LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 WisconsinWisconsin Rapid Watershed Assessment Lower Rock River Rapid watershed assessments provide initial estimates of where conservation investments would best address the concerns of landowners, conservation districts, and other community organizations and stakeholders. These assessments help landowners and local leaders set priorities and determine the best actions to achieve their goals. Wisconsin October 2007 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 1 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 COMMON RESOURCE AREA 3 ASSESSMENT OF WATERS 6 SOILS 8 DRAINAGE CLASSIFICATION 8 FARMLAND CLASSIFICATION 9 HYDRIC SOILS 10 LAND CAPABILITY CLASSIFICATION 11 RESOURCE CONCERNS/WATERSHED ASSESSMENT 12 PRS AND OTHER DATA 12 CENSUS AND SOCIAL DATA (RELEVANT) 13 ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES 15 WATERSHED PROJECTS, STUDIES, MONITORING, ETC. 15 PARTNER GROUPS 15 FOOTNOTES/BIBLIOGRAPHY 16 2 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 INTRODUCTION 1 The Lower Rock River Basin in south central Wisconsin drains an area of 1,857 square miles, all of which lies within the glaciated portion of the state in the southeast upland soil-landform region. The basin is comprised of 15 watersheds, which range in land use from rural-agricultural to intensely urbanized. These 15 watersheds include larger, slow-moving, turbid water bodies, such as the Yahara River, as well as cold water trout streams, such as the Rutland Branch of Badfish Creek and Spring Creek in the Badfish Creek Watershed. Collectively, these water bodies drain through the mouth of the Wisconsin portion of the Lower Rock into northwestern Illinois, where the Rock River drains into the Mississippi River. Prior to European settlement, the basin contained thousands of acres of wetlands supporting diverse ecosystems, ranging from shallow wet meadows and prairies, to lowland wet forests, to deep water marshes. A large, undetermined portion of original wetland acreage has been converted to agriculture, urban and transportation development, or other uses by filling, ditching and draining. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION The Lower Rock River basin is bounded at Fort Atkinson on the north, and the Wisconsin-Illinois state line in Beloit on the south. Major tributaries include: the Bark River in Jefferson, Waukesha and Washington counties; the Yahara River in Rock, Dane and Columbia counties; and Turtle Creek in Walworth and Rock counties. Small and large lakes including Mendota, Monona, Koshkonong, Waubesa, Wingra, Kegonsa, Whitewater, and Delavan dot the basin’s morainal terrain. Most of these lakes are eutrophic and suffer from problems that impair water quality and recreational use. A cluster of high quality lakes exists in the Bark River Watershed and are under intense development pressure. The basin covers about the eastern two-thirds of Rock County, 40 percent of Walworth County (western edge), the southern half of Jefferson County, about half of Dane County (southeastern), and parts of Waukesha, Washington, and Columbia counties. The major cities include Madison, Janesville, Beloit, Fitchburg, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Whitewater and Fort Atkinson. While urban areas continue to grow particularly in and around Madison, Janesville, Beloit and Delafield- Hartland the predominant land use in the basin remains agriculture. Agricultural lands in this basin are among the most productive in the state. The primary sources of the basin’s water quality problems are urban and rural polluted runoff. Hydrologic modifications such as dams, stream straightening, and the ditching and draining of wetlands are significant contributors to lower water quality in the basin. Numerous low-head dams trap nutrient- rich sediment, effectively reducing the stream’s depth, increasing water temperature, and precipitating algal problems. 