Decision Criteria Development and Methodology for the Degraded Fish Population Beneficial Use Impairment in Wisconsin's Lower Menominee River Area of Concern

摘要

The Lower Menominee River area of concern (AOC) is one of 43 such areas in the Great Lakes region that have been subject to historical degradation and recent remediation activities. An evaluation of the efficacy of the remediation activities relates directly to the assessment of various beneficial use impairments (BUIs) and their associated targets. We discuss development and assessment of the "degradation of fish and wildlife populations" BUI in the Lower Menominee River AOC both in general, as well as a specific case within a section of the Lower Menominee River AOC (Lower Scott Flowage). We discuss process and outcomes related to the involvement of the general public and technical experts, the development of assessment criteria, and provisional results of the evaluation. We developed criteria for fish species of interest, as established by citizens and technical experts, with reference conditions defined as elec-trofishing catch per effort in similar flowages within the Menominee River drainage. The target for the BUI was exceedance of the 25th percentile for each species from a distribution of comparable data from reference locations. Preliminary results suggest that relative abundance for most species exceeds this target, although additional surveys are considered necessary by the technical and citizen advisory committees before a final determination can be made. Species targets that are not met will provide guidance for species-specific habitat improvement or other management actions that will result in the removal of the BUI designation.