Fox Valley Water Resources

What do we have to lose?

Recent wars have centered around our thirst for oil.

Next, it will be about water.

Pike River, Marinette County (Science Daily, Oct. 6, 2010)

Pine Lake, Washara County

Bear Paw Lake, Oconto County

Fox Valley’s Outstanding Resource Waters

A 102 pound sturgeon speared by Pat McCutcheon on Lake Winnebago. (Wisconsin State Journal)

The sturgeon is a unique species that people of all stripes have fought to save.

Horicon Marsh

• Over 32,000 acres • Largest freshwater cattail marsh in the U.S.• Provides habitat for endangered species• Critical rest stop for thousands of migrating

ducks and Canada geese• Recognized as a Wetland of International

Importance, as both Globally and State Important Bird Areas, and as a part of the Ice Age Scientific Reserve

Two Different Threats To Water1. Decreased water quantity: too many high capacity wells- a problem, esp. in sandy, central areas of Wisconsin. Much worse in western states (i.e. Nevada)

2. Decreased water quality: runoff, point sources, Wisconsin’s primary threat - Wisconsin has lots of water, but pollution has lowered the quality

WI: A Variety of Water Threats

Everything is connected. Insects support aquatic life. Once the food web is disrupted, it’s hard to put back together.

Caddis Fly, important food source for trout, photo by: G.I. Bernard/ Oxford Scientific Films

What Contributes to Water Pollution?Point sources, e.g. industrial and municipal

discharges• Food processors• Paper mills Non-point source runoff• Agricultural waste: manure, silage, fertilizer,

pesticides• Lawns, golf courses, car washes: phosphates,

fertilizer

“Karst” is the term used to describe areas with fractures and sinkholes where bedrock, usually limestone or dolomite, can be easily dissolved by surface or groundwater. Water pollution can travel long distanceswhen CAFOs are sited in these areas.

CAFOs in the Fox Valley

1 dairy cow creates as much polluted wastewater as 18 people

CAFO =At least 700 dairy cows

~2,500 feeder pigs~55,000 turkeys~125,000 chickens (other

than hens that lay eggs)

Farms with 1,000 animal units need a water protection permit.[1 dairy cow= 1.4 animal units]

Many Outstanding Water Resources…

Many Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

Wisconsin currently has at least 194 Permitted CAFOs

Many have the potential to pollute nearby water &

land resources,

Decrease Property Values,

And impact the quality of life for those living nearby

Wisconsin uses taxpayersubsidies to expand CAFOs

In addition to indirect subsidies CAFOs receive in form of crop support, direct subsides also encourage the proliferation of CAFOs

At the national level, largest direct subsidy is Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), originally intended to help smell and medium-sized livestock farms address pollution. In 2002: EQUIP’s emphasis changed dramatically, making CAFO’s a major funding recipient

“CAFOs aren’t the natural result of agricultural progress, nor are they the result of rational planning or market forces.”- Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in UCS’s Food and Environment Program

•New EQIP regulation prioritizes activities that only CAFOs typically need to pursue, such as improvement waste storage facilities, comprehensive nutrient management plans, and transportation of manure tied to environmentally sound crop application rates

•From 1997-2005, taxpayer-subsidized grain prices saved CAFOs nearly $35 billion in animal feed

•Cattle operations that raise animals exclusively on pasture land do not benefit from the subsidy

• Degraded drinking water and aquatic habitats from spreading large volumes of untreated manure on vulnerable land

• Lower air quality by emitting toxic gases hydrogen sulfide and ammonia

• Threaten water supplies with contamination by antibiotics & hormones

• Put area family farms in jeopardy by flooding the market with milk (when supply outweighs demand, the price per gallon drops)

What are some threats that can occur from expanded CAFOs?

AGRICULTURAL RUNOFF MANAGEMENT

• http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/ag/Performance Standards Apply to All Farms- Manure management prohibitions- Nutriet management- Manure storage- Soil loss from fields next to lakes and riversLarger Livestock Farms Need Permits

Liquid Manure Disposal• Traditionally, manure spread in clumps across fields• Today, it’s often liquefied for easier handling

stronger odor, easier to reach waterways DNR says farmers are now more diligent in handling manure

• Accidents occur• Since 2002, DNR has documented 159 manure spills, although many go

unreportedi.e. March 2005: manure washed into 55-acre Jersey Valley Lake in Vernon County, visibility in lake went from 18 feet to less than one foot, ninety percent of the fish were killed

• Spill can also pollute wellsi.e. 2004, three children in Kewaunee County ill with E. coli baceteria after a farmer operating a CAFO spread manure near their home

Manure in water leads to algae blooms & fish kills

After ag runoff enters a waterway, fast-growing algae quickly take up excess nutrients in the water, increasing in size and making a thick mat of algae on the water’s surface, an algae bloom.

