Lake Onalaska.Org

Publications, Studies and Reports

Lake District Sponsored or Funded Studies

Claflin, T.O. 1977. Lake Onalaska Rehabilitation Feasibility Study. Report to Lake Onalaska Rehabilitation District. 43pp. (pdf)
Summary: Found Lake Onalaska already highly eutrophic with a loss of 31% of its volume to sedimentation since its creation in 1939. There was no significant nutrient input from shoreline residents. Forecast rapid encroachment of macrophytes to the (then weed-free) central portion of the lake, followed by a transformation to a marsh-like state. note: of the 4 potential remedial actions, only the second (hydrologic controls on input flow) was deemed feasible and effective. This remedial action was partially implemented in the early 1990s with the construction of closing dams across 4 principal inflow chutes (No-name, Gibbs, Goose, and Sommers chutes).
Schall, D. and J. Kawatski. 1980. The macrophyte and macroinvertebrate populations of three areas of Lake Onalaska (Pool 7, Mississippi River) following mechanical harvesting of aquatic macrophytes. unpublished final report, Viterbo College Dept. of Biology. 82pp. (pdf))
Summary: Aquatic vegetation was mechanically harvested during the summer of 1979 in three study areas. Harvesting reduced plant biomass for about one week, but the areas were rapidly repopulated. The number and biomass of invertebrates did not differ between harvested and control areas.
Lake Onalaska: 50 years of change (pdf))
Lake District 2012 Opinion Survey (as Microsoft Powerpoint File)

Management Plans

Note: Because of congressionally-authorized federal actions for the broad spatial scale of the upper Mississippi River, management planning for Lake Onalaska must exist within the overarching and in most cases over-riding frameworks of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan and the US Army Corps of Engineers Master Plan.

Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge "Comprehensive Conservation Plan" (CCP) [see section “Refuge Purposes”]. This plan, is designed to guide the management and administration of the 240,000-acre, multi-state upper Mississippi refuge for a 15 year period (2006-2021).
Upper Mississippi River Master Plan, St Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This plan establishes an overall land use management plan, identifies resource objectives and identifies associated design and management concepts for the USACE upper Mississippi River Navigation Project between St. Paul, Minnesota and Guttenberg, Iowa (locks and dams 1-10). An associated “Shoreline Management Plan” is still in draft status as of 2024 and has not yet been released.
1984 USFWS Fishery Management Plan, Lake Onalaska, with the stated goal of "providing the framework for cooperative management with state agencies directed toward meeting Master Plan goals and objectives which relate to fishery resources and to maintain these resources for the enjoyment of this and future generations" A 1984 letter of transmittal of this plan to LOPRD highlighted actions recommended by the plan that were in the process of being implemented at the time.
2011 Land Use Allocation Plan (LUAP) document (link to pdf), a document used to guide federal agencies in determining what types of public uses should be allowed on federal lands along the upper Mississippi River. This plan will be superceded by the most recent Shoreline Management Plan, once it it released.
Shoreland District Zoning Brochure from La Crosse County
2004 Upper Mississippi Environmental Pool Plan which contains maps and descriptions of what river managers and the public have identified as the desired future habitat condition toward which resource agencies and other river interests can strive. The plans serve as a guide for individual agencies as they carry out their respective missions and seek funding to do so in a way that insures environmental sustainability. The plans are considered to be an environmental concept that the River Resources Forum can reference when considering future projects and activities brought forth by member agencies.
Port of La Crosse Harbor and Waterfront Plan, 2011, which includes paddle trails for Lake Onalaska (large pdf file, 16MB).

Other Relevant Lake Onalaska Studies and Publications

Mississippi River Fisheries Team, 2008.. Results of Lake Assessment in the Lake Onalaska Lake Unit Navigation Pool 7 of the upper Mississippi River, Fall 2008. Unpublished report, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 32pp.
Navigation Charts for the Upper Mississippi River from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Sullivan, John F. 1992. Pre- and Post- Water Quality Evaluation of the Lake Onalaska Dredge Cut, Pool 7, Mississippi River. Contract Report No. LN 1343-0007, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District.
Hendrickson, J.S., and F. R. Haase. 1994 Hydrodynamic Conditions in the Black River Delta/Lake Onalaska Area, Pool 7, Upper Mississippi River 1980-81 and 1991-92. USACE, St. Paul District, Hydraulics Section.
Clark, S.M. 1974. Determination of the relative state of eutrophy of navigation pool no. 7 of the upper Mississippi River by means of an algal assay procedure. MS Thesis, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. 39pp.
Donahue and Associates Inc. 1987 Geomorphic Mapping of Pool 7 - Upper Mississippi River Basin.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2024. Hydraulic Modeling and Sediment Analysis, Lake Onalaska (NESP)

