Newsletter from the Wisconsin Association of Lakes
gengberg December 3rd, 2008
2009 Wisconsin Lakes Convention
March 18-20, 2009
KI Convention Center, Green Bay, WIBack to Balance
Contact: Kim Becken, kbecken@uwsp.edu.
Website: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes/
An Aquatic Invasive Species Symposium
Call for Posters
Deadline: December 1, 2008
Agenda and Online Registration coming in January 2009
Convention Costs: No cost increase from last year!
Full convention cost: Early Bird (March 1) = $165 Regular = $185
Accommodations
Hotel Sierra (attached to the KI Convention Center)
Online reservations or toll free at 888-695-7608
Rates: $62/night for rate for government employees with ID
$105 - Double or Queen suites
$115 - King suites
Holiday Inn - City Centre (adjacent to KI Convention Center)
Online reservations or toll free at 920-437-5900
Rates: $84.95 - single or double occupancy
2009 Wisconsin Lakes Stewardship Award Nominations
Deadline: January 26, 2009
2008 WI Lake Stewardship Award Winners
2007 WI Lake Stewardship Award Winners
2006 WI Lake Stewardship Award Winners
2005 WI Lake Stewardship Award Winners
2009 Wisconsin Lakes Photo Contest
Deadline: March 2, 2009
Past Photo Contest Winners
Exhibitor Information (exit to WAL)
In response to popular request, the 31st annual Wisconsin lakes Convention will highlight the important issue of aquatic invasive species (AIS). This event will pull together local, state, national and global experts to discuss all aspects of AIS issues. The convention will include exceptional plenary speakers, workshops, concurrent sessions and poster presentations.
—– Forwarded Message —-
From: Wisconsin Association of Lakes
To: vanveghella@att.net
Sent: Monday, November 3, 2008 10:00:41 AM
Subject: November 2008 e-lake letter
Forward this newsletter to a friend
News from the Wisconsin Association of Lakes
November 2008
* Federal legislation to regulate ballast water appears fatally stalled
* Election Day is Tuesday November 4
* DNR’s mercury reduction rule to go into effect January 1, 2009
* New standards aim to curtail stormwater runoff, but cities struggling to comply
* New tools help property owners ID wetlands before they buy or build
* 2009 Convention to focus on Aquatic Invasive Species
* Help support clean, safe, healthy lakes for everyone
Upcoming Events
Wisconsin Lakes Convention
KI Convention Center, Green Bay
March 18-20, 2009
More information
Federal legislation to regulate ballast water appears fatally stalled
At a time when estimates show invasive species may cost the Great Lakes region as much as $200 million a year in damages, Federal legislation to regulate ballast water discharges appears dead. No action is expected before the close of this year’s legislative session.
When ocean going ships-called “salties”-flush their ballast water tanks, they can deposit exotic stowaways directly into the Great Lakes. Some of these hitchhikers-zebra mussels, sea lampreys, viral hemorrhagic septicemia, and the New Zealand mud snail-have thrived in their new habitats, becoming invasive species that are causing big ecological and economic damage. Most recent invasive species have entered the Great Lakes via saltie ballast water. The Great Lakes are currently home to 185 invasive species, with a new invasive being discovered every six months.
The U.S. House and Senate both considered the subject, but they differed on approach and which agency would enforce compliance-the Coast Guard or the Environmental Protection Agency through its Clean Water Act.
The House bill-which passed 395-7-would have created a national standard for ballast water discharges and a permitting system for ships, enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard. Critics of the bill worried that the bill prevented individual states from having a role in ballast water regulation, and gave too much power to the Coast Guard.
The Senate favored putting the permitting and enforcement responsibility with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the authority of the Clean Water Act. Senators argued this approach would enable states to add tougher standards than the baseline requirements the EPA would create, if they so chose, and the court system could be used to compel the federal government to meet its responsibilities and ensure shipping companies complied with the law.
In 2006, a federal district judge ruled that the EPA’s failure to regulate “biological pollution”-invasive species of bugs, critters, pathogens, fish, etc.-is “plainly contrary to the congressional intent” of the Clean Water Act, and ordered the EPA to begin regulating ballast water discharges by September 30, 2008.
Individual states have grown weary of waiting for the federal government to begin using its existing authority and/or pass new legislation. Michigan enacted its own restrictions on ballast, which went into effect in 2007. In September 2008, Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency approved discharge standards for ballast water and will begin a permitting system. Wisconsin DNR-in response to a petition submitted by 13 conservation groups including the Wisconsin Association of Lakes-determined it has legal authority to regulate ballast water discharges under the existing permitting system that implements the federal Clean Water Act. However, Wisconsin has not yet moved forward to develop ballast discharge standards.
Top
Election Day is Tuesday, November 4
Election Day is November 4, 2008. Citizens will vote to choose the Nation’s President, U.S. House seats, one-third of the U.S. Senate, Wisconsin state representatives, one-third of the Wisconsin state Senate, and other state and municipal offices.
The Wisconsin Association of Lakes is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates; however we do encourage citizen participation in the voting process. Our elected officials may be called on to make important lake policy decisions.
Several members have requested information about how current legislators have voted on conservation issues. The Wisconsin Association of Lakes does not compile this information, but the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters has released the Conservation Scorecard 2007-2008, which records state legislators’ votes on a variety of conservation related bills. The scorecard is intended as a resource to voters and is available online at http://conservationvoters.org/scorecard/
Given the high voter turnout expected in this election, it is a good idea to vote early, register to vote, or confirm your existing voter registration prior to the election. Resolving any discrepancies with your voter registration can take some extra time.