1 16 73 78 188 22 26 144 113 ARLINGTON 115 60 83 45 Arlington 39 LEEDS 16 60 41 60 60 90 COLUMBIA 188 WASHINGTON Dane 94 109 ROXBURY DANE 151 VIENNA 164 De Forest 89 113 BRISTOL 167 145 12 WINDSOR RICHFIELD 67 175 19 DANE 167 Waunakee Sun 19 BURKE Prairie 73 BERRY SPRINGFIELD 83 WESTPORT LISBON 51 SUN 16 MERTON 74 MEDINA 26 Maple PRAIRIE Sussex Middleton Bluff 89 Merton 14 30 94 JEFFERSON Chenequa Shorewood Cottage Oconomowoc Madison BLOOMING Lake MIDDLETON Hills Grove DEERFIELD Nashotah Hartland GROVE LAKE 190 151 COTTAGE Monona MILLS Delafield MADISON GROVE Deerfield FARMINGTON 16 164 12 18 134 CONCORD 94 SUMMIT DELAFIELD 18 McFarland Sullivan 164 14 18 18 151 Cambridge Dousman 59 Fitchburg Wales PLEASANT CHRISTIANA DUNN OAKLAND 89 JEFFERSON 67 SPRINGS 39 SULLIVAN Rockdale OTTAWA GENESEE 92 HEBRON Oregon 90 WAUKEHSA 69 Stoughton 106 138 51 73 106 Fort 59 OREGON Atkinson 43 PALMYRA RUTLAND ALBION SUMNER EAGLE DUNKIRK COLD Palmyra 138 KOSHKONONG SPRING Eagle 69 12 59 99 164 Brooklyn Edgerton 26 Whitewater 92 59 67 36 MILTON UNION PORTER 83 FULTON LIMA 184 WHITEWATER 20 GREEN LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED Milton 59 LA 12 213 14 GRANGE JANESVILLE WALWORTH 89 20 SUGAR 39 CENTER HARMONY 36 ROCK JOHNSTOWN RICHMOND CREEK LAFAYETTE 69 MAGNOLIA Janesville Footville 83 104 Elkhorn 11 59 11 11 14 (WI) HUC:07090002 81 SPRING PLYMOUTH 351 LA 142 VALLEY Delavan Orfordville ROCK PRAIRIE BRADFORD DARIEN GENEVA 83 51 11 140 50 DELAVAN 75 213 Darien BELOIT 43 50 69 TURTLE 67 Williams 81 Clinton Bay NEWARK CLINTON SHARON Fontana-on- Geneva Lake 120 Beloit Sharon 83 39 67 WALWORTH 26 WINNEBAGO ROCKTON 2 90 76 173 ROSCOE BOONE14 MANCHESTER LE ROY 173 12 75 251 47 2 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 ACREAGE IN LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED NAME COUNTY ACRES % OF HUC FROM % OF COUNTY IN IN HUC COUNTY HUC COUNTY TOTAL ACRES DANE 409564 35 51.7 791852 ROCK 345182 29 74.3 464369 JEFFERSON 172969 15 46.4 372739 WALWORTH 136799 12 37.1 368720 WAUKESHA 72276 6 19.5 371451 COLUMBIA 19090 2 3.7 509123 WASHINGTON 9095 1 3.3 278753 WINNEBAGO, IL 4324 0 1.3 332188 BOONE, IL 2620 0 1.5 180291 GREEN 12 0 0 373817 TOTAL 1171931 92.WI1 93B.WI2 2. 93B.WI1 MAJOR LAND RESOURCE AREAS 90A.WI1 90A.WI1 91B.WI1 94D.WI1 90A.WI1 90A.WI2 90A.WI1 94B.WI2 COMMON RESOURCE AREAS 94B.WI1 90B.WI1 Common Resource Area delineations 90B.WI1 are defined as a geographical areas 90A.WI3 104.WI1 where resource concerns, problems and 95A.WI2 treatment needs are similar. Common 95A.WI1 89.WI2 Resource areas are a subdivision of an 89.WI1 existing Major Land Resource Area (MLRA). Landscape conditions, soil, climate and human 95B.WI2 considerations are used to determine the 105.WI1 boundary of Common Resource Areas. 95B.WI1 Lower Rock 110.WI1 95B.WI1, SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS TILL PLAIN Nearly level to strongly sloping till plain with prominent drumlins. Well drained silty and loamy soils with poorly grained organic soils in the depressions. Mostly cropland with a mix of livestock and cash grain enterprises. Grazing land and scattered deciduous forest, lakes and marshes are also present. Primary resource concerns include cropland and construction site erosion, surface water quality and wetland habitat and protection. 3 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 3. ELEVATION MAP COLUMBIA WASHINGTON JEFFERSON DANE WAUKESHA ROCK WALWORTH Feet Meters >1400 >427 1300-1399 397-427 1200-1299 367-396 1100-1199 336-366 1000-1099 306-335 900-999 275-305 800-899 245-274 700-799 214-244 601-699 183-213 <600 <183 Elevation 4 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 4 COLUMBIA AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION (INCHES) WASHINGTON 30-32 JEFFERSON DANE 30-32 WAUKESHA 32-34 ROCK 34-36 36-38 WALWORTH COLUMBIA WASHINGTON JEFFERSON DANE WAUKESHA ROCK WALWORTH 5 LAND USE/ LAND COVER Acres Percent Acres Percent Pasture Hay 296,967 25.34 Low Intensity Residential 26,456 2.26 Deciduous Forest 100,727 8.59 High Intensity Residential 23,932 2.04 Row Crops 598,592 51.08 Evergreen Forest 6,430 0.5 Open Water 43,949 3.75 Mixed Forest 1,240 0.11 Woody Wetlands 23,778 2.03 Small Grains 745 0.06 Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands 12,466 1.06 Urban / Recreational Grasses 15,308 1.31 Commercial/Industrial / Transport 11,864 1.01 Quarries / Strip Mines, Gravel Pits 26,0.65 1.02 Grasslands / Herbaceous 8,928 0.76 Bare Rock / Sand / Clay 24 0 Total Acres 1,171,975 5 LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED (WI) HUC: 07090002 ASSESSMENT OF WATER - LOWER ROCK RIVER WATERSHED 6 Listed Waters 303(d) Listed Exceptional Resource Waters Six Sub Watersheds Spring Mile (Dorn) Creek Streams / Rivers Creek Yahara River Six Mile and and Lake Mendota Pheasant Branch Starkweather Creek Creeks Lake Mendota Upper Lake Koshkonong Bark Monona River Creek Pheasant Yahara River and L. Monona Branch Creek Lake Waubesa Yahara River Wingra Creek and Bark River Lake Kegonsa Lower Koshkonong Yahara Ri Creek Badfish Creek Rock River Scuppernong River Scuppernong Allen Creek River ver Lake Spring Rutland Branch Koshkonong