Water Clarity: May 22, 2012 and field report

Water clarity continues to be good for Lake Pucakaway, and essentially the same at all sampling sites.  Water is still stained likely from passing through wetlands.  Water temperatures 18 inches bellow waters surface are running 70 degrees during midday.

In shallow areas protected by aquatic plants, or flooded grass are millions of tiny fish about a half inch long.  I'm assuming they are some sort of baitfish.  In the same area is their food, billions of water fleas (I'll have to dig out the microscope to positively identify them) feeding on algae and even smaller animals, they don't bite.  This is the base of the food chain that drives the sport fishery for the lake.

"Minnow" fry 3/8 of an inch long.  Dots in photo are zooplankton.
These tiny animals will eventually feed the walleye that feeds you.

Aquatic plants are fairing well considering the flood, likely bolstered by the March low water and heatwave, seasonal temperatures since then, fairly clear water, and reduction in the carp population.

Water Clarity: May 10, 2012

Despite heavy flooding one week prior, water clarity was good by Lake Puckaway standards due to the lack of algae this time of year.  The flooding slightly changed the consistent summer pattern of clarity improving east to west.

2012 Puckaway Flood

After a dry summer, winter and early spring, a deluge hit much of the area May 3rd, pouring water into the Fox River, its marshes, and Lake Puckaway.  Damage to property owners is easily apparent, but habitat loss can be harder to measure unless large portions of marsh are ripped out and float downstream.  At best, plants such as bulrushes and canes (Common Reed, Phragmites australis) are stressed, but they can also be killed by prolonged high water.  Buffalo fish and common carp are taking advantage of the flooded marshes for spawning.  If it is a good year for carp production, it could spell bad years for aquatic vegetation a few years down the road.

Be thankful for wetlands!  Lake Puckaway is blessed with thousands of acres of wetlands adjacent to and upstream of the lake.  As the lake and the Fox River overtake their banks, these wetlands absorb or filter and slowly release billions of gallons of water.  Without the wetlands, flooding would be much worse on Lake Puckaway and many miles downstream.  Suspended solids and nutrients will also be taken up by these wetlands, improving water quality downstream.  

Wetlands doing their job as an old break in the Fox River
dredge bank  provides relief for residents from Lake Puckaway
 to Lake Winnebago.  

Keeping track of the flood waters can be done at a few USGS sites that report real time flow, gauge, and temperatures for the Fox River below Lake Puckaway at Princeton and Berlin.  You can even sign up for water alert, in which the USGS will automatically email or text you water level information based on the parameters you set.  The Lake Puckaway Protection and Rehabilitation District also takes manual readings at staff gauges at the Princeton Dam, Lake Puckaway, and just upstream of the lake on the Fox River.  

To see more photos of the flood click below.