Voter resources from Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board
* Information on how to cast Absentee ballots http://elections.state.wi.us/faq_que_list.asp?fid=8&locid=47
* Information on how to register to vote http://elections.state.wi.us/faq_que_list.asp?fid=27&locid=47
* Look up voter registration and polling location http://vpa.wi.gov/
Top
DNR’s mercury reduction rule goes into effect January 1, 2009
The DNR’s mercury reduction rule will go into effect January 1st, 2009. The rule accomplishes the 90% mercury reduction goal by the Governor two years ago. The rule will also achieve deep reductions in sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions beyond the current requirements of state and federal law.
The rule targets emissions from utilities and offers two options for meeting the 90% reduction requirement. Under the first option, which targets only mercury, coal fired power plants have until 2015 to meet the 90% reduction. The second option gives a longer window for meeting the mercury reduction (2021), but also requires dramatic reductions in sulfur dioxide (80%) and nitrogen oxide (50%). Mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide are the three pollutants most responsible for smog and fish consumption advisories.
Coal fired power plants are the largest source of mercury, which is a released when coal is burned to generate electricity. Mercury settles into inland waters as it floats back down to earth, and it mixes with rain and snow to wash into our lakes and rivers.
Much of this mercury is converted by bacteria in the soil and sediment into its toxic form, methylmercury. Methylmercury is easily absorbable by animals and works up the food chain, becoming more and more concentrated as it progresses to larger species. Mercury levels in Wisconsin fish have necessitated a statewide fish advisory warning for all inland waters that urges consumers-especially children and women of childbearing age-to limit consumption of fish such as, walleye or northern, which tend to have higher levels of mercury.
Top
New standards aim to curtail stormwater runoff, but cities struggling to comply
Polluted runoff is Wisconsin’s number one water quality problem. Nutrients from fertilizers, sediments, oil and other toxins wash off streets and other hard surfaces into lakes and streams, where they feed algae blooms and degrade water quality.
DNR rules are aiming to curb one source of polluted runoff-urban stormwater that runs directly into lakes and rivers without undergoing treatment. The rules, approved in 2002, target runoff by requiring reductions in total suspended solids. A 20% reduction is required this year, and 40% by 2013.
The pollution reductions are based on computer models. Rather than measuring the amount of pollutants actually in the water, efforts made to reduce runoff-construction of stormwater detention ponds, street sweeping etc-are factored to calculate a projected reduction.
Federal regulators give states leeway on how they control runoff. The DNR says that science indicates a 40% reduction of runoff in metropolitan areas is necessary to meet larger water quality goals. But Wisconsin municipalities, stretched thin by dwindling budgets, complain that the standard will be too difficult and expensive to meet within the required time-frame.
The DNR says it does not intend to take enforcement action against communities that make a good-faith effort to comply.
A report recently released by American Rivers and Midwest Environmental Advocates offers citizens guidelines and steps to improve stormwater policies in their local communities. The report is available online at http://www.midwestadvocates.org/media/publications/Local%20Water%20Policy%20Innovation.pdf.
Top
New tools help property owners ID wetlands before they buy or build
New informational tools to protect Wisconsin’s remaining wetlands, as well as current and prospective property owners, were unveiled today by the Department of Natural Resources, the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association, and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association.
State and federal laws prevent building or making other improvements in wetland unless the property owner can show wetland loss is unavoidable, and necessary permits are received. So it’s important that people know where there are wetlands, and understand the constraints as well as the benefits wetlands can bring, like reduced flooding, cleaner runoff to lakes and rivers, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation.
New informational tools available on the DNR website at http://dnr.wi.gov/wetlands/locating.html seek to help people “Wake Up to Wetlands” before they buy land or build upon it. The tools can benefit property owners and prospective property owners who many not recognize that Wisconsin has more than a dozen different types of wetlands, many of which do not have the open water, ducks and cattails that many people consider characteristic of wetlands.
These tools are an important part of Wisconsin’s strategy to protect remaining wetlands and reverse the historical loss of wetlands. About half of the 10 million acres of wetlands present at statehood have been filled or drained to make way for cities, farms, roads and factories.
Top
2009 Convention to focus on Aquatic Invasive Species
In response to popular request, the 31st annual Wisconsin Lakes Convention will highlight the important issue of aquatic invasive species (AIS). This event will pull together local, state, national and global experts to discuss all aspects of AIS issues. The convention will include exceptional plenary speakers, workshops, concurrent sessions and poster presentations.
Watch the UW-Extension Lakes website for agenda updates. Online registration is anticipated in January.
* Submit your project for the Convention poster session
* Nominate a local lake hero for a Wisconsin Lake Stewardship Award
* Wisconsin Lakes Partnership photo contest
* Sponsor or exhibit at the Convention
Top
Help support clean, safe, healthy lakes for everyone
The Wisconsin Association of Lakes is the only statewide organization working exclusively to protect and enhance the quality of Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes.
We believe that healthy lakes need strong representation and statewide advocacy for lakes, informed citizens actively engaged in decision-making, and a greater lake ethic shared by all those concerned about lakes.
WAL’s lake policy program is entirely supported by our members’ contributions. Each dollar goes to work for you as we advocate for lake interests inside the Capitol, keep you informed about lake issues via e-mail and in print, and provide timely customer service to our members.
Join Us in working for clean, safe, healthy lakes for everyone.
