Volunteers needed to monitor health of Rock County streams

Volunteers needed to monitor health of Rock County streams

Anna Marie Lux
May 28, 2014

Jennifer Du Puis/jdupuis@gazette
Chuck Heidt, a Water Action Volunteer, measures the cloudiness of Turtle Creek in Beloit after a heavy rainfall Wednesday. Heidt has been a part of WAV for 12 years.

IF YOU GO


What: Free volunteer training to become a stream monitor


When: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturday, May 31.


Where: Turtle Creek Parkway, 6528 S. Smith Road, Clinton.


Details: Pre-registration is required. Call Nancy Sheehan, Rock River Coalition stream monitoring coordinator, at 608-515-9434 or email nancy@rockrivercoalition.org.


For information on Rock River Coalition, visit rockrivercoalition.org.


For information on stream monitoring, visit http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/wav/monitoring.




ROCK COUNTY--Chuck Heidt doesn't mind getting his feet wet, especially if it ensures good fishing for smallmouth bass.

He samples water from Turtle Creek in Beloit monthly from April through October.

Chuck is not with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Nor is he a biologist. He is a volunteer who has monitored the creek for 12 years.

“I fish throughout the state,” Chuck said. “That's part of my interest in water quality.”

Chuck measures important elements of stream health including temperature, water clarity and dissolved oxygen.

Sound interesting?

Three agencies are hosting a workshop Saturday at Turtle Creek Parkway, Clinton, for people who want to learn how to monitor streams.

Volunteers will become part of an important statewide network.

“There has been a large budget cut with the DNR for the whole Rock River Basin,” said Nancy Sheehan of the nonprofit Rock River Coalition. “We only have two stream biologists to monitor more than 2,000 miles of tributaries. This is why we really need citizens to get involved.”

The coalition's mission is to educate and to provide opportunities for people to improve the river basin.

Sheehan coordinates volunteer stream monitoring. She shows people how to use equipment provided by the coalition. She also teaches them how to determine water quality by identifying insects in a stream.

The coalition and Rock County Land Conservation and Rock County Parks departments organize the workshop, which is open to anyone who cares about clean water.

“The work is important,” said Anne Miller of the land conservation department. “Streams need people to care about what happens in watersheds and to keep them healthy.”

The river basin has five active teams of citizen monitors, she said.

More are needed to provide accurate and long-term information.

Volunteers can choose a stream based on personal interest or proximity to their homes. They also can have them assigned. Monitors are needed on Fisher Creek in Rockport Park, Otter Creek on Vickerman Road and the west branch of Raccoon Creek in Beckman Mill County Park, Sheehan said.

“We have sites that have been previously monitored by volunteers,” she explained. “When trying to determine trends in water quality, it's nice to have 10 years of data.”

Volunteers enter information into an online database. Anyone with web access can view the data by county, stream or site name.

The DNR is notified if a stream shows a decline in water quality.

“If oxygen ratings are low, for example, I contact stream biologists,” Sheehan said.

She encourages people to get involved.

“By returning to one site, you become an expert about that stream,” Sheehan said. “You also fall in love with a place and become a true advocate for it.”

- See more at: http://www.gazettextra.com/article/20140528/ARTICLES/140529725/1059#sthash.mFJxBWuc.dpuf

How "bout a Meeting to Say LKWA Had No Science, No Data, No Justification to fight 7.2 inches??

Prop Owners Win on Delavan Lake

Keep an Eye on Your Assessments

More than 50 Delavan lakefront owners sued the town of Delavan over assessments and taxes paid in 2009 and 2010.

Read the decision:

http://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=106587

Rock River Trail Initiative Council Meeting - Thursday

Rock River Trail Initiative Council Meeting

Thursday, January 16, 2014

1:00 – 4:00 PM

Edgerton Public Library

101 Albion Street

Edgerton, Wisconsin 53534

608 884-4511

(Use driveway on left of library to large parking lot - 

enter library from rear door - meet in large conference room)

