reduction Goals ............................................................................................................. 51 Watershed Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 53 iii Watershed Strategy ........................................................................................................................... 53 EPA’s- 9 Criteria for Watershed Projects............................................................................................ 54 Fishery..................................................................................................................................................... 55 Warmwater Fishery ............................................................................................................................ 55 Coldwater Fishery ............................................................................................................................... 57 Objectives for the Fishery .................................................................................................................. 58 Strategy for the Fishery ...................................................................................................................... 58 Natural Aesthetics and Land Conservancy ............................................................................................. 58 Objectives for Lands Conservancy and Aesthetic Preservation ......................................................... 61 Strategy for Land Conservancy and Aesthetic Preservation .............................................................. 61 Shorelines and Shoreland ....................................................................................................................... 61 Objectives for Shorelines and Shore Land ......................................................................................... 62 Strategy for Shorelines and Shore Land ............................................................................................. 62 Information and Education ..................................................................................................................... 62 Objectives for I & E ............................................................................................................................. 62 Strategy for I & E ................................................................................................................................ 62 Management Capacity, Objectives and Strategies ................................................................................. 63 Objectives for Management Capacity ................................................................................................ 64 Strategy for Management Capacity ................................................................................................... 64 Climate Change ....................................................................................................................................... 64 Objectives for Climate Change ........................................................................................................... 66 Strategy for Climate Change .............................................................................................................. 66 Use Conflicts ........................................................................................................................................... 67 Objectives for Use Conflict ................................................................................................................. 67 Strategy for Use Conflict .................................................................................................................... 68 Glossary of Lake Terms ............................................................................................................................... 69 Green Lake Environmental Reports/References ........................................................................................ 75 Appendix A ..................................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Big Green Lake 2012 Citizen Survey Results .............................................