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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point > CNR Associated Programs > Extension Lakes > Concurrent Session 8

   

 

   Friday
Concurrent Session 8
60 minutes

April 7, 2017 ~ 1:30-2:30 pm

Agenda subject to change.

Citizens Minding Our Waters - Friday, 1:30-2:30 pm

How Citizen Data Can Affect Local Decision-Making

Valley Stewardship Network is working to utilize the help of local Water Action Volunteers and Wisconsin Master Naturalists in an organized effort to collect data from over 25 sub-watersheds within the Kickapoo River watershed. This multi-year effort is designed to categorize these sub-watersheds based upon their water quality attributes and other factors, such as land-cover, in order to guide future conservation planning.  Learn how this work will help to quantify the success of a recently announced Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative that is bringing $5.3 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program cost-share funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. This funding is to be used for on-farm conservation practices designed to improve water quality in ten sub-watersheds in the Kickapoo River watershed.
 
Presenters: 
John Delaney, Agroecologist & Water Quality Program Manager, Valley Stewardship Network
Shelly Brenneman, Executive Director, Valley Stewardship Network

 

County Conservation Panel

Our panel will discuss how and why citizen monitoring data is used in their counties, the implications of this data for future management decisions, creation of “lake report cards”, programming, and how funding will be distributed to areas of need.
 
Presenters: 
Jayne Jenks, Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use
Chase Cummings, County Conservationist, Pepin County
Catherine Higley, Invasive Species Coordinator, Vilas County Land and Water Conservation Department


Mindful Connections: Rivers, Lakes, Groundwater and Watersheds - Friday, 1:30-2:30 pm

Communicating Phosphorus TMDL Goals on Agricultural Lands

Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) are developed to outline how to meet water quality goals. When a TMDL is developed, a load allocation is established for every stream reach that flows into an impaired waterbody. This load allocation is split among point and non-point pollutant sectors, and the non-point sector in phosphorus TMDLs is often linked with agriculture. Agricultural load allocations have always been challenging to communicate due to 1) the inherent uncertainty associated with efficiencies of best-management practices and 2) the dependency of non-point phosphorus loading on weather conditions that vary widely in space and time. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is developing a framework for communicating agricultural load allocations by translating watershed models to field-scale models that are well understood by the agricultural community, ultimately putting the TMDL tools in the hands of producers to enhance their ability to estimate the downstream benefits of best-management practices on their own fields.
 
Presenter: 
Aaron Ruesch, Water Resources Management Specialist, WI Department of Natural Resources

  

A Plan to Improve Water Quality in Castle Rock and Petenwell Reservoirs

Castle Rock and Petenwell Reservoirs are the two largest reservoirs in the Wisconsin River basin, and are the main focus of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis for the entire basin. This analysis is based on extensive water quality monitoring and land use evaluation throughout the basin and on a complex set of models that predict water quality response to phosphorus load reductions. Phosphorus load allocations were developed to fairly distribute the responsibility for water quality improvement amongst all contributing sources, including urban and agricultural runoff and wastewater discharges. This presentation will provide an overview of the Wisconsin River Basin TMDL, highlighting unique challenges of this large watershed and innovative approaches in the areas of modeling and stakeholder engagement.
 
Presenter: 
Matt Diebel, Water Resources Management Specialist, WI Department of Natural Resources


 
 
 
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