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.
If you have any questions or would like to provide input on the project, please contact Korin Doering, Winnebago Waterways Program Coordinator, at (920) 851-0948 or korin@fwwa.org.
Technical Team Progress:
Water Level Management
Over the past few months, the Water Level Tech Team held several meetings to discuss and draft a slightly modified version of the Army Corps’ Lake Winnebago water level regulation strategy for 2019. That modified strategy was presented to the Army Corps at the end of 2018. The Army Corps of Engineers released the draft strategy for public review and comment this past December.
Information about the proposed changes along with the purpose of the request can be found here: CLICK HERE
The Army Corps of Engineers then held a public meeting on January 17th, 2019, to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their thoughts on the proposed changes to the annual water level strategy for Lake Winnebago. Around 70 people attended the meeting. During that meeting, Korin Doering from Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, presented on the proposed changes and answered numerous questions about the goals and possible outcomes of the strategy. There were also representatives from the DNR on hand to answer questions about the fisheries, aquatic plant management permitting, among other topics. The questions and comments led to great discussions about a variety of issues related to water levels. At the end of the meeting, the Army Corps asked for a show of hands to see how many people were in support of or opposed to the changes. The majority of people in the room were in support of the proposed changes.
The next steps:
1.) Army Corps of Engineers will bring the proposed changes to their superiors for review and a final decision for 2019.
2.) The Army Corps will hold another public meeting near the end of February to discuss the 2019 strategy and finalize the decision for the 2019 winter drawdown target (based on basin conditions).
3.) Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance will begin forming the Winnebago Water Level Assessment Team. The group will be made up of stakeholder representatives from around the system who will meet a few times a year to discuss the water level targets and assess whether additional recommendations need to be made based on basin conditions, lake conditions, and stakeholder needs. The goal is to have an organized, constructive stakeholder voice to support the Army Corps with adaptive management of water levels in Lake Winnebago.
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/
Click the image to view flyer
Click the image to view flyer
Water Quality Tech Team
In December, we continued working on the water quality report for the LMP by analyzing water quality data from all four of the Winnebago Lakes.
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 (~44% response rate). The draft report for the survey is nearing completion. Once the draft is complete, the report will go to the Tech Team for review.
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. We plan to do one final push to try to get more recreation enthusiasts to respond before we being analyzing the results. Hard copy versions are available by request. We’ve received 417 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, finished the first draft of the AIS Strategic Plan. The draft strategic plan was presented to the AIS Tech Team for their review. The Team will provide Chris with their suggestions for edits in February. 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 January, 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 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
All results for the submerged aquatic plan surveys has been received from the contractors who completed the surveys in 2018. Those reports and related data are being reviewed by FWWA. Data collected by DNR and Winnebago County of emergent plant communities is being analyzed. Drafting of the aquatic plant management plan will begin toward the end of February.
Habitat Tech Team
Habitat has been put on hold as we work to advance other lake management topics for the plan.
Project Outreach and Engagement
Our online presence through our project webpages, e-newsletter, and social media continues to grow. We are up to 490 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 on January 11th, 2019. CLICK HERE for meeting information and notes.
The next Steering Committee meeting will be held as a conference call on February 8th, 2019 from 10:00am to 12:00pm. 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 last Winnebago Waterways Executive Committee meeting was held on 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.
