Fish and Aquatic Life
The maximum depth is between four and five feet.
There is no rhyme or reason to naming lakes. Odana Pond, as we've called it, is a natural pothole or kettle pond similar to Tied
Fish and Aquatic Life
The maximum depth is between four and five feet.
There is no rhyme or reason to naming lakes. Odana Pond, as we've called it, is a natural pothole or kettle pond similar to Tiedman's, Essers, Stricker or Graber's ponds in Middleton. All are perched ponds, meaning they have little spring inflow and tend to have relatively impermeable bottoms. Their water comes primarily from runoff. None have natural outlets. It is not a dug detention pond as claimed by some. It is readily apparent on the original surveyor's maps and native American artifacts have been found along its boundaries. At various times, a surface outlet was constructed with the most recent being a pipe placed through the Odana Golf Course at the time of the golf course creation.
Odana Pond today is primarily open water with a monoculture of cattails surrounding the pond. The water tends to be very turbid with a Secchi depth of about 1 foot. It is nutrient rich, and has a surprising Chlorophyll a concentration. It has experienced recent fish kills. In the past (1950s), it has supported a largemouth bass population (how, I don't know) and a large diverse amphibian population. Today, it is primarily carp and turtles. So, it is highly likely that the decline in the aquatic population is human activity induced.
I should mention that the pond does not freeze to the bottom as the depth may imply. The winter water stratifies based on chloride concentrations, with the heavier high chloride concentration water at the bottom. I'd call it a shallow, mixed drainage lake, however, for the majority of the year.
Author James Baumann
Odana Pond (WBIC 3000513) was listed for total phosphorus and chloride in 2012. The 2018 assessments showed continued impairment by phosphorus; new total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a sample data exceeded the 2018 WisCALM listing thresholds for the Recreation use and Fish and Aquatic Li