 Amnicon Falls State Park - https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/amnicon/
MADISON, Wis. - We at your Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources want you to know we are here for you and our great state as we go through the COVID-19 public health emergency together.
Gov. Tony Evers issued the Safer at Home order Tuesday to "help slow the spread of COVID-19 so we can flatten the curve to ensure our doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers have the opportunity to do their important work." The order is effective 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 25, 2020 through 8 a.m. Friday, April 24, 2020, or until a superseding order is issued. While the order limits the spread of infectious diseases through the workplace, Gov. Evers' Safer at Home order (item 11.c) recognizes outdoor activity as an essential activity and that it can be a safe recreational outlet during our shared challenge. As such, all State Parks, Trails and Forests remain open and all fees are now waived. All current regulations apply for hunting, trapping, and fishing seasons.
Distance is key while people are visiting state parks and trails. We are asking the public not to congregate at restrooms, self-registration stations, electronic kiosks and maintain six feet of distance from other people.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources continues to receive the most up-to-date information and will adjust operations as conditions change. We will also continue to monitor on-the-ground circumstances each day to determine if park closures become necessary.
Should you need a place with space, getting outdoors in your community has both physical and mental benefits. Beginning March 24, 2020, the DNR will implement the following changes to the operation of all state parks and recreation areas across the state consistent with guidance provided by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Department of Administration.
- Wisconsin state parks, trails and forests are open to the public.
- Entrance fees are waived.
- Stay as close to home as possible and in your community.
- Buildings are closed except for some restrooms.
- All public events are canceled.
- All campgrounds are closed through April 30, 2020.
- No new camping reservations will be taken for dates prior to June 1, 2020.
- Visitors are reminded to practice proper personal hygiene to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to limit group sizes to under ten people when enjoying state properties.
- Park users will see DNR parks, law enforcement and property staff, ensuring everyone’s safety as they enjoy the outdoors; and, to ensure social distancing guidelines are being practiced for everyone’s health.
For updates on event cancellations and building closures at DNR properties, visit the DNR website or follow @WIDNR on Facebook, @wi_dnr on Instagram, or @WDNR on Twitter.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Distract (MMSD) submitted the draft Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) to DNR on February 28th. DNR staff are reviewing the plan and will be providing feedback.
The Kinnickinnic River Watershed Nine Key Element Plan focuses on strategic implementation, consolidation, education, and accountability in order to localize and strengthen watershed improvement projects. It is the product of a multi-year effort to collect and analyze data, establish diverse stakeholder collaborations, and implement best management practices in the Kinnickinnic River Watershed. We would like to thank everyone who helped develop this comprehensive plan. If you would like to talk more about how this plan will be implemented, please email Jake Fincher .
Milwaukee River Watershed Planning
Cedar, Pigeon, Mole, Ulao, L. Michigan Frontal Lobe Watersheds
The draft nine-key element plan for these watersheds has been reviewed by DNR and submitted to the EPA for this review of the 9 Key Elements required in the EPA Watershed planning process. Once their review is complete, EPA will return the plan, results of the review, and any comments that might need to be addressed.
Fredonia-Newburg Nonpoint Source Watershed Restoration
DNR staff are working with MMSD to begin the nine-key element review process. The final draft reports are available for download via the MMSD website:
The Menomonee River Watershed 9-Key Element Restoration Plan is being finalized and will be reviewed for 9-Key Elements once submitted to DNR.
Sector Team Updates
The PowerPoint presentations from the DNR 2020 CAFO Workshops in March are available online. These can be found and viewed via the DNR CAFO website, below:
In order to accommodate changes associated with the COVID-19, the deadline for the Targeted Runoff Management grants has been extended until May 15, 2020.
For questions about the grant application process, including project eligibility, please contact: Joanna Griffin Runoff Management Grants Program Coordinator 608-264-8953
For technical, project-specific questions related to a grant-funded projects, please contact Your DNR regional nonpoint source coordinator
Madison, Wis. – March 19, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) and Calumet County Land & Water Conservation Department, in partnership with Manitowoc, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties, have entered an agreement to launch a new network, the Between the Lakes Demonstration Farm Network.
