After a busy March the Winnebago Waterways Program begins to transition into spring. We are pleased to say that we have appointed three Members at Large to the Steering Committee; Bob Schmeichel, Alan Weir, Mark Sessing! These members will participate in project related events, help advance projects by contributing personal knowledge and experience, and work with county representatives and other partners to ensure progress in efforts such as lake management planning in the Winnebago System.
Project tasks this past month included helping with the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance Conference, continued work on the Aquatic Invasive Species Strategic Plan, and developing the Watershed Management and Water Quality Technical Teams. Additional details about project progress is provided below. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the information listed on the right hand side of this article.
Project Outreach and Engagement
The Valley/ Appleton chapter of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association invited the Winnebago Waterways Program to have a booth at their 33rd annual banquet on March 29th. Attendees were able to talk with our AIS Coordinator Chris and discussed current AIS work being done in the system. We also attended the Winnebagoland Conservation Alliance monthly meeting which took place on March 15th. Chris also attended the Friends of the Fox Meeting on March 12th.
Our online presence through our project webpages, e-newsletter, and social media continues to grow. We invite you to follow us on Facebook or Twitter!
Winnebago Waterways Steering Committee:
The Steering Committee holds, on average, two meetings per month; one in-person and the other through a conference call. For the month of March, the meetings occurred on March 9th and the 23rd. The three Members at Large will be joining the Steering Committee over the next few meetings.
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Technical Team Updates – as of 3/31/2018:
Aquatic invasive species (AIS)/Aquatic plant management Technical Team:
Work continues on the AIS Strategic Plan as the AIS Coordinator Chris Acy continues to work on the draft of an updated Plan. Previous drafts of AIS Strategic Plans are being used as a starting point for what needs to be added, updated, etc.
Water Quality Technical Team:
The Team continues to work on adding water quality related documents and data to the project inventory. The purpose of the inventory is to have information at the finger tips of the Technical Teams as they work to develop management recommendations. Our long-term goal is to eventually make the documents and data we’ve collected available to the public.
We’ve also been collaborating with another project taking place on Lake Winnebago related to water quality. The DNR, with funding assistance from the EPA, is working to develop a conceptual model to better understand the drivers of water quality in the lake and help determine the potential for restoration activities with the goal of improving water quality. A study with recommendations on which conceptual models to use will be released soon.
Watershed Management Technical Team:
The Team is beginning to be formed and the first meeting is slated to be in April. Invitations to individuals are starting to be sent out to experts in the field on agriculture and urban stormwater. Background work is occurring to compile information that will be useful for this team.
Questions or suggestions about lake management planning? Please contact Korin Doering, Winnebago Waterways Program Coordinator at (920) 851-0948 or korin@fwwa.org.
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Winnebago Waterways Facebook Page or @WinnWaterways on Twitter! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
