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<br />Restoring Wetlands One Solution
<br />One inexpensive solution to avoid increased flooding is to protect remaining wetlands and stream buffers. Intact
<br />small streams reduce the intensity and frequency of floods by absorbing significant amounts of water and slowing
<br />the flow of water downstream. A single acre of wetland can store 1 to 1.5 million gallons of flood water, and just a
<br />1% loss of a watershed's wetlands can increase total flood volume by almost 7% . For example, Illinois has
<br />already lost 85% of its wetlands and altered countless streams, including 30%to 40% of streams in the
<br />Kaskaskia River watershed. The Great Flood of 1993 devastated communities in Illinois and other Midwestern
<br />states, and was one of the nation's most costly natural disasters. Thousands of people were displaced, 48
<br />people died, more than a 1,000 levees were over-topped or failed, and damages soared to an estimated $21
<br />billion. In 2002, record floods hit the Kaskaskia River watershed. In 2008, another disastrous flood hit the
<br />Midwest, killing 24 people, and causing more than $15 billion in damages.
<br />CALUMET COUNTY, WI:
<br />Wisconsin's First "Da Not Eat and Fish" Advisory
<br />Partially funded by Calumet County, the Lake-
<br />shore Natural Resource Partnership has been
<br />actively working throughout the Lakeshore t3a-
<br />sin since 2003. The Lakeshore Basin has 12
<br />primary watersheds defined by the Niagara Es-
<br />carpment, and the Basin's watersheds, with
<br />their many rivers, creeks and associated wet-
<br />lands, are a primary focus of LNRP's conserva-
<br />tion activities. They promote wise stewardship
<br />of their ground and surface 4vaters, forests,
<br />soils, wildlife and habitat by engaging citizens in
<br />education and action. They work to faster com-
<br />munity partnerships, provide funding, promote
<br />discussion and support activities that advocate
<br />a balance between land use and natural re-
<br />source conservation and protection. The Lake-
<br />shore 1~'atural Resource Partnership is the lead-
<br />ing environmental advocate on the waters of
<br />Northeast IA%isconsin, fostering stewardship in
<br />the planet's largest watershed, and taking ac-
<br />tion to champion the environmenf.
<br />The approximately 8-mile stretch from the headwaters of
<br />Jordan and Pine Creek to Hayton Millpond is the second
<br />most polluted creek in the state, according to Calumet
<br />County Commissioner Don Schwobe, and the location of
<br />Wisconsin's first "Do Not Eat and Fish" advisory.
<br />The area had been subjected to years of industrial use of Don Schwobe
<br />polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from making hermetic compressors for
<br />air conditioning and refrigeration products, starting in the 1960s.
<br />The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) states that, "Some
<br />time in the late-1960s, PCBs were likely released into a New Holstein
<br />storm sewer that discharges to ditches connected to Jordan Creek.
<br />However, it wasn't until the late-1980s as part of a routine fish tissue
<br />survey that PCB contaminated fish were found in Hayton Millpond. As a
<br />result, the state's first "Do Not Eat and Fish" consumption advisory, the
<br />most stringent level advisory, was issued for these three waters.
<br />Subsequent investigations
<br />traced the release back
<br />upstream to the storm
<br />sewer at the northeast end
<br />of New Holstein."
<br />Jordan Creek, anon-continuous stream, is a 1.2 mile long tributary
<br />to Pine Creek in east central Wisconsin. Pine Creek, from its
<br />confluence with Jordan Creek, flows northwest for 7.4 miles to
<br />Hayton Millpond. Hayton Millpond is a very shallow 31-acre
<br />impoundment located at the confluence of Pine Creek with the
<br />South Branch of the Manitowoc River. This toxic pollution, which
<br />was first introduced into a storm sewer that discharged into ditches
<br />connected to the headwaters of anon-continuous stream, went on
<br />to impact the entire Pine Creek Watershed, according to Jim
<br />Kettler, Executive Director of the Lakeshore Natural Resource
<br />Partnership.
<br />Kettler said that, "A fish consumption advisory has been posted for
<br />Pine Creek since 1991 due to the PCBs. The remediation plans for
<br />the project incorporate the restoration of the creek and adjoining
<br />floodplain to near pre-existing conditions."
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<br />5 Clean Water For All: County Leaders Speak Out for Clean Water
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