As the bloom grows and covers more of the water’s surface, sunlight is blocked from the plants below. These plants are essential for fish habitat.

http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/ag/waterquality.htm

Bacteria and pathogens from manure make water unsafe for recreation

• Manure can contain bacteria/other organisms harmful to humans if get in waterway or groundwater

• Pathogens=problem when manure runs into lake, people swim• Illness if person/animal swallows water from contaminated

source• 20% of Wisconsin residents have private wells (not from

municipal drinking water treatment plant), more vulnerable• Fecal coliform often used as water quality measure of bacterial

contamination: coliform usually harmless but contains strands of E. coli can cause cholera and typhoid fever

• Cryptosporidium (sing-celled parasite) also found in manure responsible for an outbreak in Milwaukee’s drinking water

system in 1993

Phosphorus from manure and fertilizer affects water quality

• Generally, a water body’s phosphorus level determine how much plant and algae growth will occur

• Direct runoff of manure from fields or manure storage facilities are important management concerns

• If it rains after manure is spread on crop/fields, phosphorus may run off into nearby waterways instead of sinking into the ground

• Problematic if livestock has direct access to streams/ponds and the stream bank is not well vegetated– erosion may occur as well as runoff or “direct deposit”

• Algae bloom cycle begins as phosphorus enters water

Nitrogen affects water quality and human health

• Excess nitrogen can have negative impacts• Key contributing factor to algae growth (fertilizing properties)• Excess in rivers/streams can be toxic to aquatic animals at

high levels• Concerns with groundwater contamination filters through soil easily, can enter drinking wells• 6.5% private wells in WI exceed safety standard of nitrate

Nitrogen and phosphorus levels CAN be reduced!

• excess nutrients applied to landscape – fertilizer restrictions

• Prevent spills, runoff, and erosion from transporting those nutrients into waterways

• Streamside buffers• No-till farming • Livestock exclusion• Maintain good vegetation cover

not just field runoff, also urban runoff

Problematic CAFOs/ News Reports

Permitted and Proposed CAFOs• Rosendale• Stahl brothers- Kewaunee• Maple Ridge Dairy, Stratford farm

The Stahl Brothershttp://www.midwestadvocates.org/archive/Treml/index.htm

March 2004: Stahl Farm spread tens of thousands of gallons of animal waste on a field across the from the Tremls’ home every member of Treml family, including their seven month-old, became seriously ill from exposure to contaminated water

DNR records indicated the Stahl Farm had been discharging animal waste from its feedlot and waste spreading fields on an intermittent basis for more than 20 years

December 2005- Stahl Farm has a manure spillApril 2009- manure pit leakhttp://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local_wluk_kewaunee_dnr_cleaning_up_manure_spill_200904161654_rev1

At least 100 thousand gallons ran into local waterway

Maple Ridge DairyManure Spill 2002

Rich Wentzel of the Sierra Club led the enforcement effort• Operators spread 250,000 gallons liquid manure onto 32

acres frozen field in February near their Stratford farm in Marathon county

• Run-off pollution, onto neighbors land• Tributary feeding the Big Eau Pleine River• Purchased agricultural, vegetative buffers along banks of Big

Eau Pleine

http://www.wsn.org/factoryfarm/stratford_manure_spill.html

Rosendale Dairy of Fond du Lac County

gives public serious concerns

• Requested changes to their water quality protection permit to allow them to increase their number of dairy cows (from 4,000 to 8,000) and expand the amount of land they spread manure on (4,000 acres to 12,000 acres), revised permit, January 22, 2010

• “Permit contained most stringent water protections and most restrictive conditions”- DNR, http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/ag/permits.htm

• Summer 2010: number of citizens reported to the dairy farm intolerable odor from spreading fields

