1. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Melissa Keenan, Resource Conservationist
Sauk County Conservation, Planning, and Zoning Department

2. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Partnerships
Columbia County Land & Water Conservation Department
Vernon County Land & Water Conservation Department
Monroe County Land Conservation Department
Juneau County Land Conservation Department
Richland County Land Conservation Department
University of Wisconsin Extension
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection
Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association, Inc.
Madison Area Technical College – Farm Business Program
Lake Redstone Protection District
Lake Wisconsin Alliance
River Alliance of Wisconsin
Aldo Leopold Foundation
The Nature Conservancy
Trout Unlimited

4. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Land use varies throughout the watershed
Diverse Agriculture
Cold & Warm Water Fisheries
Baraboo Range

5. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Primary Resource Concern
Water Quality Degradation
High Sediment and Phosphorus levels contributing to surface waters.
Baraboo River mean total phosphorus = mg/l (state standard = 0.1 mg/l)

6. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Secondary Resource Concern
Degraded Plant Condition
Absence of adequate, vegetative systems in areas susceptible to soil erosion.
Increased row cropping systems & decreased perennial vegetation

7. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Project Objectives
Preventing soil loss on cropland and pastures
Reducing agricultural runoff to surface and ground water
Improving aquatic and wildlife habitat

8. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Identifying Priority Farms
Erosion Vulnerability Analysis for
Agricultural Lands (EVAAL)
Identifies areas within a watershed which may be vulnerable to soil erosion
Assesses risk for sheet and rill erosion using USLE and gully erosion using the Stream Power Index (SPI) while de-prioritizing internally drained areas (IDA)
Produces an erosion vulnerability index value which can be used to prioritize fields within the watershed

9. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Image: dnr.wi.gov/topic/nonpoint/evaal.html

10. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP

11. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP

12. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Goals on Priority Farms
Soil loss will be addressed on 50% of priority farms
All cropland and pastures will be planned at or below tolerable soil losses using RUSLE2
Agricultural runoff will be addressed on priority farms
Cropland and pastureland will meet 590 standard using SNAP Plus software.
Barnyards will be planned at or below acceptable Wisconsin Barnyard Runoff Model (BARNY) levels.

13. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Project Actions
Outreach & Education
Technical Assistance
Financial Assistance
Stream Monitoring

14. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Stream Monitoring
Total Phosphorus & Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
Baseline data collected at nine sites
Samples will be collected during final year of project (2019)
Additional sampling will occur throughout the project period
Fish, Macroinvertebrates, dissolved oxygen (DO)
Two cool water stretches on the main stem of the Baraboo River
Six cold water tributaries within the Baraboo River Watershed

15. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP

16. Baraboo River Watershed RCPP
Measureable Outcomes
Preventing soil loss on cropland and pastures
Total Suspended Solids
RUSLE2, Direct Volume Method
Reducing agricultural runoff to surface and ground water
Total Phosphorus
BARNY, SNAP Plus
Improving aquatic and wildlife habitat
Dedicate 10% of funds for improving aquatic and wildlife habitat
Fish, Macroinvertebrate, DO sampling

17. Questions??