Boom Lake in Rhinelander. Star Journal file photo

First in a four-part series on water quality

By Oneida County Land and Water Conservation

The Oneida County Land and Water Conservation Department (OCLW) reminds the public that land health and water health are deeply connected. Oneida County has over 1,100 lakes within 49 watersheds, defined as an area of land that drains or “sheds” water into a specific waterbody.

Every body of water has a watershed. Watersheds drain rainfall and snowmelt into streams and rivers. These smaller bodies of water flow into larger ones, including lakes, bays, and oceans. Gravity and the path of least resistance determines the water flow across the landscape. On its journey, water picks up sediments and pollutants from the land’s surface such as pesticides, PFAS (forever chemicals), fertilizers, road salt, and heavy metals from mining sites, and carries them into our waterways and groundwater.  In other words, what happens on the land doesn’t stay on the land.

The DNR’s Healthy Watersheds, High Quality Waters Action Plan identified that of the 49 watersheds in Oneida County, 42 (86%) are in the top 30% and 19 (39 %) are within the top 10% healthiest watersheds in the State. On top of that, our county hosts the No. 1 (Little Rice River Watershed) and No. 3 (Headwaters-Willow River Watershed) healthiest watersheds in the State of Wisconsin. However, many of our top ranked watersheds are highly vulnerable. High quality water is a valuable resource and merits efforts to protect it. In 2023, OCLW was awarded a grant from the Wisconsin DNR for a “High Quality Waters Protection Project” in support of the DNR’s (HWHQW) action plan. Both the plan and the project direct efforts to protecting our healthiest watersheds.

On a statewide scale, Oneida County is located within the upper basin of the Wisconsin River Watershed. Our predominantly forested watersheds are critical to protecting water quality not only within the county, but also for our downstream neighbors to the south. What happens in northern Wisconsin doesn’t necessarily stay in northern Wisconsin. How can each of us continue to keep our county watersheds “High Quality?” 

-Avoid or minimize use of pesticides and fertilizers.

-Be mindful of storm water runoff and where it drains.

-Support natural shorelines with a native planting buffer zone.

-Remove railroad ties or other retaining wall type foreign objects from shorelines.

-Plant trees and preserve forested land. 

-Join a local conservation group. 

-Contact your local lawmakers about water flowing from highways directly into a water body.

-Take steps to address erosion.

BE AWARE: It is far easier, and more cost effective, to keep our waterways healthy thanto restore impaired waters.

Watch for the next installment in our four-part series on water quality. Together we can keep our “high quality waters” healthy into the future.