• Produces/stores over 90 million gallons of manure and wastewater each year

• The dairy stores the untreated manure in open lagoons before spreading it– still untreated– on area cropland

Other impacts from Rosendale’s operation:-emissions of ammonia (hazardous air pollutant), at levels higher

than the State standard -withdrawal of nearly 90 millions gallons of groundwater per year

from on-site, high-capacity wells-heavy truck traffic, estimated nearly 20,000 truck loads/year-construction and paving of over 100 acres of former cropland

http://www.midwestadvocates.org/archive/RosendaleDairy/index.htm

“Cows are milked on the $1 million, 80-stall rotary milking parlor at the Rosendale Dairy. It takes nine minutes for a cow to be milked once it steps onto the revolving platform.”

Mark Hoffman,JS Online, Feb. 28, 2009

JS Online, Feb. 28, 2009. Mark Hoffman

“The indoor manure pool is shown with about three feet of waste in it. The augers in the background are for recycling the sand that is used for the bedding in the barn.”

“Bulk milk tank trucks use these loading bays. If the dairy farm were fully operational it would produce enough to fill 11 tanker trucks of milk a day.” Mark Hoffman,

JS Online, Feb. 28, 2009http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/40490387.html

City of Ripon concerned• Fear manure will spread

into city wells, which are located within two miles of where Rosendale’s manure is spread

• Elaine and Severin Swanson, who live a mile from Rosendale, created a wildlife sanctuary to attract 100 different species of birds– air/water pollution could cause problems

Elaine and husband, Severin

Photos by Mark Hoffman, JS Online

Ripon presents opportunities

• Town of Ripon residents can participate in a well water sampling program sponsored by Fond du Lac County UW-Extension and the Town of Ripon.

• In past 20 years, 17% of wells sampled have been positive for bacteria

• http://www.riponpress.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=20&ArticleID=2422

• Rosendale’s current permit at 11,500 animal units, want future expansion

• Rosendale Dairy’s Odor Management Plan is on file at the DNR office in Oshkosh

• Monitoring by the group PEPL recently turned up excess nitrate and coliform bacteria from Rosendale

• New plan to spread manure on wet soil causes additional concerns!

Rosendale: Ongoing Community Impacts

Many Other Threats…& Many Opportunities for Action!

Murphy Oil Refinery: Northern Wisconsin, Lake Superior; Chemical use on the shore threatens water

Nuclear Waste Storage: Point Beach, Kewaunee nuclear plants “temporarily” store nuclear waste on Lake Michigan in pools, dry cask; leaks reported in many other locations

SS Badger Ferry: Burns 55 tons of coal; Dumps 3.8 tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan every day

Local Groups & OutfittersPotential for Collaboration

• Fox Valley Trout Unlimited• PEPL – Elaine Swanson• Centerville CARES – Russ Tooley• Clean Water Action Council – Rebecca Katers• Sustainable Fox Valley• Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance:

Darlene Coehoorn, President• Fox Valley Yakkers

Accomplishments of the Sierra Club

-St. Croix River: Wild and Scenic River Protection-PCBs in Fox River: Pushed for Clean - Up-Perrier: Stopped water bottling plant -Exxon: Prevented Crandon Mine-Great Lakes Compact: Helped pass historic bill

to promote conservation and prevent out of basin transfers

-Let’s add to that list!

Sierra Club on the Front Lines

A Proven Track Record of Protecting Wisconsin’s Water Resources

Grassroots efforts of 2001 resulted in plan released by the Environmental Protection Agency and the WI DNR to clan up dangerous polychlorinated biphenals (PCBs) from the Fox River

-plan applies a set of criteria required by Superfund regulations, and provides for the dredging of polluted sediments from parts of the Lower Fox River

A Proven Track Record of Protecting Wisconsin’s Water Resources

• Stopped Exxon’s plans to build a copper-zinc mine near Crandon worked for over two decades with large coalition of tribes and envtl orgs.

stopped toxic pollution at the headwaters of the pristine Wolf River

• 1972- helped to make the 150-mile St. Croix River one of the first eight rivers protected by federal Wild and Scenic River designation since then have successfully opposed construction of a massive mile-long bridge across St. Croix River, in favor of ecologically/economically alternatives while protecting the quality of the river and serving the needs of the growing population