AGENDA

1.  Welcome and Introductions – Dave Hoffman,  Meeting Chair

2.  Welcome to Edgerton - Ramona Flanagan, City Administrator of Edgerton

3.  Approve minutes of October 10, 2013 Council meeting held in Byron, Ill.

4.   What is needed to complete signage for Rock River Water Trail? - county by county

5.  Status of sign purchase and installation for Rock River Trail Scenic and Historic Route - 

Wisconsin and Illinois - Greg Farnham

6.  Ceremonies for opening of the Rock River Trail Scenic and Historic Route in Illinois

7.  Celebration (formal opening) ceremony for designation of the Rock River Water Trail

 as a National Water Trail - Frank Schier

8.  Status of the Rock River Trail Bike Route in Illinois - Dean Mathias

and in Wisconsin - Greg Farnham

9.  Tourism/economic development workshop in Beloit November 22nd - Dave Schreiber

10.  Status of sculpture and art of the Rock River project  - Debbie Thompson

11.  Status of RRTI sponsorship, contributions and grants - Frank Schier

12.  Website needs

13.  Other business

14.  Next Meeting Date and Venue

15.  Adjournment

Potential of a Quorum - Notice

Notice of Meeting
of the Board of Commissioners
AGENDA
DATE: Friday, December 6th, 2013
TIME: 2:30pm
PLACE: Wheeler, Van Sickle & Anderson, SC
Madison, WI

RE: This is being posted because it is possible that a quorum of the Board of Commissioners may be present.

The Board may meet in closed session for the purpose of conferring with legal counsel who is rendering advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the Board with respect to litigation, pursuant to Wis. Stat. s. 19.85(1)(g).

No other district business will be acted upon.

• Attorney Bill O’Connor
• Wheeler, Van Sickle & Anderson, SC
• Attorney Art Harrington 
• Godfrey & Kahn, SC
• Brian Christianson Chairman 
• Rock-Koshkonong Lake District 

No aquatic invasives on Lake Koshkonong, but plenty wetland/upland invasives....

Aquatic Invasive Species Workshop

 

When: September 28th, 2013 from 9 AM to 2:30 PM 

(A paddle on the Oconomowoc River will be held from 12:30 - 2:30).  Lunch will be provided!

Where: The workshop will be held at Camp Quad, located at 6886 County Road Q, Hartford, WI 53027

Camp Quad is located on the corner of Hwy 83 and County Q. (From Hwy 83, turn east onto County Q. The entrance driveway is the first left (north) from Hwy 83).

Email Question Regarding Absentee Ballots for the Annual Meeting

Brian,

I am not often able to make it to the district's annual meetings. I was going to write and ask if absentee ballots could be used. They could be sent out in the newsletter that precedes the meeting. But I saw your blog post with the Wisconsin statutes that say absentee ballots are not permitted. Do you know what the reasoning is for not allowing absentee ballots? I understand it would create more work for someone who would have to count all those votes, but I believe it would give the board a better idea of what the whole district is thinking about the issues rather than just the small segment that makes it to the meetings.

Sincerely,

John Sill

_______________________

John - 

Thanks for your note.  Every year I get the same question about absentee ballots.

I am not a lawyer, so I don't know the exact reason.

The answer to your question is probably the same reason why the annual town hall meetings do not accept absentee ballots.

Democracy requires you show-up to participate.

My take on it is, the annual meetings present 2+ hours of material with Q & A on why certain projects are conducted and why others are not.

We discuss the budget in greater detail than what any local newspaper could provide.

By taking questions and motions and amendments from the floor, we are able to discuss the facts, and add to our transparency.  

We can work together to answer doubts, objections, or refute any suggestions of hidden agendas.

Saturday was Democracy on display.

Those attending moved to amend our budget by removing a $40,000 audit that frankly, was only included in the budget as a response from a series of newspaper articles generated by demands from folks who do not attend either our monthly board meetings or the annual board meeting.  

Those folks should have attended to explain why they felt compelled to demand a 7 year financial audit to local reporters, but then did not believe it was equally important to attend the annual meeting where they could have voted on their own budget item.

Your comment below implies that if absentee ballots were allowed under state statutes, then our annual meetings would have different results.

I disagree.

I would suggest our Board would have that much more support for what we are doing for the property owners of the lake and river.

However, like Town Boards, we can only act on items that are approved by electors who attend the annual meeting.

Hope this clarifies.

Brian Christianson

608-884-9444

Your covert petitions - Mr. Venske - were both Cowardly and Deceitful

Not only should he resign from the CKSD, which he is doing, but his humility should inspire him to leave the chairmanship of Albion Township.

His credibility is gone.

