Lake Eau Claire General Information

Lake Eau Claire is a popular recreational lake located in west central Wisconsin in an area that is largely forested and abounds with a variety of wildlife including upland game birds, deer, bear, wolf, cougars, and a variety of other animals of the forest. Local community members and tourists use the lake and surrounding area for a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities which include: fishing, boating, hunting, picnicking, golf, snowmobiling, camping, and ATV riding. These activities provide a major economic base for local businesses and surrounding communities. Because of escalating development and the resulting increasing tax base the lake region has become central to the economy of the surrounding area.

The lake falls into a category referred to as an impoundment lake that was formed in 1937 as the result of the damming the Eau Claire River which resulted in the flooding about 1250 acres of the river basin above the dam that is located just east of Highway 27. So in essence the lake is new relative when compared to most natural lakes in the mid-west and is only 75 years old and not thousands of years old. Like most impoundment lakes, Lake Eau Claire is steadily undergoing changes that because of the geological characteristics of the area, the development around the lake, and the water shed that feeds it are creating negative impacts on the local environment. To address these impacts the local community has organized two largely volunteer organizations which oversee programs that are designed to rehabilitate the lake and adjacent tributaries and protect them into the future. These organizations are the Lake Eau Claire Association and the Lake Eau Claire Rehabilitation and Protection District.