Funding for Polluted Runoff (non-point)
In 2002, the Wisconsin legislature enacted some of the toughest laws in the nation to protect waterways from polluted runoff, especially from agricultural lands. With the same brush stroke, however, they also passed a law that states farmers don’t have to take measures to manage barnyard runoff, prevent soil erosion, reduce runoff of fertilizers and pesticides or protect riparian areas unless they are offered at least a 70% cost share for their loss in revenue and/or expense. Unfortunately, funding the program has not been a priority. Recent fish kills resulting from manure runoff have brought the issue to a head, and the River Alliance is pushing hard to ensure the 2005-07 state budget provides adequate funding to make a dent in this enormous problem. For information about how you can make your voice heard on this issue, contact contact Lori Grant, Policy Program Manager.

The Healthy 100 Rivers Petition
is an effort to designate 100 Northern Wisconsin rivers as exceptional and outstanding waterways. The River Alliance, joined by over 40 conservation groups, is leading the charge to protect northern Wisconsin rivers thorugh this process. The designation recognizes pristine waterways with excellent fisheries and ensures their protection. The designation process must wind its way through the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, the Natural Resources Board and the legislature. To find out how you can help speed this process and get protections for these rivers put in place, contact Lori Grant, Policy Program Manager.

Citizen Water Monitoring
Good water quality data is essential to the protection of waterways – you can’t determine how to best protect or clean up a waterway without knowing what’s in it now, and what it’s capable of supporting in terms of fish and other aquatic life. Unfortunately, more than half the rivers and streams in the state have not been sampled and assessed, which means many may not have adequate protections in place, and others may not be getting the help they need.

Local citizen groups doing monitoring work are a huge data resource, but their data is not currently used in Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) decisions about management of the rivers. The River Alliance is seeking local citizen groups interested in collaborating with DNR to learn monitoring techniques that will allow their data to be placed on an equal footing with DNR-gathered data for decision making. If your river or watershed group is interested, contact Lori Grant, Policy Program Manager.

• Act 118: Rules to implement the so-called Jobs Creation Act, streamlining the permitting process and setting permit requirements for activities in waterways that impact fish habitat (construction of piers, culverts, dredging, shore stabilization) have been parked in the Wisconsin legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules. The River Alliance is working with conservation groups across the state to get the rules, developed by a broad coalition, back on the front burner and approved.
• NR 115: An update to the Shoreland Zoning rules, governing development along shorelands, is expected to be the subject of public hearings this summer. Overbuilding along lakeshores, especially up north, led to an outcry by citizens for better protection of lake and river resources. The proposed rules call for natural buffers along the shoreline to capture runoff and protect shoreline fish habitat, require boathouses to set back from the shoreline by 75 feet, and limit expansion of homes already too close to the water. The River Alliance supports the proposed rules, and will work to get them adopted.

Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Denny Caneff, Executive Director of The River Alliance of Wisconsin for permission to reproduce this article on TotalFlyFishing.com. This article cannot be reproduced anywhere else without his consent.

More Information from River Alliance of Wisconsin
The River Alliance of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan group of citizens, organizations and businesses dedicated to advocating for the protection, enhancement and restoration of Wisconsin rivers and watersheds. Membership is comprised of more than 2,000 individual, organizational and business members. The River Alliance is Wisconsin's only conservation organization devoted to restoring and protecting the state’s rivers and streams. The River Alliance restores and protects rivers by building a statewide network of organizations working locally to improve rivers and watersheds; advocating for legislation and policies that restore flowing waters, and opposing policies that degrade them; and directly restoring rivers by working to remove unsafe, uneconomical and resource-damaging small dams.

Visit www.wisconsinrivers.org/ for more information.

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