Enjoy River Alliance of Wisconsin’s Fall 2024 WaterWays newsletter. To get a copy of WaterWays, become a River Alliance member or pick up a print copy at local events with our partners across Wisconsin. Download a PDF copy of the full newsletter.

Fall 2024 | Volume 30, Issue 3

Vote for clean water this election season

by Allison Werner, Executive Director

There’s no avoiding political conversations in a year like this. Our water is impacted by political decisions at all levels.

No matter who is in charge, it’s our role to push for water protection policies and actions. We examine how all of our water systems are interconnected so that we can work for the systemic changes needed to manage clean water for all. This is why we work closely with the state Department of Natural Resources and lobby our elected officials for stronger water policies that truly protect our waters.

We know bipartisan cooperation is possible. We are inspired by our environmental history and the people who made decisions guided by a conservation ethic to achieve common goals. One of the most inspiring models was the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. The Riverway is now protected after deep planning, public input, negotiation, and compromise led to the legislative passage and signing of a law by Governor Tommy G. Thompson in August 1989.

Even with the water protection laws we have, problems affect everyone in Wisconsin, regardless of who they vote for. Poor water quality, flooding, and droughts ripple through our entire state, with those who have the fewest resources suffering the most. Even affluent Wisconsinites worry about what’s in their drinking water.

That’s why we led county-by-county efforts to get voters to approve Clean Water Now referendums, proving that clean water is a nonpartisan issue. Our hope was that with this additional evidence, elected officials would advance policies to provide clean water to the people of Wisconsin. Issues like addressing PFAS do have bipartisan support, but there are still political barriers to taking real action on this issue.

Water protection is too important to be held up in political limbo. We need everyone to stand up for water and convince our leaders to take action.

In this election and every election, we ask you to vote for clean water.

The next Wisconsin legislative session needs to address PFAS and other critical water issues. Our team has outlined a few of them below. Expect to hear from us and other conservation organizations in the coming months as we work together on these issues.

River Alliance is a nonpartisan organization. We work with people across the state who care about protecting our waters. Our mission and values guide us, and anyone who supports those values is invited to join us.

Support River Alliance on Giving Tuesday, December 3

Think globally, give locally. That’s what the Giving Tuesday movement has been about for the last 12 years. It’s also one of the best opportunities for you to support River Alliance of Wisconsin!

On December 3, we welcome your gift or even a quick act of support by sharing a social media post to tell your friends about our mission to protect Wisconsin’s clean water. Let’s make the day a FLOOD of support for our clean water work!

Want to make an even bigger impact? Leading donors to River Alliance contribute to a matching pool of funds to challenge our supporters to give on this day with a dollar-for-dollar match. Contact Development Director Evan Arnold at earnold@wisconsinrivers.org to contribute to the donor matching pool by November 15.

River Alliance of Wisconsin’s water policy wish list for 2025

Bill Davis, Senior Legal Analyst

You can’t get what you don’t ask for. In a perfect world, our state’s leaders would make all decisions based on what’s best for the most people, protecting the most vulnerable and prioritizing the health of people and the environment.

Here are a few starting points we believe would make Wisconsin a healthier, more beautiful, and more ecologically diverse place for all:

People Need Protection from PFAS Pollution
The Legislature is still sitting on $125 million that could help people and municipalities with PFAS contamination now. Working with pollution-affected communities and conservation organizations in a PFAS coalition, we want those funds released, groundwater standards advanced, and PFAS universally addressed.

Lakes Need Protection from Wake Boats
Everyone has the right to enjoy our lakes and rivers, but wake boats make that difficult. We support the proposals by Wisconsin Lakes to limit where these boats can operate, reducing their physical damage and preventing the spread of invasive species like quagga mussels.

