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Clean Lakes Alliance is presenting a conceptual design contest to reimagine Warner Park Beach.
Issis Macias, Watershed Engagement Manager, Clean Lakes Alliance
Clean Lakes Alliance, in partnership with Madison Community Foundation and Madison Parks, has launched a conceptual design contest to ignite community interest in improving local lakeside parks and beaches. The "Reimagining Warner Beach" contest will allow participants to envision Warner Beach based on the design goals of improved water quality, sustainability, access and placemaking.
This first-of-its-kind design contest is open to everyone, including individuals or teams, with no formal design experience required. The submission deadline is January 15, 2018. The top design will be awarded $10,000, with $4,000 and $1,000 runner-up prizes going to second and third place respectively. Winners will be announced at Clean Lakes Alliance’s 2018 Save Our Lakes Community Breakfast on May 2nd.
Interested participants should attend a tour of Warner Beach with contest officials on Saturday, September 16th, 10 a.m. at 1101 Woodward Drive in Madison. Learn more at: www.cleanlakesalliance.org/warner-beach-design-contest
Dale Macheel, a member of the Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soils and Water, operates Macheel Enterprises and Werld Farms. He is one of the foremost conservation-minded producers in the county, with over 1,000 cropland acres in production. He says taking care of the soil is his most important goal. With the help of NRCS, Dale participates in EQIP, CSP and FSA's Conservation Reserve Program. Read more about how he's transformed his soil, one conservation practice at a time.
Read more (2,167 KB pdf)
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Ag Sector Team
The Rock River Ag Sector Team is meeting Wednesday November 8 to follow up on tasks identified in our July meeting. Notes from the July meeting are available;
November meeting details:
Time: November 8
Location: TBD - most likely UW Extension, Jefferson
Draft Agenda:
9-10 am: Purpose of the Ag Sector Team and Expected Deliverables – facilitated by UW Extension
10-10:30 am: MDV and Point Source Update
10:30-11: Update on County Templates
11-12: County Round Table
12-1: Waterways and Wetland Delineation - TBD
The Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soil–Healthy Water held a program on Wednesday at the Dodge County Fairgrounds. Emphasis on improving soil health through the use of Cover Crops, residue management and reduced tillage.
Mission statement: Improving our community’s soil & water through conservation practices & education.
“What makes this group different is we primarily have farmer talking to farmer,” Tony Pierick, a farmer from southern Dodge County and chairman of the group, said in a statement.
Join us October 8 for our next event - our Cover Crop Field Day. Visit with the farmers from the August workshop, see how the cover crops are doing, and learn more about the benefits and economics of cover crops.
Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grants (PLWPG)
FY 2018 funding: A Request for Proposals for FY 18 funding (Jan 1 2018-Dec 31 2018) will be made available once the state budget has been finalized. As part of the legislataive process, JFC approved an increase to the maximum grant awards from $20,000 to $40,000. Important dates:
- December 13, 2017: PLWPG Workshop for group members and collaborators
- December 15, 2017: Extension requests/progress reports due
- December 31, 2017: Final reimbursement requests due
- December 31, 2017: Final reports due for 2016 and 2017 (unless extending 2017 funds)
The Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grants Annual Workshop allows for producer-led grant recipients throughout the state to network, share success stories, and learn from each other on what works and what hasn't in their watershed projects. Experts also discuss how producer-led groups can be most successful regarding research and monitoring, field days, and outreach efforts. All producer-led grant recipients and their collaborators are invited to attend but at least one member from each group is required. Save the date for the 2017 workshop at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells on Wednesday, December 13, 2017!
If you have any questions about this event, please contact Melissa Gilmore at DATCP, 608-224-4633.
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Citizen Monitoring
While we are well into the 2017 monitoring season, it's not too late to get involved. This is also the perfect time to think about becoming a citizen monitoring volunteer for next year and plan a training for 2018.
The following resources and organizations can help you receive training and start citizen monitoring for your own lake or stream!
In the Oconomowoc River Watershed, a group of volunteer monitors have earned themselves the curious moniker of "Mud Chaser". What is a Mud Chaser?
As explained by Tom Steinbach, operations manager at the Oconomowoc Wastewater Treatment Plant and program manager for the Oconomowoc Watershed Protection Program, Mud Chasers is the name of a group formed in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Mud Chasers volunteer to watch for elevated turbidity and sediment at specific streams at road crossings during storm events.
Using rain gauges, cameras and sampling bottles, the Mud Chasers will focus on specific impaired streams, helping to determine where sediment plumes are coming from.
“They’ll be our eyeballs on the ground,” says . “You can’t determine the source of runoff by standing on a bridge. We need to get out there during storms and see what’s happening, follow the mud back upstream.”
Mud chasing is Steinbach’s idea. He says it’s based on the fact that very little actual visual inspection is happening during storms at a field scale level to actually see or trace runoff. “Even when we do our event monitoring, we are presently only taking samples from bridges, and the timing is not always ideal to really see what’s happening.”
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Save the date! Head to Lakeshore State Park in downtown Milwaukee on September 30, 2017 to enjoy a day of free, family fun (and make a huge difference while doing it!). The festivities continue all day with games and activities for kids, kayak demonstrations, prairie tours, educational booths, delicious local food trucks, and more.
Sturgeon Fest celebrates Riveredge’s 25 year partnership with the Wisconsin DNR to bring back Lake Sturgeon, a critically important species both environmentally and culturally, to the Milwaukee River, where they haven’t been seen in over 100 years.
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Sector Team
Numerous updates have been made to the MS4/Stormwater Sector Team page on the Rock River Recovery TMDL Website. These include;
This popular annual event brings together professionals from Wisconsin, Minnesota and other Midwest states to learn about the latest in stormwater and erosion control in the classroom. The second part of the program will take attendees out to the field at American Excelsior's Erosion Lab, a large-scale erosion control testing facility, to see demonstrations of the BMPs and products that are used in the field every day. View more info.
Date/Time: Thurs., Sept. 21; 8 am-4:15 pm
Location: Rice Lake, WI
Save
the Date for our next Training
Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2017
Waukesha, WI
The two day course is designed for those who
perform site management duties, supervise or direct construction activities,
install best management practices, and/ or inspect sites for compliance
relating to erosion/sediment control and storm water management. This course
will cover permit requirements, roles and responsibilities, construction site
erosion control plans, and best management practices to reduce or control
erosion and offsite sedimentation.
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The WWOA Board of Directors cordially invites you to the 51st Annual WWOA Conference, October 17 - 20.
We are at a new venue this year, the Madison Marriot West Hotel and Conference Center in Middleton, WI. As we begin our next Fifty Years, I hope you will be joining us. Our Conference Program is full of exciting information on what will prove to be a great conference.
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