The La Crosse County Watershed
Linking La Crosse, Onalaska, and other towns as far East as Fort McCoy is the La Crosse-Pine watershed (2). All water accumulated drained by the La Crosse river as well as its tributaries. Rainwater, especially snowfall, pushes tons of water into the watershed throughout the year. On average the surface waters are clear but are greatly affected through inconsistent weather (flooding or droughts) as well as agricultural runoff and other pollutants. According to the La Crosse county website, the watershed has been greatly monitored starting in 1998. The Land Conservation Department does sampling in streams and other sites regularly (that flow into the La Crosse river). They check for pollutants like fecal coliform bacteria and high levels of phosphorus. The website also mentions that in 2007, the county experienced a large fish kill due to poor manure management (1). The farms responsibly for this runoff of manure came from over 1.5 miles away! To avoid such occurrence from happening again, the county has done a regular check and upkeep of the watershed quality to maintain the health of the streams, rivers, and ecosystem in general. Another section of the La Crosse county website explains how as of late, the county has been awarded a large grant to improve the quality of the Bostwick Creek watershed. This watershed is smaller and is located 5 miles east of the city of La Crosse. The creek usually has an abundance of wild trout. The grant was recently awarded on which promises were kept to install stabilization structures and planting new acres of cover crops to combat erosion and preserve farmland (lowering that amount of runoff from such farms) (3).
The larger phenomenon within the La Crosse-Pine watershed is the direct flow into the Mississippi River (serving as the watershed for the great Mississippi River Valley). As we learned in class, the runoff containing pollutants that flows into the Mississippi has high chances of eventually reaching the Gulf of Mexico where pollutants causes a mass ripple effect. The ‘dead zone’ of the Gulf is characterized by that massive increase in the limiting factor phosphorous resulting in huge eutrophication characterized by mass algal growth and accumulation of dead matter.
SOURCES
https://www.lacrossecounty.org/landcon/watershed-planning
https://www.lacrossecounty.org/news/2021/04/29/improving-the-bostwick-creek-watershed
Hi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteThe parts of your piece about the pollution entering the waters was very interesting to me! It makes we wonder how they identified that it was that specific farm that led to the fish die off given the issues with tracing non-point source pollution, as well as what sort of tests are used to identify fecal coliform bacteria
Hi Kayla, it's encouraging to see the large grant awarded for the improvement of the Bostwick Creek watershed, using methods like stabilization structures and cover crops to reduce erosion and runoff. Your post underlines the importance of watershed preservation. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kayla,
ReplyDeleteIt was great to learn about the Lacrosse water shed and how different weather affects and nutrient runoff has caused various ecological impact. It was especially interesting to hear about how far away agricultural runoff can affect ecosystems and the importance of taking into account far away sources.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI was interested in how the surface waters in LaCrosse are so affected by inconsistent weather. That made me think for a second and realized that LaCrosse has those beautiful bluffs that overlook the city. I was wondering if they have any affect on the water quality at all in LaCrosse? You certainly do not have to answer this question if you don't want to. I loved your post!