Prioritized List of Watershed Issues (May 15, 2006 meeting)

Fourteen attendees representing three local lake and river organizations each voted for (only) their top four priority choices.  Note:  Issues are rank-ordered.  Those receiving low points are likely to be important but they received fewer votes.

9 points	Monitoring. More water monitoring data across three water bodies and Eau Claire River and Ox Creek.  Need a plan to consistently gather data across the watershed.
8 points	Phosphorus and aquatic vegetation level.  Phosphorus level in St. Croix system increasing, algae blooms, and aquatic growth.  ID and find out more about toxic testing (blue-green algae).
6 points	Road run-off and faulty culverts.  Run-off from roads is a problem in some areas.  Culverts may be poorly place or misaligned.  Need culvert inventory and rating scale.
5 points	Cranberry operations.  Want to know are there any impacts of surface and ground water degradation caused by cranberry operations in Gordon.
5 points	Water level of St. Croix Flowage.  Level is at all time low.  Is dam being managed properly?
5 points	Old septic systems.  Are old septic systems affecting water quality?  Gray water not always treated.
4 points	Modeling.  How land use and water interact.  Create proactive “what if” models from that.
3 points	New volunteers.  Getting new volunteers, involve more                     members, including youth.
2 points	Generate laws.  Data we gather should be used to generate laws to protect the resource in perpetuity.
2 points	pH.  pH more acidic now than in 1995?
2 points	Measuring the right thing.  What do we already know and what do we still need to know?
2 points	Education.  Education of adults.  Need yearly compilation/progress report and broad distribution of this information.
1 point	Each association should focus on goals and then prioritize actions (FOTSCH,  GSCFA, USCLA).
1 point	Public health issue.  Notification and to whom can the public direct questions?
1 point	Water treatment plant.  Are we getting possible surface or ground water contamination from the waste treatment plant in Solon Springs?
0 points	Shoreline buffer.  Amount of shoreline buffer should be increased around lakes.
0 points	Wetland filling.  Incremental wetland filling – land use, water quality shifts.
0 points	Aquatic invasive species.  Need to consistently monitor for aquatic invasive species – especially upstream.
0 points	Brook trout.  Protection/preservation of upper watershed Brook trout population.
0 points	Take a long view.  Be patient, committed, and take a long view.
0 points	Mussels.  Decline in mussel diversity near Highway 53 Bridge (includes concern about catfish passage).
0 points	Light pollution.  Night is no longer dark.
0 points	ORW.  Headwaters segment lacks ORW (Outstanding Resource Waters) protective designation.
0 points	Fish passage.  Fish passage on dams especially sturgeon.