 http://www.swwtwater.org/news/
Sweet Water's list of September funding opportunities is ready! This list is compiled by Sweet Water to encourage our partner organizations and community members to seek funding for green infrastructure, conservation, and outreach projects.
Check out the list here and get started funding your next project!
Draft TMDL
We appreciate your patience in
the development and approval process of the TMDL. The Milwaukee TMDL is
undergoing internal review and an EPA review of the response to comments
submitted during the official 30-day comment period. Once completed, the TMDL will be formally submitted
to EPA for their approval.
TMDL Implementation
We will be scheduling the next Milwaukee River
Basin TMDL Implementation meeting as the TMDL is finalized. WDNR staff are
continuing to work with our basin partners throughout the MRB TMDL basin
region. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact local DNR
staff or sector team leaders. Their contact information is in the lower
left section of this newsletter, under "DNR Contacts".
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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Paddle along with Milwaukee River keeper staff as they collect data on fish and other wildlife living in Milwaukee’s Harbor. For this paddle, we will meet at Clear Water Outdoor to be fitted for kayaks and paddle boards. We will paddle to several of The Harbor District’s “Habitat Hotels”. Habitat Hotels are recently installed artificial fish habitats located around Milwaukee’s Harbor.
At each Habitat Hotel, we will lower a GoPro Video Camera below the surface of the water with the hope of capturing video footage of any fishy residents. Following the paddle, we will walk to Milwaukee Ale House to download and view our video footage while enjoying a FREE BEER! Specific locations and number of Habitat Hotels that we visit will be weather dependent. Join us!
Please bring a flashlight or headlamp!
Program
5:00-5:30 Arrive and Boat Fitting
5:30-9:00 Habitat Hotel Tour
Meet at the boathouse at the corner of N. Water Street and E. Saint Paul Ave.
Please bring a flashlight or headlamp!
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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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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 Grant Information
FROM: Mike Friis, Manager
SUBJECT: 2018-19 Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Grants Available
The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program (WCMP) is seeking proposals to enhance, preserve, protect and restore resources within the state’s coastal zone – all counties adjacent to Lakes Superior and Michigan, with their nearly 1000 miles of shoreline. We anticipate awarding up to $1.5 million in grant funding.
WCMP Grants are available for coastal wetland protection and habitat restoration, nonpoint source pollution control, coastal resource and community planning, Great Lakes education, public access and historic preservation. Applications are due November 3, 2017.
Applicants are encouraged to contact WCMP staff early to discuss ideas for project proposals and application requirements. More information....
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