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Boaters and anglers may notice five strange objects in some areas of Pool 8 of the upper Mississippi River and one more in the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.
Brent Knights, fishery biologist with the U.S. Geological Service Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, said three of the water quality and weather monitoring equipment stations already have been set up by river scientists from the center and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“We hope to get one more in today and the other two, hopefully, by Friday,” Knights said Wednesday morning.
The stations will monitor dissolved oxygen, water temperature, wind conditions and water clarity throughout the summer until early fall.
Knights said the equipment is scheduled to be removed in mid- to late September.
Data from the monitoring stations is aimed at better understanding how flowing water, water clarity, dissolved oxygen concentration, river discharge, weather conditions and the concentration of plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus affect food webs in the river’s backwaters, Knights said.
Connectivity and water quality are important in determining the quality of these backwater habitats for organisms at all levels of the food web, including algae, zooplankton, aquatic insects and fish.
A better understanding of river processes and animal responses allow resource managers to protect, enhance and restore aquatic ecosystems on the upper Mississippi River.
Knights said the stations will be in Round Lake below Lock and Dam No. 7 at Dresbach, Minn.; in the Stoddard, Wis., island complex; another outside that island complex; in Lawrence Lake and in the main channel border at river mile 693.
The sixth station is set up in Pool 6 in the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.
Each station is marked with reflective tape and flashing lights for night visibility.
Knights said the monitoring equipment is fragile and difficult to replace. He urges boaters and fishermen to avoid disturbing this equipment.
Knights said the rule of thumb is to treat the monitoring stations like a boat dock and remain 100 feet away, with no wake.
Four monitoring stations were placed on the river last year.
For more information, call Knights at (608) 781-6332.
Outdoors editor Bob Lamb can be reached at (608) 791-8228 or blamb@lacrossetribune.com.
