Table 50

ESTIMATED VIOLATION OF WATER QUALITY STANDARDS UNDER EXISTING CONDITIONS: 1976a
Water Quality Standards Violated
Un-ionized
Dissolved    Fecal     Ammonia
Watershed           Temperature    Oxygen     Coliform   Nitrogen    Phosphorus
Des Plaines River  -.. .X                               X          - -          X
Fox River.   .............                   X          X          --           X
Kinnickinnic River   .-.-                               X          - -         NAb
Menomonee River ........        X            X          X           X          NAb
Milwaukee River .  .   .X                               X          - -          X
Minor Streams Tributary
to Lake Michigan . ...X                                X
Oak Creek-............                                  X           X           X
Pike River .............X                              X          --           X
Rock River.    ............     -X                      X           X           X
Root River.    ............     -X                      X          --           X
Sauk CreekX.............X
Sheboygan River .....  .--                                                       X

aBased on mathematical water quality modeling
program.

conducted under the regional water quality management planning

bNot Applicable. The Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers were not required to meet the phosphorus standard, which
supports full recreational use, because these streams were recommended for only limited recreational uses.
Source: SEWRPC.

analyzed over a three-year period at 34 sampling
stations. Biological and sediment data were also
collected. This sampling program was by far the
most intensive water quality sampling program
ever undertaken in southeastern Wisconsin.
Analysis of the water quality data collected
indicated that the recommended water use
objectives and supporting water quality stand-
ards were not fully met in any portion of the
estuary. The standards violated and the severity
of those violations in each reach of the estuary
are shown graphically on Map 28. Critical low
dissolved oxygen levels were most often asso-

ciated with summer low-flow and high-
temperature conditions while other water quality
standard violations were most severe during
storm events. The primary sources of pollution
to the estuary are combined sewer overflows,
nonpoint sources of pollution, and discharges to
the Milwaukee outer harbor from the Milwaukee
Metropolitan Sewerage District Jones Island
wastewater treatment plant.
Floodlands: The floodlands of a river or stream
are the wide, gently sloping areas contiguous
with, and usually lying on both sides of, a river
or stream channel. Rivers and streams occupy

131