This is the fifth demonstration farm network in Wisconsin that NRCS has collaborated with conservation partners to establish. The partnership will support a network of farms that will demonstrate the best conservation practices to reduce phosphorus entering the Great Lakes basin. Funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is being utilized for this effort.
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WAV Action Volunteer Monitoring Update from Peggy Compton
“Dear Water Action Volunteers Monitors and Partners,
The ever-changing guidelines and restrictions relating to COVID-19 are far-reaching across our lives. Recent developments have caused the Department of Natural Resources and the UW System to restrict staff travel and require working remotely. Most Department monitoring activities have been suspended until further notice, including water quality monitoring. The Governor’s announcement yesterday further restricts travel and activities of all residents of Wisconsin.
Because of these developments, please discontinue all WAV monitoring and activities that require travel and/or contact with others who are not part of your household.”
In October of 2019, Water Resources Staff with Wisconsin DNR began sampling aquatic macroinvertebrate communities at multiple locations in the middle portion of the Milwaukee River Basin. This two-year project will ultimately collect macroinvertebrates from 70 locations across the Basin in order to serve as a baseline snapshot of in-water conditions at these sites. One example is Nichol's Creek, pictured here. It is the Department’s intent to revisit these same sites every 5-10 years to document changes in Basin water quality, ideally tied to measures implemented under the Milwaukee River TMDL.
The year-one sampling sites were chosen to mirror water quality and phosphorus loading sites monitored by MMSD, Ozaukee County, and Milwaukee Riverkeeper in order to expand the sampling dataset. Further sampling in the Basin during 2020 will extend to cover the tributaries and mainstem of the North Branch of the Milwaukee River, as well as the Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee County.
The UWSP Aquatic Biomonitoring Laboratory will be doing the identification on the collected samples, as well as calculating Index of Biotic Integrity scores for the sample sites. These IBIs can quantify the degree of organic pollution a site is receiving, as well as identify locations that may be being impacted by poor land conditions with that sites drainage area. The IBI scores and analysis are projected to be available by winter of 2021.
The 2019 round of DNR River Planning grants have been awarded. The Surface Water Grant Program offers competitive, cost-sharing grants for surface water protection and restoration. Grants are available to support surface water management from start to finish. Whether your organization is interested in education, ecological assessments, planning, implementation or aquatic invasive species, there is probably a grant program that can help you accomplish your goals. A summary of these grants is provided below. Go to the grants page to learn more.
City of Greenfield Honey Creek Restoration Plan
The City of Greenfield will develop a Concept Plan for the restoration of Honey Creek in Milwaukee County, consisting of: a Preliminary Engineering Review and Concept Plan section; a Conceptual Habitat Improvement Plan section; and a Plan for Collecting Baseline Water Quality Monitoring section, formulated through the engagement of project partners and the community.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper WQ Monitoring
Milwaukee Riverkeeper will monitor Total Phosphorus during the growing season of 2020 at 65 locations within the Milwaukee River Basin.
Ozaukee County LMR and Mole Creek Water Quality Monitoring
Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Department is undertaking a project to collect water quality samples at locations along the Little Menomonee River and Mole Creek.
SWWT Watershed Playbook Development
SWWT will host four workshops to develop “Watershed Playbook” guiding documents that provide a framework for overlaying watershed planning documents with BMPs, associated costs, potential funding sources, and methods for identifying project roles and responsibilities.
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MADISON, WI -In light of COVID-19, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are closely following guidelines from the Department of Health Services (DHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization (WHO).
As such, the in-person portion of the 72 public meetings known as the Spring Hearings that were to be held in each county on April 13 are canceled. The public will continue to have the opportunity to provide input on the natural resources advisory questions from the DNR, Natural Resources Board (NRB), and WCC through the online input option.
The online input option will be provided through a link that will be posted on the Spring Hearing page and will go live at 7 p.m. on April 13. The online version will remain open for three days (72 hours). Results will be posted as soon as they are available. Read more...
