Current Status of Door County Waters

by Mike Bahrke

Door County has 25 named inland lakes, ponds, and marshes. Door County also has 38 named rivers, creeks, and streams that drain into Lake Michigan.

In 2014, a little over 10 years ago, according to the Wisconsin DNR, four Door County water bodies were impaired/contaminated/polluted:

·         Mackaysee Lake

·         Ahnapee River

·         Sugar Creek

·         Stony Creek

Pollutants/impairments at that time included: mercury, PCBs, total phosphorus, and degraded habitat.

Ten years later, in 2024, again according to the Wisconsin DNR, 10 Door County water bodies are now impaired/contaminated/polluted:

·         Ahnapee River

·         Ephraim Beach

·         Fish Creek and Lake Michigan

·         Green Bay shoreline

·         Heins Creek

·         Larson Creek

·         Otumba Park Beach

·         Stony Creek

·         Sugar Creek

·         Unnamed water body

Pollutants/impairments include: E. coli pathogens, PCBs, PFOS, total phosphorus, contaminated fish, degraded biological community, and elevated water temperature.

In the past 10 years we’ve seen a 150% increase in the number of impaired/contaminated/

polluted water bodies in Door County.

At the pace we’re going will we have 16 impaired/contaminated/polluted Door County waters in 2034?!