Fish and Aquatic Life
A soft water, drainage impoundment located on the Wisconsin River that is the fourth largest lake within the state. The water level is controlled by a hydroelectric power dam having a 30-foot head owned by Wisconsin River Power Company. The water has a light brown color, is alkaline, and has a low transparency. Northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, black crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, black bullhead, and brown bullhead are the significant game fish species. Carp, redhorse, buffalo, white sucker, bowfin, and burbot are also present. Partial winterkill and summerkill conditions occasionally occur. Commercial fishing for rough fish and bullhead has been carried on in the past. Industrial pollution is a problem. There is public access from county-owned parks in Adams and Juneau Counties and numerous road ends; there are commercial facilities; there is one organizational camp; and there are over a hundred dwellings on the flowage. Much of the frontage is owned by the Power Company and expanded developments, including a state park, are now under consideration. Muskrat are significant and beaver are present in backwater areas. Several species of puddle ducks use the flowage for nesting and during their spring and fall migrations.
Source: 1969, Surface Water Resources of Juneau County Castle Rock Flowage, T16N, R4E, Section 13 Surface Acres = 13,387, S.D.F. = 6.05, Maximum Depth = 36 feet
Author Aquatic Biologist
Jim Kreitlow (NOR) documented dissolved oxygen standards violations while sampling the lake in the mid 1990s. Dissolved oxygen concentrations below 5 mg/l were generally found during the early morning hours, probably a result of algae respiration. Values for pH above 9.0 were documented in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 (9 of 107 samples).
The cause of this impairment is likely a result of excessive nutrient loading (phosphorus) from point and nonpoint sources in the watershed. As a result, the flowage is very eutrophic with abundant algae growth.
The Petenwell and Castle Rock Flowages Comprehensive Management Plan was completed in 1996. This report indicates severe algal blooms cause periodic shifts in dissolved oxygen. During photosynthesis, dissolved oxygen values are high (11-12 mg/l) but during respiration, they can drop below 5.0 mg/l (Storet, 1992 was referenced). The report also indicates blue-green algae are the dominant phytoplankton in the Petenwell and Castle Rock Flowages. The report also references sediment sampling has been completed in both flowages, however additional sampling is recommended. Previous sampling found high levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 2,3,7,8-TCDF in the sediments. PCBs and mercury have also been detected at limited sampling sites. Currently, a fish consumption advisory exists on the flowage for PCBs, dioxin and mercury.
Author Aquatic Biologist
Castle Rock Lake Buckhorn State Park Beach was assessed for the 2018 listing cycle; E. coli data sample data were clearly below the 2018 WisCALM listing thresholds for the Recreation use. This beach was meeting this designated use and was not considered impaired.
Author Ashley Beranek
Castle Rock Flowage was recently evaluated during the ten-year period of 2009 through 2018 for results that were reported to the USEPA for the 2020 Clean Water Act condition report. The waterbody is considered impaired, or in poor condition for designated uses which include the quality of fish and aquatic life, recreational use, and public health and welfare (fish consumption and related). Pollutants or problems encountered during sampling (impairments) are determined based on water quality standards outlined in Wisconsin 2020 Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology (WisCALM). Assessment results show water conditions that are potentially harmful for Aquatic Life and Recreation uses due to values for total phosphorus that fall into the range expected for an aquatic community in poor health, therefore this water is listed as impaired.
Assessment results during the 2020 listing cycle show total phosphorus levels that indicate impairment to Aquatic Life and Recreation uses, according to 2020 WisCALM standards. Based on the most updated information, in 2020 the impairment was changed from ï¿½water use restrictionsï¿½ to ï¿½high phosphorus levels,ï¿½ which helps clarify the impairment. This lake has been listed as impaired for total phosphorus since 1998.
Author Ashley Beranek
Wisconsin has over 84,000 miles of streams, 15,000 lakes and milllions of acres of wetlands. Assessing the condition of this vast amount of water is challenging. The state's water monitoring program uses a media-based, cross-program approach to analyze water condition. An updated monitoring strategy (2015-2020) is now available. Compliance with Clean Water Act fishable, swimmable standards are located in the Executive Summary of Water Condition in 2018. See also the 'monitoring and projects' tab.
Habitat Restoration - Shoreland
Educate and engage residents
Adams County proposes to provide educational and technical assistance to the public and Adams County lake organizations for the installation of shoreline buffers on waterways so they comply with the Adams County Shoreland, Wetland, and Habitat Protection Ordinance.
Adams County proposes to provide up to 75% of the cost of shoreland restoration practices to lake front property owners on Castle Rock Lake. Grant funds will be distributed to fund removal of sea walls, minor bank re-shaping, placement of rip-rap, establishment of vegetative buffers and implementation of individual stormwater management plans.
Adams County proposes to wrap up its county-wide lake classification effort. Major project elements to include: 1) completion of water sampling, 2) development of lakes classification report and individual lake summaries, 3) development of a powerpoint presentation, 4) four public meetings, 5) expansion of shoreline restoration packet.