Manoomin (Wild Rice) Needs Protection from Pollution and Habitat Loss
Manoomin is at the heart of Indigenous culture and heritage in the Upper Midwest. Its health is also a sign of our environment’s health. We are launching a Manoomin Stewards Project to support data collection and cultural training for volunteers. A sulfate standard for Northern Wisconsin would protect this important species and the water we all share. River Alliance will continue its long history of monitoring and organizing around proposed destructive sulfide mines.

Water Needs to Be Managed on a Watershed, Basin-Wide Level
We will collaborate with the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to create an integrated, comprehensive water management plan.

Wisconsin’s State Budget Should Reflect Clean Water Priorities
We will work for water protection in the next biennial budget. This includes advocating for the protection of core Department of Natural Resources functions by addressing the structural deficit in the Land and Water Fund, reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, increasing funds in the polluted drinking water well compensation program, releasing approved PFAS remediation funds, and boosting funding for lead pipe removal.

Study and Limit Neonicotinoid Pollution
We aim to increase education and awareness of the far-reaching impacts of neonicotinoids on water quality and biota. Policies limiting their use will protect our drinking water. Read more about neonicotinoids on page four.

Plan for Climate Change Impacts
Our state leaders should unify communities, local groups, and governments to develop and implement strategies for healthy, resilient rivers and connected waters. In planning for the future, nature-based solutions are often a better alternative to human-built infrastructure.

For action alerts and policy perspectives from River Alliance, be sure you’re getting our Word on the Stream newsletter in your email inbox twice a month. Sign up on our homepage. 

The false promise of green mining

By Johnson Bridgwater, Water Advocates Organizer

You may have heard about so-called “green mining” or critical minerals in the news. Given our long history of opposing sulfide mining in our region, we are concerned about developments at the state and federal levels that could put our clean water at risk, all under the guise of sustainable energy.

We’ve been following the Biden administration’s push for 100 percent carbon pollution-free electric power by 2030. As much as we want to reduce greenhouse gasses and have more sustainable energy production, we cannot support any plan that risks polluting our limited water resources.

Mining for all the metals and minerals needed to reach this goal isn’t feasible. A University of Michigan study showed that essentially every known mineral deposit would have to be mined, risking massive water pollution, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Safer solutions are needed. Recycling, including “mining” resources out of existing landfills, could be a cleaner alternative for sourcing raw minerals.

In Wisconsin, possibly the strongest argument against mining in our water-rich state can be summarized in one word: manoomin. Manoomin, or wild rice, is central to Ojibwe culture and vital to a massive food web, including humans. It deserves special attention and real-world protections, especially regarding sulfates and mining.

Studies show that mining and manoomin, just like mining and water-rich environments, are a poor fit. Mining increases sulfate levels, causing serious problems for wild rice. Recent studies also show taconite mining is having similar impacts in Minnesota.

River Alliance is working with tribal and local partners to launch the Manoomin Stewards Project to support data collection and cultural training for volunteers. Stay tuned for more on how we will support Indigenous communities’ efforts to protect this vulnerable and ancient species, which relies on clean water.

Building an agricultural community around conservation needs big changes beyond the farm gate

By Mike Tiboris, Agriculture and Water Policy Director

Solving Wisconsin’s agricultural water contamination problem requires systemic, transformational change across our entire food system.

While farms are where excess nutrients, pesticides, and herbicides originate, the responsibility for change goes far beyond the farm. The U.S. agriculture system is designed to produce large quantities of commodity grains that are not consumed by people. Changing what farms do means changing what the market and agricultural policy demand they do. As daunting as these changes can feel, remember that the system we have now was a choice and that we can make a different one.

Farmers’ conservation participation is growing, thanks to expanding farmer-led watershed groups and rising interest in cover crops and no-till farming. But research shows that most farmers still believe doing something different from what they’ve always done isn’t feasible or effective. This mindset changes when farmers have a dense network of peers and collaborators advocating for conservation. Genuine, reciprocal relationships are influential, and with a supportive community of practice that’s fun and rewarding to join, behavior changes.

