The Winnebago Pool is a collective name for a group of interconnected
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s in eastern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
.
The terminal point of this watershed is
Lake Winnebago
Lake Winnebago ( mez, Wenepekōw Nepēhsæh, oj, Wiinibiigoo-zaaga'igan, one, kanyataláheleˀ) is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At 137,700 acres it is the largest lake entire ...
itself, which has a surface elevation of 746 feet. Besides Lake Winnebago, the Winnebago Pool includes Big
Lake Butte des Morts
Big Lake Butte des Morts () is a shallow freshwater lake located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, in Winnebago County. It is part of the Winnebago Pool (also known as the ''Winnebago System'') of lakes in east central Wisconsin, along with Lake ...
,
Lake Poygan and
Lake Winneconne. After the waters reach Lake Winnebago, they exit through the
Lower Fox River and over the next 39 miles, the river drops over 150 feet to reach the lower water level of
Green Bay.
The lakes of the Winnebago pool combine to encompass over and account for nearly 17% of the total surface water area in Wisconsin (not counting the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
). The primary feed waters of the Winnebago Pool are the
Wolf River,
Upper Fox River and
Fond du Lac River. Lakes Winnebago and Big Lake Butte des Morts (along with
Little Lake Butte des Morts to the northeast) served as part of the
Fox-Wisconsin Waterway. The
Butte des Morts region is part of the Winnebago Pool.
References
Lakes of Wisconsin
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