Upper Fox River Basin Info

The Upper Fox River Basin drains 2,090 square miles and includes all of Marquette County and portions of Green Lake, Columbia, Fond du Lac, Waushara, Calumet, Adams, and Winnebago Counties. The Upper Fox River runs from the border of Green Lake and Columbia Counties southwest to Portage and then back northeast to Lake Winnebago. The Upper Fox Basin is comprised of 15 smaller watersheds drained by 1,257 miles of rivers and streams.

Predominant land uses in the Upper Fox River Basin are agriculture and forestry although over 10% of the land area is classified as wetland. More than 55,000 acres in natural areas, state parks, fisheries access areas and wildlife management areas are owned and managed by the state. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns over 4,000 acres of wildlife refuge and waterfowl production areas. Urban development is limited primarily to the eastern end of the Basin in Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, and Neenah-Menasha.