Guess what? Venske and Stockwell did NOT show to defend or explain their demands on the Lake District

Found from the Janesville Gazette Comments that follow their stories

You gotta admire their convictions - the Lake District said all along that if the WI Supreme Court would take their case, it would be the proper venue to receive a fair hearing.
*
And for the constituents to stick with their Board as long as they have, that says a lot about their elections and what they expect from their reps.
*
Having lost their case at every level, from Circuit Court to the Appeals Court, I expected some of those ole stingy river rats to vote against more legal fees, but the Lake District's leadership must be really effective to get residents to be patient.
*
This is a very big precedent for the WDNR to have lost - not only are they wishing they would have found a way to preserve their Appeals Court victory, but they must be sweating the potential for a landslide of lawsuits that are now fair game by the many many other lake districts in WI.
*
The governor too must be asking if he has the right person running DNR to have let this get away from them - unless, of course, if they wanted this decision as well.

Annual Meeting Electors Reject Bob Venske, Hank Stockwell Covert Tactics

The move came after Lake District residents attending the meeting at Fort Atkinson High School decided to reject a $40,000 proposal for the lake district to conduct a forensic analysis of its last several budgets.

Voters approved the spending, but instead asked for it to be shifted to legal costs for a case over water levels on the lake which the state Supreme Court ruled on in July, but remanded back to Rock County Circuit Court for further review.

Lake Koshkonong residents approve continued court fight

By Neil Johnson | August 10, 2013

FORT ATKINSON–The next act of the decade-long legal drama over water levels at Lake Koshkonong is set to start playing out in circuit court later this month, a lake district attorney said Saturday at the lake district's annual meeting.

A majority of about 95 Rock Koshkonong Lake District residents voted Saturday to approve a $45 annual fee that will include up to $40,000 in the lake district's 2014 budget to continue a court fight against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for the right to use the Indianford Dam to raise water levels of Lake Koshkonong 7.2 inches in the summer.

The move came after Lake District residents attending the meeting at Fort Atkinson High School decided to reject a $40,000 proposal for the lake district to conduct a forensic analysis of its last several budgets.

Voters approved the spending, but instead asked for it to be shifted to legal costs for a case over water levels on the lake which the state Supreme Court ruled on in July, but remanded back to Rock County Circuit Court for further review.

It's unclear how much the lake district could ultimately spend in legal costs for the ongoing court fight. It has already spent around $500,000 on court costs—a fee paid through annual lake district homeowner fees, Lake District Chairman Brian Christianson has said.

Madison lawyer Bill O'Connor said Rock County Circuit Court will get files in a few weeks from the case over whether the lake district can use the Indianford Dam to hold back 7.2 inches of water to improve boating conditions in summer low-water months.

The lake is a shallow impoundment of the Rock River, and has a history of flooding in the spring and getting extremely low in the summer and fall months.

The state Supreme Court sent the case back to circuit court for further legal proceedings after it ruled July 18 that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources overreached its authority in setting water level mandate on Lake Koshkonong. The ruling also indicated the DNR hadn't properly considered the effect of water levels on residential and business properties around the lake.

Lake District officials, who have for years been pushing for higher water levels on the lake, have called the ruling “epic” because it signals that the DNR can no longer unilaterally issue maximum and minimum water levels on state impounded lakes.

The Supreme Court ruling did not address whether the DNR should grant or deny the Lake District's 2002 request to use the Indianford dam to hold back water in summer months.

O'Connor said parties in the case still have about two weeks left to contest parts of the Supreme Court's ruling, but he's “doubtful” any party would contest it.

O'Connor said he has not been in touch with DNR lawyers over the case. He said he would not issue public comment on how he thought a lower court decision on the water level issue could play out in lower courts.

“I'm not going to answer,” O'Connor told The Gazette Saturday. “There has been no communication between the opposing parties.

O'Connor did say that he has had “congratulatory” comments from other impounded lake districts in the state over the ruling.

O'Connor and lake district officials suggest the ruling offers hope and legal leverage for lower courts to  question or even halt DNR rulings on impounded lake water level mandates that don't take into account impact or that “overreach” by setting water levels based on the impact on adjacent wetland properties, according to the Supreme Court ruling.

Yet it remains to be seen whether the DNR has any appetite, even after the Supreme Court ruling, to relax its mandate for maximum and minimum water levels on Lake Koshkonong.

Wetland groups and the DNR have argued for years that higher water along the lake would increase erosion of thin shoreline areas and threaten wildlife and ecosystems in adjacent wetlands owned by hunt clubs and private trusts.

The Supreme Court ruling stated that the DNR, in setting water levels mandates, relied improperly on the state's Public Trust Doctrine, which serves to protect navigable waterways in the state.

The ruling stated that the DNR was heavy handed in applying the Public Trust Doctrine to water levels.

