lAKE mANAGEMENT pLAN

 

sCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO ESTABLISH BASELINE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CHAIN – RESULTS AVAILABLE IN TLWA PUBLICATION “A MOMENT IN TIME”

A NEED IS ESTABLISHED 

The Three Lakes Waterfront Association (TLWA) and Town of Three Lakes facilitate on-going projects that aim to protect and preserve the Three Lakes Chain of Lakes. They work closely with Onterra, LLC, a lake management planning firm on the projects which include:  

  • Comprehensive lake management planning for the Three Lakes Chain of Lakes  
  • Eurasian water milfoil monitoring and control on Long Lake and it’s Burnt Rollways Channel and Virgin Lake  
  • A town-wide educational initiative on the matter of lake health and management

    FUNDAMENTALS AND GOALS

    This cooperative has successfully obtained grants through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources statewide lake management grant program to partially fund these efforts. Hundreds of hours of in-kind, donated labor are invested by TLWA and Town volunteers in these projects. Their efforts include:  

      • Dissemination of aquatic invasive species information to the public  
      • Clean Boats / Clean Waters watercraft inspections  
      • An AIS rapid response program for potential new infestations  
      • An Adopt-A-Shoreline program to search for AIS 

    The research includes a chain-wide stakeholders survey, watershed characterization, water quality variables (phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, water clarity, dissolved oxygen, acidity (ph) and others), maps of plant colonies, fisheries data, shoreline development and coarse woody shoreline debris surveys.  

    MAP OF LAKE PHASES

    TLWA approved a comprehensive management plans in phases over eight years. 

    • Virgin, Whitefish, and Big Lakes and the Thoroughfare Phase I (2010-2011) 
    • Big Stone, Crystal, Dog, Deer and Laurel Lakes Phase II (2011-2012) 
    • Big Fork and Fourmile Lakes Phase III (2012-2013) 
    • Maple, Moccasin and Spirit Lakes Phase IV)(2013-2014) 
    • Medicine and Little Fork Lakes (Phase V) (2014-2015) 
    • Round, Island and Townline Lakes in Phase VI (2015-2016)  
    • Planting Ground and Rangeline Lakes (2016-2017) 

    REPORT AND MAPS

    The completion of the Lake Management Plan (LMP) for the Three Lakes Chain in 2019 was a milestone for the residents of Three Lakes and all who enjoy the waters in the Chain. Onterra’s Lake Management Plan document stands as a baseline reference. It has 500 pages of text with extensive appendices of raw data with maps showing Shoreline Condition Assessment, Aquatic Plant Community and Coarse Woody Habitat. Access to this full report as well as specific plan results for each lake with maps is available here.  We strongly recommend reading a condensed version of this research in a TLWA publication titled “A Moment in Time” which showcases this accomplishment.

    A Moment In Time - PDF

    RESEARCH IS ONGOING

    This milestone also marks the establishment of baseline conditions on the Chain as of 2020. The next phase of research involves detection of temporal changes by comparing the baseline results with newly collected data.  TLWA requested and received funding in 2020 to resume studies in a phased project by following a survey design similar to that used in the LMP at a reduced scale. The map at right shows the timeline for the follow-up data collection and work.