A Proven Track Record of Protecting Wisconsin’s Water Resources

• Worked with local residents to halt Perrier’s plans to build a water-bottling plan in Adams County, WI

• Joined a nationwide boycott of the Nestle-owned corporation (overpumping of springs and sediment disturbance)

• Helped pass the historic Great Lakes Compact in 2008 (will help conserve/prevent water from being permanently diverted to other areas

Great Lakes Compact• Keeps water from being exported• Example of one policy that is a good thing for

now= Agreement: can’t divert water out of basin• Haven’t passed all rules to implement the

compact• Communities in watershed are to have

conservation requirements• Requirements are not consistent state wide, i.e.

wells

The Problem

Much Remains to be Done to Protect Wisconsin’s Water Resources

Let’s keep adding to the list of accomplishments by continuing our efforts to sustain these water resources and what they provide for future generations.

Be Proud

• Wisconsin is water rich, and citizens have fought to protect it

• Awareness• American Indian tribes help, know smart

resources; tribal rights• Efforts to conserve water

i.e. Rain Barrels, Rain Gardens

Rain Barrels• Conserves water• Good quality of water filtering occurs

before goes down storm drain• Runoff is not just from fields, urban runoff• Non-chlorinated water• Free water! • See lots of these in WI, yet water rich• Educate more on this method!

Rain Gardens

• Way to reduce nonpoint source pollution• Way for homeowners/businesses to

participate in reduction of polluted runoff• Water captured in garden has chance to

slowly filter into the ground rather than run off into storm sewer

Water MonitoringOur waters are monitored by state, federal, and local agencies, universities, dischargers, and volunteers.

Trained volunteers monitor the condition of their local streams, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) encourages all citizens to learn about their water resources and supports volunteer monitoring because of its many benefits.

Benefits of Volunteer Water Monitoring

• Builds community awareness of pollution problems

• Helps identify and restore problem sites• Become advocates for their watersheds• Increases the amount of needed water quality

information available on our waters

Water Action Volunteers, UWEX

• The citizen-based Water Monitoring Network includes three levels to satisfy the varied interests and time availability of citizens.

• Mission= to help and protect Wisconsin’s over 15,000 lakes and 84,000 miles of river.

watermonitoring.uwex.edu

Citizen Water Monitoring Goals

1. That WI citizens will monitor stream & river health2. Support data sharing for edu. purposes3. Provide a network for volunteer groups, individuals, and

schools to interact4. Provide support for civic conservation and environmental

groups5. Help linkages between volunteer monitoring efforts &

public resources protection programs

UWEX Water Monitoring Contacts

Erin McFarlaneClean Boats Clean Waters ProgramCoordinatorUWEX Lake ProgramUW Stevens Point College of Nat Res.800 Reserve St. Stevens Point WI 54481715-346-4978emcfarla@uwsp.edu

Bob DuBoisBiologistWisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources1401 Tower AveSuperior WI 54880715-392-6976Robert.dubois@wisconsin.gov

Kris StepenuckCitizen Stream Monitoring Program CoordinatorEnvironmental Resources Center445 Henry Mall, Rm 202Madison WI 53706608-265-3887Kris.stepenuck@ces.uwex.edu

Lauren HermanCitizen Lake Monitoring Network EducatorWisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources107 Sutliff AvenueRhinelander WI 54501

Northeast RegionDNR Agricultural Runoff Management Staff

Green Bay Service CenterWisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources2984 Shawano AvenueGreen Bay, WI, 54307Fax: 920-662-5498

Agricultural Runoff Mgmt. Specialists:Amy Callis

Counties: Calument, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc

Amanda Owens:Counties: Marinette, Oconto, Shawano, Brown, Menominee

Oshkosh Service CenterWisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources625 E. County Road Y, Suite 700Oshkosh, WI, 54901

Agricultural Runoff Mgmt. Specialist:Casey Jones

Counties: Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago

Questions? Want to Volunteer?We need people to testify at hearings, write letters to the editor, monitor water at key times and places, leading outings, taking photos / recording locations when problems are observed, provide outreach at tabling events

Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter 222 South Hamilton St, #1Madison, WI 53703(608) 256-0565shahla.werner@sierraclub.org

Will StahlSierra Club – John Muir Chapter Conservation ChairWater Sentinels Team memberwrsy55@sbcglobal.net(920) 725-9185