Adams County continue its lake classification efforts through collecting and assessing chemical and biological data on all lakes within the county that afford public access. Major project componants to include: 1) collection and assessment of chemical and biological data, 2) development of a "library" of information for public use, 3) development of management recommendations, 4) I&E for riparians and lake users.
Adams County proposes to initiate a Lakes Classification effort to assist in comprehensive plan development for communities surrounding its lakes with public access. Phase 1 elements, to be funded with this grant, include: 1) delination of surface watersheds and flow patterns, 2) delineation of ground watersheds, 3) identification and mapping of land uses, 4) inventory and mapping of shoreline erosion and development problems, 5) identification and mapping of sensitive/critical areas and natural heritage habitats, 6) verification of wetland delineations, 7) delineations of lake watersheds, 8) development of lake maps
The Petenwell and Castle Rock Stewards (PACRS) propose to initiate a public education campaign to inform members of the public about the organization's work on behalf of improved water quality on the Petenwell and Castle Rock flowages in Adams and Juneau counties. Major project elements to include: a) signage at public boat landings, b) distribution of informative place mats to area restaurants, c) development of future communications planning, d) water quality monitoring, and e) development of an annual report.
Wisconsin's Water Quality Standards provide qualitative and quantitative goals for waters that are protective of Fishable, Swimmable conditions [Learn more]. Waters that do not meet water quality standards are considered impaired and restoration actions are planned and carried out until the water is once again fishable and swimmable
Management goals can include creation or implementation of a Total Maximum Daily Load analysis, a Nine Key Element Plan, or other restoration work, education and outreach and more. If specific recommendations exist for this water, they will be displayed below online.
Monitoring the condition of a river, stream, or lake includes gathering physical, chemical, biological, and habitat data. Comprehensive studies often gather all these parameters in great detail, while lighter assessment events will involve sampling physical, chemical and biological data such as macroinvertebrates. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish communities integrate watershed or catchment condition, providing great insight into overall ecosystem health. Chemical and habitat parameters tell researchers more about human induced problems including contaminated runoff, point source dischargers, or habitat issues that foster or limit the potential of aquatic communities to thrive in a given area. Wisconsin's Water Monitoring Strategy was recenty updated.
Grants and Management Projects
|WBIC||Official Waterbody Name||Station ID||Station Name||Earliest Fieldwork Date||Latest Fieldwork Date||View Station||View Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293142||Castle Rock Flowage - N Of Yellow R Arm||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017439||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn State Park - Nr 19th (Juneau Co)||7/23/2011||9/6/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017578||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn Wildlife Area- Nr Cty G||7/23/2011||9/10/2013||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017792||Castle Rock Lake -- Nr Ganter Ln||5/31/2019||5/31/2019||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10000534||Castle Rock Lake||9/1/1992||9/30/2017||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031173||Castle Rock Flowage TMDL monitoring 02 (3.7 miles US of dam)||4/20/2010||1/1/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031174||Castle Rock Flowage TMDL monitoring 01 (1 mile US of dam)||4/20/2010||1/1/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031220||Yellow River arm - 0.7 mi. SW of Buckhorn WLA boat landing||5/27/2010||9/16/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10034200||Castle Rock Lake near Murmuring Pines Dr at E Bay Dr||8/18/2011||8/19/2011||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013156||Castle Rock Flowage - Sed Up End T17nr4es1||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013158||Castle Rock Flowage - Sed Low T16nr4es12||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293123||Castle Rock Flowage - Deep Hole-SW Side||7/23/1973||10/1/1997||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293143||Castle Rock Flowage - W Side Above Dam||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017440||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn State Park- Nr 19th And 36th||4/19/2012||7/13/2014||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017542||Castle Rock Lake --Castle Rock Park (Adams Co.)||5/7/2005||9/5/2016||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017926||Castle Rock Lake -- Nr 29th||5/29/2006||5/31/2019||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10034031||Castle Rock SP Campsites 20-22 & kayak portage||7/29/2011||7/29/2011||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||124||Wisconsin River at Castle Rock Lake||5/12/1976||5/12/1976||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293048||Wisconsin River - Below Little Roche A Cri||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293049||Wisconsin River - Above Mouth Of Klein Creek||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293159||Wisconsin River - Castle Rock Dam||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017793||Castle Rock Lake -- Access near N Cypress Ln||5/25/2009||8/30/2014||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||125||Wisconsin River - Near Castle