River Alliance is not alone in its efforts to build this community, but it is a central part of the work that we do. Building real community around a watershed and a vision for a healthy environment is a universal desire. All the evidence suggests it’s also necessary to effect change in agriculture.

Making conservation the default approach for farmers will depend on larger systemic changes—beyond the farm gate or even the watershed. Changes to how lenders reward conservation practices in farm loans, what big purchasers expect, and what federal insurance policy signals to farmers all play a role. Creating entry points for a younger and more diverse population of farmers would slow farm consolidation, increase crop diversity, and foster more farm product businesses.

These changes to the food system are broad and incremental but it’s change that we must and, luckily, can achieve. 

Check in with River Alliance’s Wisconsin Agriculture Agenda work to learn more about what we need to do and how we can do it at wisconsinrivers.org/agriculture-agenda

Learning more about the impacts of neonicotinoids

By Ellen Voss, Climate Resilience Director

Neonicotinoids, commonly called “neonics,” are the most widely used insecticides in Wisconsin, though you’ve probably never heard of them. These highly toxic chemicals are applied to millions of acres of agricultural and urban land each year, leading to unintended consequences for our surface and groundwater. They leach into waterways, persist in soils, and even appear in nectar and pollen of treated crops.

Their negative effects on pollinators, like bees and butterflies, are gaining attention in Wisconsin. But we’re learning that neonics’ impacts are far more wide-reaching, affecting not only pollinators but also birds, aquatic insects, deer, and humans.

Studies have shown that neonic seed treatments (think of the purple or blue dye on corn seed) don’t always benefit farmers economically, and there are cost-effective alternatives to their use. Some U.S. states and several countries have passed laws banning or restricting their use.

Join us on Wednesday, October 30, at the Institute for Discovery on the UW-Madison campus for a day of learning about neonics. Experts from around the country and Wisconsin scientists will share their insights on this emerging concern.

You’ll leave the forum with science-based information about

• What neonicotinoids are and where these chemicals are used in Wisconsin
• Economic benefits of neonicotinoid use
• Risks to the environment 
• Wisconsin’s oversight of neonicotinoids
• Regulatory approaches from other states and countries

To sign up and learn more, please visit cleanwisconsin.org/support/events/wisconsin-neonic-forum

For more information, contact Ellen Voss: evoss@wisconsinrivers.org

Thanks to partners including Trout Unlimited; University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension; Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies; Clean Wisconsin; Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection; Black Earth Creek Watershed Association; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; and Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council.

Rutabaga boat raffle winner

This summer, Rutabaga’s fearless leader, Darren Bush, pulled the winning ticket for our boat raffle. Congratulations to Juli from Green Bay! The avid outdoorswoman received the call the day before her birthday and was excited to show the boat to her canoe-building dad. We can’t wait to see which waters Juli paddles this year.

A special thanks to Rutabaga Paddlesports in Madison for their generous contribution of a beautiful boat for our fundraiser!

Business sponsors provide annual support

Businesses can support River Alliance of Wisconsin with their annual contributions. It’s a way for businesses to fund their clean water values and support our nonpartisan, nonprofit mission. Companies and statewide organizations that stand with River Alliance share a commitment to making our environment and our communities healthy, vibrant and fun places to live, work and play. To become a business sponsor, download our sponsor menu at wisconsinrivers.org/sponsorship

Welcome: Evan Arnold, Development Director

Evan Arnold joins River Alliance with nine years of fundraising experience at Wisconsin Conservation Voters and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. As Development Director, he will lead our efforts to build relationships with members, donors, businesses, and others who support clean water for all.

He grew up in Evansville, Wisconsin, and holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. In his free time, Evan enjoys playing sand volleyball in the summer, ice hockey in the winter, playing piano, and trying to keep his plants alive year-round.

River Alliance of Wisconsin donors receive our triennial member newsletter by mail. To become a member, donate online.

This message is made possible by generous donors who believe people have the power to protect and restore water. Receive more updates in your inbox. Sign up for our e-newsletter to receive biweekly news and special alerts.