Lake District Resident Carol Harrington, an Illinois resident who owns a property in Glen Oaks Beach along Lake Koshkonong told Lake District board officials at Saturday's meeting she respected the district for sticking to its guns in the legal fight.

She said that other lake districts in the state owe a debt of gratitude to Rock Koshkonong Lake District. She said those other districts ultimately could reap the benefit of the ruling in terms of local control over their own water levels.

“Every lake level property owner in the state should have kicked in (money)” for the legal fight, she said.

Other lake district residents, including Buck Sweeney, a lawyer who represented a wildlife group opposing higher water levels in the Supreme court, told The Gazette last month he believes that the Supreme Court's ruling did not go far enough legally to force the DNR to backpedal on its water level mandates for Lake Koshkonong.

WISC TV-3 Coverage of RKLD Annual Meeting

Group debates Lake Koshkonong levels

Water levels at Lake Koshkonong may not change until next spring

Published On: Aug 10 2013 09:55:00 PM CDT   Updated On: Aug 11 2013 04:02:11 AM CDT

MADISON, Wis. -

Despite a State Supreme Court decision this summer, water levels at Lake Koshkonong may not change until next spring. 

The case has now been pushed back to the lower court. The Rock Koskonong Lake District had asked the DNR to raise water levels by 7.2 feet. Saturday, leaders met to discuss the lake's future.

District chairman Brian Christianson told WISC-TV the state's high court remanded the case back to Rock County circuit court. He said it means lawyers for the lake district and lawyers for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have about three weeks to decide to either present the case in circuit court with new testimony or come up with another solution.

Members of the Rock Koshkonong Lake District spent Saturday morning reviewing their progress over the last year. The group's recent victory in court means the DNR will have to consider the economic impact of changing water levels at Koshkonong and other lakes throughout the state.

"That's critical for our constituents here today to keep the values in their homes, businesses, and restaurants that we have around the shoreline of Lake Koshkonong," said Christianson.

Bookkeeping and the district's budget were also discussed.

A hundred residents came to their annual meeting at Fort Atkinson High School.

They voted to keep the district's bookkeeping practices the same and continue to focus their efforts on resolving the water level issues.

"Our constituents gave us a vote of confidence that we've been completely transparent and we have abided by the state statutes and how we present our treasures report and our budget," said Christianson.

The district's lawyers are still working with lawyers from the DNR on the issue of water levels. That's good news to residents.

"We just need to keep going and hopefully when it's all said and done everyone will be able to sit back and say we did the right thing and everyone will benefit from it," said resident Frank Micale.

As far as the district's budgets and annual audit goes, the chairman told WISC-TV going forward that it is planning to create a citizen committee to do a review of the district's financial records.

• Copyright 2013 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Already, DNR Operating Orders across WI are being reviewed and challenged - Thank You Lake Koshkonong!!

Rest Lake dam operating order public hearings postponed

However, in light of the recent Supreme Court decision, a draft order will not be released until after the department can fully consider the court’s decision.

New dates for Rest Lake informational hearings have not been set at this time. 

“The department remains committed to share a draft of the Rest Lake Dam operating order with the public prior to finalizing a new order, but the court directed DNR to consider additional economic information on the Lake Koshkonong case. We are working with our attorneys and economist to review the court’s decision.”

The dates for a series of four public informational hearings on the Rest Lake Dam operating order had just been set and the first in a series of announcements was released to a DNR GovDelivery subscription service for Rest Lake Dam updates.

The Department of Natural Resources is charged with the duty to establish water levels and flows that protect public interests in waters of the state, promote safety, and protect life, health and property. 

“Water level issues, whether they result from drought conditions, dam operation or an unauthorized activity, are often controversial, because they almost always require some balancing of competing public and private interests.” Scott Watson, a DNR waterways supervisor working on the Rest Lake project, said. 

“It’s a great thing that people in Wisconsin are passionate about their public water rights. Public water rights are a tradition that date back to the state Constitution,” Watson said. 

DNR staff had already taken a significant amount of economic information into consideration in completing the draft order for the Rest Lake Dam, Watson said. 

After the department has the opportunity to evaluate how the Supreme Court decision will affect issuing dam safety operating orders, a new set of dates will be scheduled for the Rest Lake Dam pubic information hearings. 

Those with questions about the status of the Rest Lake operating order, may call John Spangberg at 715-685-0431 or email john.spangberg@wisconsin.gov. 