Halfway Creek Watershed

Vierbicher Associates 1995.. Final Report: Hydraulic and Sedimentation Study, Town of Onalaska, WI. EDA Project No.: 06-06-61051. 144pp.
Fitzpatrick, F.A., J.C. Knox and J.P. Schubauer-Berigan. 2008. Sedimentation History of Halfway Creek Marsh, Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, Wisconsin, 1846–2006. U.S.G.S Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5209. 49pp. (local cached copy)
Fitzpatrick, F.A., J.C. Knox and J.P. Schubauer-Berigan. 2009. Channel, floodplain, and wetland responses to floods and overbank sedimentation, 1846–2006, Halfway Creek Marsh, Upper Mississippi Valley, Wisconsin. in James, L.A., Rathburn, S.L. and Whittecar, G.R., eds., Management and Restoration of Fluvial Systems with Broad Historical Changes and Human Impacts. Geological Society of America Special Paper 451, pp 23-42.
Kreiling, R.M., J.P. Schubauer-Berigan, W.B. Richardson, L.A. Bartsch, P.E. Hughes, J.C. Cavanaugh, and E.A. Strauss. 2013. Wetland management and restoration for wildlife reduces sediment and nutrient loading to the Upper Mississippi River: mechanisms and outcomes. Journal of Environmental Quality. 42:573-583.
Lower Black River Priority Watershed Plan 1983.. 110pp.
Lower Black River Priority Watershed Project Final Report 1997.. 44pp.

Canvasback and Wild Celery

Kahl, R. 1991. Restoration of canvasback migrational staging habitat in Wisconsin: a research plan with implications for shallow lake management. Technical Bulletin (172): 1-47. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison.
Korschgen, C. E., L. S. George, and W. L.Green. 1988. Feeding ecology of canvasbacks staging on Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River. pp. 237-50 in M. W. Weller, ed. Waterfowl in winter. Univ. Minn. Press, Minneapolis. 624 pp.
Serie, J. R., D. L. Trauger, and D. E. Sharp 1983. Migration and winter distributions of canvasbacks staging on the Upper Mississippi River. J. Wildlife Management 47:741-53.
Kenow, K.P., C.E. Korschgen, J.M. Nissen, A. Elfessi, and R. Steinbach. 2003. A voluntary program to curtail boat disturbance to waterfowl during migration. Waterbirds 26(1): 77-87.
McFarland, D.G., and S.J. Rogers. 1998.The aquatic macrophyte seed bank in Lake Onalaska, Wisconsin. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, v. 36, p. 33-39.
Sponberg, A. and D.M. Lodge. 2005. Seasonal belowground herbivory and a density refuge from waterfowl herbivory for Vallisneria americana. Ecology 86(8):2127-2134
Tootoonchi, M., Gettys, and J. Bhada 2019. Tapegrass, Eelgrass, or Wild Celery (Vallisneria americana Michaux): A Native Aquatic and Wetland Plant. EDIS #SS-AGR-437
Thormforde, S. 2013. Canvasback ducks (Aythya valisineria), wild celery (Vallisneria americana), and phosphorus regulation in large shallow water lakes. Presentation at: 98th ESA Annual Convention 2013.
Schafer, D.J. and D.G. McFarland 2008. Factors Influencing Reproduction in American Wild Celery: A Synthesis. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 46(2):129-143.
Varro, Frank 2003. The Interactions Between Aythya valisineria (Canvasback Duck) and Vallisneria americana (Wild Celery): Effects on Restoration in the Upper Mississippi River. University of Minnesota, Department of Horticultural Science. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/60224.

Sandhill Cranes

Temple, Stan 2017.. Sandhill Crane Redux: Part 1. (See also parts 2 and 3, and ). Aldo Leopold Foundation. Retrieved 19Feb 2022.
Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A Sand County Almanac (“Marshland Elegy” Chapter).