We have made the difficult, but necessary, decision to postpone the 25th Annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup until later this year, due to the Coronavirus and current social distancing requirements. We hope that during the next month, Earth Month, you will find time to help our waterways recover and, on your own (safely) pick up trash and litter when you're out finding fresh air in your neighborhood. Read more...
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Thank you to everyone who attended our “What’s New and How to Apply for a Wisconsin DNR Urban Nonpoint Source & Storm Water Management Construction Grant” Webinar last week.
The DNR and UW-Division of Extension held this training to provide you with an overview of the UNPS-Construction grant program. The training included what has changed since the last grant cycle and what makes a good construction project.
The recording to the webinar is available here: UNPS-Construction Grant Webinar
Final storm water guidance is now available on the storm water publications/guidance web page.
The “Modeling Post-Construction Storm Water Management Treatment” guidance has been updated. As models and technical standards get updated so does the need for associated modeling guidance, which was last updated in May 2015. The updates include making the guidance consistent with the recent updated technical standards (e.g. vegetated swale and permeable pavement), expanding the guidance to clarify how to model certain conditions using WinSLAMM, and treatment credit using WinSLAMM for a storm water pond with an outlet on its bottom (i.e., dry pond).
More information is available via the following link: https://socwisconsin.org/1010-proprietary-filtration-devices/
The Wisconsin DNR Technical Standard 1010 Proprietary Storm Water Filtration Devices is a new standard to define the criteria and procedures to determine the reduction in total suspended solids and total phosphorus using proprietary filtration devices. Development of this standard included the review of existing research and procedures utilized by other state programs, along with input from government and industry experts. This standard was created through the Standards Oversight Council Full Process and we are now soliciting comments from the public on the draft standard. Instructions to comment on the standard:
- Submit your comments via email to soc@wisconsinlandwater.org by midnight on Friday, April 17, 2020.
- Keep comments specific and directly related to this technical standard.
- You may insert your comments into the Adobe pdf document, or otherwise indicate the page or line numbers to which your comments refer. If you have general comments applicable to the entire standard, please note them as such.
- Respond in the same order as the sections appear in the draft.
After the notice period is complete, all comments will be considered and responded to by the SOC team. Revisions may be made to the document and the final updated technical standard will then be made available to internal and external stakeholders.
In order to accommodate changing priorities and uncertainties with COVID-19, we are extending the April 15th deadline for the Urban Nonpoint Source & Storm Water (UNPS&SW) Construction Grant. Applications now need to be postmarked and mailed by May 15, 2020, and electronic signatures will be accepted.
Grant applications for construction projects beginning in 2021 are available on the DNR’s UNPS&SW webpage.
Cities, villages, towns, counties, regional planning commissions, tribal governments and special purpose lake, sewage, or sanitary districts now have until May 15, 2020 to submit applications for 2021 construction projects. Urban Nonpoint Source Planning grant applications will not be solicited in 2020 but will be solicited again in 2021.
Contact Joanna Griffin, joanna.griffin@wisconsin.gov, with any questions regarding these grants.
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Unfortunately, the spring 2020 Biosolids Symposium had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Spring The 2021 Biosolids Symposium has been scheduled for next year, SAVE THE DATE - March 9, 2021!
2021 Spring Biosolids Symposium
Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center
1001 Amber Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481
Contact Caley Mutrie at 414-908-4950 x104 for more information.
The 54th Annual WWOA Conference is scheduled for October 20 - October 23, 2020 at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center Wisconsin Dells, WI. Exhibitor Registration is NOW OPEN!
- To register online, click here.
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Download the Exhibitor Registration Brochure.
- Book your hotel accommodations today at our 2020 headquarters, Kalahari Resorts & Conventions. The Kalahari is located at 1305 Kalahari Drive, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965. Reservations may be made online HERE.
- However, if you prefer to make your reservations by phone, you may call the Kalahari at 877-525-2427. Remember to specify that your reservation is part of the group: WI Wastewater Operators, in order to receive the group rate.
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Grant Information
Madison, Wis., March 16, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting proposals through May 11 for On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials), now in its second year. On-Farm Trials, part of the agency’s Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) program, help support the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation approaches on agricultural land.
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