Updates on the project will be available by searching the DNR website for “Rest Lake Dam” and distributed by email. 

Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Article comment by: John Sorenson
The Lake Koshkonong decision is a great event for
property owners. The DNR may have "considered"
the economic impact on property and business
owners, but only enough to give the impression
that their reasoning was balanced and their study
complete. If you take the time to actually read
the citizen comments and the DNR responses
you can't help but sense the one-sided direction
that their "New Order" was headed.
Thankfully, the supreme court has turned
the table on them. 

2013 Annual Newsletters Have Landed

We will post the newsletter here;

Scroll Down to mid page

But know that the newsletter began landing in mailboxes on Saturday and should be completely delivered by today.

The address RKLD must use is the same address where you receive your December WI Property tax bills.

Please email me if you have not received your newsletter - and please don't discard it, thinking it was junk mail, and then claim it was never received.  We have the master list of all addresses and can confirm that it was indeed labeled by our mail house in Edgerton.

Annual Meeting is Saturday August 10th, and the agendas and budget is being printed in the local newspapers as well.

Who WIll Be on the Ballot on August 10th?

At the Aug 10th  RKLD Annual Meeting, two board seats are up for election.

Board of Commissioners

The 3-year term currently held by Ray Lunder expires, and an election will be scheduled on the agenda.

Also, newly appointed board member Joan Hudepohl will face her first election.

If you wish to be a candidate and have your name appear on the pre-printed ballots, please notify any board member at the link above.

We are preparing both the annual newsletter and the ballots and intend to mail the newsletter on or near the end of the month. If you wish to have your name and a bio appear as a candidate in the annual newsletter - which is mailed to 4,000 parcel owners -- please prepare and submit to any board member ASAP.

As in every year past, we will also accept nominations from the floor the day of the annual meeting.

Who can Vote August 10th?

All district resident electors who are U.S. citizens, 18 years of age or older. 

This includes resident property owners, renters, children 18 years and older whose residence is in the District…

But not campers to the extent their permanent residence is not within the District.  

Ownership of more than one parcel does not entitle a property owner to more than one vote.  One eligible voter = one vote.

Non-resident property owners 

This includes a person whose name appears on the tax roll, as well as a person who owns title to property even though the person’s name doesn’t appear on the tax roll.  

However, it is up to the would-be voter to produce evidence to the District that they are an owner of property or designated representative of an organizational property owner…

i.e. trust, foundation, corporation or other organization

…such as a letter on organization letterhead that clearly authorizes that person to vote on behalf of the organization.

Summary 

• No absentee ballots or proxies
• Resident property owners (both husband & wife, if joint tenants)
• Non-resident property owners (husband and wife, if joint tenants)
• Corporations, government bodies and other organizations, i.e., clubs 
• (treated as single owner, with single vote of authorized representative)
• Renters, age 18 and older, residing within District
• Children, age 18 and older residing within District

No ABSENTEE BALLOTS CAN BE CAST

From the WI State Statutes;

33.30 Annual meeting of district.

(1) Every district shall have an annual meeting. Each annual meeting shall be scheduled during the time period between May 22 and September 8 unless

scheduled outside those dates by majority vote of the previous

annual meeting.

(2) (a) The annual meeting shall be preceded by written notice

mailed at least 14 days in advance of the meeting to all electors

within the district whose address is known or can be ascertained

with reasonable diligence, to all owners of property within the district

at the owner’s address as listed in the tax roll, and to the

department. The district board of commissioners may substitute

a class 2 notice, under ch. 985, in lieu of sending written notice to

electors residing within the district.

(b) No absentee ballots or proxies are permitted at the annual
meeting.

Rock County Board Meeting Tonite on Slow No Wake - Be Sure to Say Hello to Sup. Brian Knudson

What’s next: 

The Rock County Board will take up the ordinance at its meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday night.

A public comment period will be held before the discussion and vote on the ordinances.

Question regarding yesterday's County Board meeting to reconsider their errors in SNW ordinance

Brian, 

What happened at the meeting to have the committee  vote  to amend level back to 7.5' ? 

 It sounds like in the Janesville Gazette the public was very strong in support of 8.0' as being the trigger for SNW!

  I'm glad to see that the sheriff Dept. got some of the board members out to view the situation for themselves.

 To get to the point, is there any chance the board will go against the Safety Committee and agree with the majority of the boating public and put the level  to the 8.0' which is supported by scientific data, boating public, sheriff dept.and RRKD?

 Is this a majority vote by the board? 

Mike