The Mukwonago River is one of the cleanest and most biologically diverse streams in southeastern Wisconsin. The river is part of the Mukwonago River Watershed which spans 47,500 acres through and around the town of

Mukwonago Mukwonago is a village in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 8,262 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village is located mostly within the Mukwonago (town), Wisconsin, Town of Mukwonago in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, ...

Fish and Wildlife

At least 53 species of fish, including two state listed species, and sixteen species of mussels are found in the Mukwonago River. Ten of the eleven Sunfish found in Wisconsin are present in the river including the threatened Northern Sunfish. All three species of

Killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

(Topminnows), including the endangered Starhead Topminnow, can be found. In addition, the river is also home to a high biodiversity of waterfowl, reptiles, amphibians, insects, aquatic plants, and other wetland life. It holds one of the last and largest strands of wild rice in Southeastern Wisconsin. This high level of biodiversity is quite uncommon for a stream of this size and is only comparable to large rivers in Wisconsin like the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousi ...

Conservation

Some of the

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

that have been introduced to the watershed are the Asiatic Clam (

Corbicula fluminea ''Corbicula fluminea'' is a species of freshwater clam native to eastern Asia which has become a successful invasive species throughout North America, South America, and Europe. ''Corbicula fluminea'' is commonly known in the west as the Asian cl ...

), Zebra Mussel (

Dreissena polymorpha The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally Introduced species, introduced to numerous other areas and has become an inv ...

), Purple loosestrife (

Lythrum salicaria ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...

), Eurasian Water-milfoil (

Myriophyllum spicatum ''Myriophyllum spicatum'' (Eurasian watermilfoil or spiked water-milfoil) is native to Europe, Asia, and north Africa, but has a wide geographic and climatic distribution among some 57 countries, extending from northern Canada to South Africa. It ...

), and Curly-leaf pondweed (

Potamogeton crispus ''Potamogeton crispus'', the crisp-leaved pondweed, curly pondweed, curly-leaf pondweed or curled pondweed, is a species of aquatic plant (hydrophyte) native to Eurasia but an introduced species and often a noxious weed in North America. Descr ...

References

External links

Friends of the Mukwonago River
{{authority control Rivers of Waukesha County, Wisconsin Rivers of Wisconsin