The Town of Calumet has been experiencing flooding in their township for years. Due to the natural landscape of living near the Niagara escarpment, steep slopes and runoff are common.
The recent increases in flooding events have started to wear on the property owners which prompted them to form the Town of Calumet (TOC) Runoff Reduction Committee to discuss solutions.
This committee started meeting biweekly earlier in 2021 to talk about what steps could be taken to decrease the amount of flooding they were enduring. The committee is made up of lake shore property owners and farmers. The committee also invited the Fond du Lac County Land & Water Conservation Department and the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance to be partners and advisors as both groups are working on implementation projects in the area.
A portion of the Pipe Creek watershed falls within the Town of Calumet. Fond du Lac County Land & Water Department and the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance have been partnered to bring soil health practices to the Pipe Creek watershed. These practices ensure there is something on the field year round through the use of cover crops and no till practices.
The Winnebago Waterways program of the Fox-Wolf Watershed has also been actively working to recruit property owners to install best management practices, like rain gardens and native plant buffers, to improve the water leaving the lake property.
As the committee met with other groups, learned about opportunities, and discussed the issues their township was facing, they decided that $25,000 should be allocated in their budget to be used for practices to improve runoff.
The thought was that this money could be used to help offset costs for lake property owners or farmers as they add best management practices to mitigate flooding and improve the run-off entering Lake Winnebago.
On September 18th, the TOC Runoff Reduction Committee hosted an open house at the Winnebago Park Clubhouse to share what they have been up to and what their residents could do to improve runoff. There were 33 people in attendance who heard presentations from the TOC Runoff Reduction Committee, the Fond du Lac County LWCD, and Winnebago Waterways.
The first project that the TOC Runoff Reduction Committee took on was submitting a WDNR Surface Water Grant under the Healthy Lakes & Rivers program. Property owners within the TOC plan to implement 13 practices over the next two years. These practices will help alleviate small flooding events and improve the water quality entering the Winnebago system. This grant was submitted November 1st and the applicants will learn if their grant is funded in early 2022.
A budget vote was held on November 9th for the suggested $25,000 change to the town budget. There was a larger than normal turnout for the budget vote and property owners within the Town of Calumet approved the change. This money will be used as grant match for the TOC’s Healthy Lakes grant. This funding will also be used to help pursue other grants for property owners within the town.
It has been exciting to watch this municipality progress this initiative and we hope to see more of this in the Winnebago Waterways Recovery Area.
