14 Mile Watershed Committee Gets DNR Recognition, Plan Approval
The 14 Mile Creek Watershed Committee received a DNR Director’s Award to recognize their “…tireless work to address water quality issues in the 14 Mile Creek Watershed and work with a vast group of stakeholders to improve communication, educate the public, and build consensus around actions to enhance the natural resources of the watershed.”
The Watershed stretches from the Wisconsin River to Plainfield, taking in northern Adams County and parts of Wood, Portage, and Waushara Counties. It contains the Tri-Lakes in the Town of Rome, a large residential development, and substantial amounts of irrigated cropland and cranberry operations.
“Our citizen led group was formed in 2016 to address declining water quality in our lakes and watershed after pets died and swimmers were sickened from ever-increasing blue-green algae outbreaks”, said committee Chairman Don Ystad. The committee is jointly supported by the Tri-Lakes Management District and the Town of Rome and works on the wide-range of surface and groundwater quality issues. Committee members have been stalwarts in the effort to manage high capacity well pumping and pollutants in groundwater. You’ll often see members Ystad, Bob Benkowski, John Endrizzi, Rick Georgeson, and others at legislative and DNR hearings advocating for sustainable water quality.
The Committee recently won conditional EPA approval of their “9 Key Element Plan.” The plan describes a comprehensive effort that brings stakeholders to the table to improve water quality. The 9 Key Element Plan starts with describing current water issues and their causes and continues through monitoring and implementation steps. Most importantly approval of the plan will open doors to funding needed to improve water quality.
A warm congratulations to this hardworking group, and let’s watch for how their efforts pay off! More info is available here and here.
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