Waters designated as Outstanding or Exceptional Resource Waters (ORW or ERW) are surface waters which provide outstanding recreational opportunities, support valuable fisheries and wildlife habitat, have good water quality, and are not significantly impacted by human activities. An outstanding resource water is a lake, stream or flowage having excellent water quality, high recreational and aesthetic value and high-quality fishing. ORW waters are free from point source or nonpoint source pollution. An exceptional resource water is a lake, stream, or flowage exhibiting the same high-quality resource values as outstanding waters but may be affected by point source pollution or have the potential for future discharge from a small sewer community. These designations are intended to meet federal Clean Water Act obligations requiring Wisconsin to adopt an “antidegradation” policy that is designed to prevent any lowering of water quality – especially in those waters having significant ecological or cultural value. This layer contains information on ORW and ERW lakes but not streams. This dataset was automatically cataloged from the creator's Open Data Portal. In some cases, publication year and bounding coordinates shown here may be incorrect. Additional download formats may be available on the author's website. Please check the 'More details at' link for additional information.
Although this data is being distributed by the American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the University as to the accuracy of the data and related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the University in the use of this data, or related materials.