Rock||5/7/1976||5/7/1976||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013045||Castle Rock Flowage - Deepest Point River Mile 164.1 (1705e30nwnw)||10/27/1993||10/15/1997||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013046||Castle Rock Flowage - Deepest Point Sw Of Little Roche A Cri Creek Arm River Mile 167.7 (1704e12sene)||10/27/1993||10/15/1997||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013157||Castle Rock Flowage - Sed Mid T17nr04es30||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293132||Castle Rock Flowage - Blw Cth G Bridg||9/18/1992||1/1/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017565||Wisconsin River -- Access at Dam Rd Near Castle Rock Lake Town Of Quincy||5/7/2005||8/3/2014||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017794||Castle Rock Lake/ Juneau Lake/Wisconsin River -- Access||8/7/2010||9/2/2013||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031219||Castle Rock Flowage - 1.8 mi. above dam||5/27/2010||4/23/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10037677||Castle Rock Lake -- Bay Beach Private Access (20th Ave)||6/20/2012||6/20/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013047||Castle Rock Flowage - Deepest Point East Of Osprey Landing River Mile 169.9 (1804e27swne)||10/27/1993||10/15/1997||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293039||Wisconsin River at C And Nw Rr Bridge Near Delwood||8/6/1975||3/9/1977||Map||Data|
|1345400||Castle Rock Ditch ||293041||Wisconsin River - Wis Riv Power Co Castle Rock 001||5/4/1976||5/4/1976||Map||Data|
|1179900||Wisconsin River||293045||Wisconsin River - .8 Mi Below Fish Lake||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293047||Wisconsin River - Below C And Nw Rr Bridge||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293051||Wisconsin River - 1.8 Mi Ab Castle Rock Dam||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017527||Castle Rock Lake -- Nr Shacks Rd||Map||Data|
|1031600||Unnamed||10017578||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn Wildlife Area- Nr Cty G||7/23/2011||9/10/2013||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017580||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn Wildlife Area - South Of Cty G||4/19/2012||9/10/2013||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017767||Castle Rock Lake -- County Park Access (Juneau Co)||8/2/2014||7/18/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031214||Upper Castle Rock Flowage - 1 mi. NE of mouth of Little Roche Cri Cr.||5/26/2010||9/26/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031217||Castle Rock Flowage - 0.8 mi. west of Castle Rock Co. Park||5/26/2010||9/26/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10037679||Castle Rock Lake -- Wallers Pond Private Access (21st Street)||9/17/2011||9/17/2011||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||013044||Castle Rock Flowage - Deepest Point Above Dam At River Mile 159.7 (1604e13nwse)||9/6/1992||10/15/1997||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293125||Castle Rock Lake - South Of L Roche A Cri Creek Entry/ Castle R F Sed Lo (T16nr4es13)||2/20/1996||2/20/1996||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293131||Castle Rock Flowage - (1604e12)||10/27/1993||10/26/1994||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293160||Castle Rock Lake - Buckhorn State Park Beach||6/16/2003||8/24/2020||Map||Data|
|1179900||Wisconsin River||293040||Wisconsin River at Castle Rock Dam||8/6/1975||2/9/1978||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293133||Castle Rock Flowage - (T17n04e35swnw)||10/27/1993||9/16/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293141||Castle Rock Flowage - S Of L Roche A Cri||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017766||Castle Rock Lake -- Nr 17th||4/19/2012||4/19/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031172||Castle Rock Flowage 03 (7.6 miles US of dam)||4/20/2010||1/1/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031175||Castle Rock Flowage TMDL monitoring 04 (Yellow river bay 5 miles US of dam)||4/20/2010||1/1/2015||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031213||Upper Castle Rock Flowage - 1 mi. above RR bridge||5/26/2010||9/26/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10037673||Castle Rock Lake -- Lakewood Estates Private Access||6/25/2012||6/25/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293050||Wisconsin River - Below Mouth Of Klein Creek||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||293052||Wisconsin River - Opposite Mouth Of Klein Cr||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10017579||Castle Rock Lake -- Buckhorn Wildlife Area- Nr 32nd And 16th||7/23/2011||4/19/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||235||Fox River - Castle Rock Buckhorn Br.||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031215||Castle Rock Flowage - 0.3 mi. from east shore||5/26/2010||9/26/2012||Map||Data|
|1345700||Castle Rock Lake||10031218||Castle Rock Flowage - 1 mil SE of Buckhorn State Wildlife Area||5/27/2010||4/23/2012||Map||Data|
Castle Rock Lake is located in the Little Roche A Cri Creek watershed which is 196.20 mi². Land use in the watershed is primarily forest (55.60%), agricultural (23.20%) and a mix of wetland (9.70%) and other uses (11.50%). This watershed has 108.40 stream miles, 12,554.07 lake acres and 18,156.97 wetland acres.
Nonpoint Source Characteristics
This watershed is ranked Medium for runoff impacts on streams, Low for runoff impacts on lakes and High for runoff impacts on groundwater and therefore has an overall rank of High. This value can be used in ranking the watershed or individual waterbodies for grant funding under state and county programs.However, all waters are affected by diffuse pollutant sources regardless of initial water quality. Applications for specific runoff projects under state or county grant programs may be pursued. For more information, go to surface water program grants.