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WISCONSIN
Under its Signs of Success (SOS) program, Wisconsin aims to show that
nonpoint source management can effectively improve water resources. While
selected sites under the SOS program have severe nonpoint source pollution
problems, the projects are intended to produce positive results in several
years. Four SOS sites have been started and two have been completed.
Small Changes Clean Up Water
Eagle Creek may be classified as a trout stream, but in recent years cattle
traffic has broken down its banks and destroyed streambank habitat. Silt from
the eroding banks and churned-up bottom has clouded the water, filled the deep
pools, and covered the gravel bottom that trout need for spawning. In fact,
trout have become scarce and - forage fish, such as white suckers and creek
chubs, have multiplied. Eagle Creek, located in Buffalo County, is part of the
Waumandee Creek Watershed Project. Through the SOS program, landowners
participating in this priority watershed project have been restricting cattle
from Eagle Creek. In one case, a dairy farm operator on Eagle Creek used
cost-share funds to install a stream cattle crossing and restrict cattle access
to within 250 yards of the creek with a single-wire electric fence.
After only a few months, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
biologists saw dramatic improvement--bank erosion was reduced, streambank
vegetation was growing, and the gravel bottom had returned. In addition, the
total fish population had doubled, with a return of types normally found in
healthy trout streams. This success has encouraged other landowners to follow
suit. As a result of agreements with landowners, DNR expects that more than 80
percent of the Eagle Creek will be protected from cattle damage.
Since 1990, 185 landowners in the Waumandee Creek watershed have signed
cost-share agreements to implement nonpoint source BMPs. Most of the BMPs
scheduled for implementation are runoff control systems intended to keep clean
water out of barnyards and reduce phosphorus. These systems include diversions,
settling basins, filter strips, and fencing to protect streambanks--such as
that used in Eagle Creek. Another type of BMP structure is grade
stabilization--shaping the grade for waterways, dams, and diversions to reduce
sedimentation and erosion from gullies and crop lands. BMPs are also used for
shoreline and streambank stabilization include fencing, shaping and seeding,
and rock riprap. Other BMPs are designed to control nonpoint source runoff from
livestock and agriculture areas.
Some $2.6 million of state and local cost share funds including section 319
grants, representing 70 percent of the actual cost, is expected to be spent in
the Waumandee Creek watershed to implement BMPs through 1998. From 1990 to
1994, approximately $1 million has been paid out to landowners. The state is
also using section 319 funds to provide BMP evaluation monitoring. *Story based
on article adapted form Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Fields &
Street, Wisconsin Nonpoint Source Program, April 1993.
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