The goal of the Lake Management Planning project is to develop a regional framework for cooperation to restore and protect the health of the Winnebago Lakes. This includes facilitating communication among stakeholders (such as residents and lake users) and multiple agencies to advance regional efforts that address topics such as: water quality, habitat, recreation, and aquatic invasive species among others. This monthly article provides a summary of project progress as we work to complete the lake management plan (LMP) and move toward implementation of management and project recommendations.
Technical Team Progress:
Water Level Management
The Water Level Team met at the end of November to finalize draft recommendations for the water level topic of the lake management plan. The recommendations were submitted to the Army Corps for their 2018-2019 Lake Winnebago regulation strategy. The Army Corps recently released a statement asking for public input on the draft regulation strategy. They plan to hold a public meeting on January 17th, 2019 at their office in Appleton to share public comments and discuss the draft plan.
More information on the draft strategy and the public meeting are available here: https://fwwa.org/2018/12/28/proposed-lake-winnebago-regulation-strategy-public-meeting-on-january-17th-2019/
In addition to the draft recommendations, we have been developing a public outreach document to provide detailed information on the relationships between water quality, blue-green algae blooms, aquatic plants, and water levels. We hope to have that finalized and ready to distribute in January.
Water Quality Tech Team
In December, we began working on the water quality report for the LMP by analyzing water quality data from all four of the Winnebago Lakes. We also reviewed a draft water quality monitoring plan provided to us by the WI DNR.
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Shoreline Practices Tech Team
We completed the distribution of the Shoreline Property Owners Survey to randomly selected addresses for Lake Butte des Morts. To date, we have received 543 responses of 1250 invitations sent to property owners around the four Winnebago Lakes (~43% response rate). We look forward to analyzing the results in January!
Recreation Tech Team
In October, we began distributing two online surveys (one for boaters and one for paddlers) to learn about how the Winnebago Lakes can be improved for recreation. Question topics range from boat ramp parking to navigation aids. More information about the survey can be found here. During the month of December, we continued to promote the survey. Hard copy versions are available by request. We’ve received 412 responses so far!
If you have recommendations for contacts of boating organizations that we can reach out to, please contact Austin at austin@fwwa.org.
Aquatic Invasive Species Tech Team
Our AIS Coordinator, Chris Acy, has been drafting the AIS Strategic Plan for the Winnebago Lakes. He has a meeting scheduled with the AIS Tech Team to review the first draft of the strategic plan in January. For more information, contact Chris Acy at chris@fwwa.org.
Watershed Management Tech Team
This month, project staff continued to analyze background information and began drafting the Nine Key Element plans for the 30 subwatersheds in the project area.
Community Engagement
During the month of December, we continued to distribute the organization questionnaire. The goal of the questionnaire is to gain a better understanding of the interest and capacity of organizations/clubs from around the Winnebago Lakes to implement management recommendations outlined in the LMP. We will use that information to create a matrix that can be quickly referenced by people interested in partnering with other organizations on implementation projects. Once we have an approved lake management plan for the Winnebago Lakes, qualified organizations and clubs will be able to apply for funding to tackle issues or projects listed in the LMP. If you know of an organization that should be included in our efforts, please send their contact information to Korin@fwwa.org.
We held the second Winnebago on Tap session on December 6th. The presentation was well attended! Thank you to Kendall Kamke for presenting.
We formed the Community Engagement Tech Team. The Team will likely meet for the first time during the second quarter of 2019.
Aquatic Plant Management Tech Team
Aquatic plant management planning was put on hold as we wait for results from the aquatic plant survey and emergent mapping efforts.
Habitat Tech Team
We met with DNR mussel experts in December to learn about the importance of native, freshwater mussels in the Winnebago Lakes. The discussion led to a recommendation for the lake management plan.
Project Outreach and Engagement
Our online presence through our project webpages, e-newsletter, and social media continues to grow. We are up to 472 Facebook followers!
Are you interested in having us present to your group about lake management planning efforts in the Winnebago System? Contact us at korin@fwwa.org.
We invite you to follow us on Facebook or Twitter! Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter HERE.
Winnebago Waterways Steering Committee
The Steering Committee held their latest meeting as a conference call on December 14th. CLICK HERE for meeting information and notes.
The next Steering Committee meeting will be held in-person from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in Fond du Lac. Meetings are open to the public. For a meeting agenda, please contact Korin Doering at korin@fwwa.org or (920) 851-0948 or check our website closer to the meeting date.
Winnebago Waterways Executive Committee
The next Winnebago Waterways Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for January 11th, 2019 at 1:30pm in the Fond du Lac City/County Government Center. Contact Korin Doering at korin@fwwa.org or (920) 851-0948 for additional details.
Questions? Contact Korin Doering, Winnebago Waterways Program Coordinator, at (920) 851-0948 or korin@fwwa.org.
Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance program. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization that identifies and advocates effective policies and actions that protect, restore, and sustain water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.
Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Winnebago Waterways Program on our Facebook pageor @WinnWaterways on Twitter! You can also sign-up for email updates at WinnebagoWaterways.org.
