PURPOSE AND SCOPE

The purpose of this report is to describe the physical environment, availability, distribution, characteristics, movement, quality, water problems, and use of water within the Rock-Fox River basin in order to aid in planning future water management within the basin.

This report presents general information on the basin that was derived from data obtained from Federal, State, and local agencies. In addition, new data were collected from areas where available data were scarce. The reader is referred to the section entitled “Agencies Having Additional Information” and to the list of selected references (sheet 4) for sources of more detailed information.

This atlas is one of a series of 12 river-basin studies designed to describe in general terms the water resources of the State. More detailed studies of problem areas will be required in the future as the need for additional information increases.

LOCATION AND EXTENT

The Rock-Fox River basin in Wisconsin, covers about 4,750 square miles in the southeastern part of the State. It includes all or parts of the following 13 counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, Rock, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha. It includes the area drained by the Rock, Fox, and Des Plaines Rivers within the State of Wisconsin.

Although the basin boundary is the topographic divide, part of the streamflow is derived from ground water that drains from an area similar to, but not having the same boundaries as, the topographic basin. The ground-water basin covers about 4,350 square miles, 400 square miles less than the topographic basin. Most of the reduction in basin area is along the eastern side of the basin.