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Crystal Lake Crystal Lake is a large, shallow, landlocked basin located where the ground moraine borders the terminal moraine in northwestern Dane County. A narrow fringe of marsh surrounds the lake. Some of the lakeshore has been developed as a trailer park and houses have been built on a nearby hill (Bedford et al . , 1974) . There is no public access on the lake but access and boats are offered for a fee at two commercial sites (Poff & Threinen, 1962) . The rest of the land surrounding the lake is in farms. The lake covers 410 to 571 acres and has a maximum depth of 6 to 9 feet . Its average depth is only 2 to 3 feet. Since the predominant source of water to the lake is runoff, the water level and lakesite fluctuates from year to year depending on the amount of precipitation (Poff & Threinen, 1962; Cline, 1948; Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1953) . The lake is not stratified; therefore, temperature and oxygen conditions do not vary much from the surface to the bottom. In the summer, the water temperature is quite warm (82°F according to the one available measurement) (Cline, 1948) . In the winter under thick ice and snowcover, dissolved oxygen levels become very low (1 to 2 ppm) (Brynildson, 2/11/76) . The lake has an aerator but it has not been effective in preventing winterkill (Brynildson, personal communication, 2/78) . The limited chemical data available shows dramatic variations in pH. The 1943 and 1948 surveys showed a relatively normal pH of 7.6 (Cline, 1948; Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1953) while the 1960 survey showed very alkaline pH readings of 9.3 and 9.4 (Poff & Threinen, 1962) . According to the data in all the surveys , the level of dissolved solids in the water is very low compared to most lakes in Dane County (alka- linity = 52 to 80 ppm, specific conductance = 165 to 170 Mmhos.) (Cline, 1948; Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1953; Poff & Threinen, 1963) . The lake bottom is entirely muck and decomposing vegetation except for a sandy peninsula on the west side. The fertile muck bottom is covered by a dense growth of aquatic vegetation. Surveys conducted in 1943 and 1948 showed a variety of plant species including sago pondweed, water- weed, water milfoil , bulrushes, arrowhead , yellow and white water lilies , and duckweed. During the 1948 survey, three species of blue green algae were abundant - Aphanocapsa, Microcystis and £oelosphaerium (Cline, 1948; Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1953) . When the lake was surveyed in August, 1971 for a wetlands study, the researchers noted a "red plankton bloom along with Hydrodictyon and another abundant algae." This bloom was interpreted as evidence that the water quality in the lake had deteriorated seriously (Bedford et al . , 1974) . The fishery in Crystal Lake varies from one year to the next depending on winterkill and subsequent restocking. When winter survival is good , fishing for bullheads, bluegills and largemouth bass is excellent. However, when winterkill occurs, the only survivors are bullheads (Poff & Threinen, 1962; Cline, 1948; Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1953) . B-104