Enjoy River Alliance of Wisconsin’s Winter 2025 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.

Winter 2025 | Volume 31, Issue 1

Navigating challenging times

by Allison Werner, Executive Director

Working collaboratively and within our communities is essential during challenging times. We must support the people and communities most at risk while protecting the water that sustains us all. We’ve faced difficult governments before and understand the importance of defending the laws that safeguard our waters. Most importantly, we know that Wisconsinites of all political backgrounds care deeply about clean water.

We remain committed to this work for the long haul. Environmental success often requires years, sometimes even decades, of perseverance.

River Alliance has been involved in efforts to remove the Pine Dam in Florence County since 1994. Thanks to the leadership of our founding director, Sara Johnson, the 1997 Wilderness Shores Settlement Agreement required WE Energies to remove the dam by 2025 as part of mitigation for the impacts of eight other hydropower projects in the region. In 2017, WE Energies challenged the agreement, but after a years-long legal battle, the corporation committed to ending electric generation at the site by July 1, 2038. The dam’s removal will uncover two eight-foot waterfalls, one 12-foot waterfall, and a half-mile of rapids, restoring a high-quality trout habitat. We recognize that protecting our waters is an ongoing effort, and meaningful results often take time.

River restoration and water protection require decades of determination and grit. Advocating for the removal of the Pine Dam has been one of our longest-standing initiatives, and the need for this work continues to grow. Climate Resilience Director Ellen Voss discusses the connection between climate resilience and dams in this newsletter.

Last December, we held a virtual River Rat Chat to celebrate the progress you and our supporters have made across the state. We also shared our plans for protecting water this year and beyond. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the recording, it’s available on River Alliance’s YouTube channel.

Wisconsin’s biennial state budget: you are what you spend

Bill Davis, Senior Legal Analyst

We all know the old saying, “you are what you eat.” The analog of that for state government is, “you are what you spend.”

What’s in the state biennial budget matters. The state budget that will be introduced by Governor Evers and debated in the state legislature, in particular, will be graced with a surplus of funds that could be used for one-time expenditures like removing lead pipes, helping people with contaminated wells, and buying and protecting land for public use and enjoyment. 

These are some of the things we would like to see in the state budget:

PFAS

PFAS-style chemicals are an immense and complicated problem that will be with us for years. Here are the steps we would like to see this legislative session to limit their impact on human and environmental health:

• State legislators should pass a bill allowing the Department of Natural Resources to create protective groundwater standards, and not reject these rules when the DNR presents them for approval.
• Release $125 million dollar from the state’s trust fund (through stand-alone legislation, action by Joint Finance, or in the budget) to help communities and individuals that have PFAS contamination.
• Finally, pass proactive, forward-looking legislation that phases out at least the non-essential uses of PFAS as has been done in Minnesota and elsewhere.

Conservation and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program is popular among Wisconsinites because we know the benefits of protecting and maintaining public lands. We know that access to and being in nature has significant physical and mental health benefits. Protected lands support functioning ecosystems and help with climate resilience. The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has been the primary mechanism for the state to purchase public lands for decades, but it has expired. This important program should be re-authorized at a robust funding level for at least a decade.

Limiting the impacts of wake boats

Wake boats in the wrong places can be very destructive to lakes. We are part of a large bipartisan coalition that has proposed reasonable and science-based restrictions we would like to see passed that would protect our lakes and limit where these boats can be used.

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.

Three strategies for building climate resilience

By Ellen Voss, Climate Resilience Director

At River Alliance, when we say “climate resilience,” we mean practical strategies to help communities prepare for, respond to, recover from, and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. Through our research and conversations over the past year and a half, it’s clear that our role in this space ties back to the guiding principles that founded our organization more than 30 years ago.

Advocate for the removal of aging dams

Initially, the push for dam removal focused on recreation and river health. However, the increasing risks from extreme storm events have elevated concerns about dam safety, liability, and flooding. In Wisconsin and beyond, we’re just one severe storm away from disaster.

Wisconsin ranks second in the nation for dam failures over the last two decades. While these events have devastated communities, we’ve been fortunate that no lives have been lost.

Many dams no longer serve a practical purpose. For example, the lasting legacy of mill pond dams that were once used to power gristmills and sawmills is the ponds themselves. While these ponds may hold sentimental value, the dams grow increasingly fragile with age.

Dam removal is expensive, but repairing dams is even more costly over time. Fortunately, Wisconsin offers state grants to help municipalities offset removal costs (up to $1 million).

There’s also limited funding for private dam owners who wish to remove dams on their property.

Deciding to remove a dam involves balancing many factors. Our role is helping communities weigh the pros and cons of having a dam in their community and advocating for nature-based solutions (i.e., natural practices that protect, enhance, or restore ecosystems) as a cost-effective alternative.

Limiting the impacts of hydropower

Not all dams are candidates for removal, and responsible hydropower will continue to play a role in the energy grid for the foreseeable future. To limit the impacts of these dams, we take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime relicensing opportunities to advocate for habitat restoration, fish passage, recreational improvements, water quality, and water quantity.

For instance, advocating for minimum flow requirements during relicensing is vital for species like freshwater mussels, among the most vulnerable river species. In 2023, the combined effects of hydropower operations and reduced flow due to persistent drought led to the hand-rescue of thousands of mussels on the Lower Wisconsin River (watch this story from PBS Wisconsin for more). 

As navigating weather extremes becomes the new normal, we need resilient ecosystems that can handle whatever nature brings. And when water is scarce, we advocate for prioritizing the needs of river species, which have no alternative to life in the water.

Protecting biodiversity

Climate resilience depends on biodiversity. Essential processes like pollination, clean air and water, climate regulation, and food production all rely on it.

However, biodiversity is under threat, partly due to neonicotinoids (“neonics”), a group of insecticides with widespread impacts. While neonics are used in flea treatments and garden products, their largest application is in agriculture, particularly as seed coatings for crops like corn and soybeans.

Last October, River Alliance was involved in a statewide collaborative effort highlighting the uses and extensive non-target impacts of neonics. These pesticides are contaminating surface water, groundwater, and soil, harming not only pests but also butterflies, birds, aquatic insects, and even humans.

Public education was a crucial first step, but we’ll continue pushing for responsible regulation to protect our water and biodiversity.

Metallic sulfide mining threats: areas of concern

By Johnson Bridgwater, Water Advocates Organizer

River Alliance of Wisconsin has always worked to oppose metallic sulfide mining in our water-rich region, starting with intense community opposition to a proposed mine in Crandon in the late 1990s. We learned over the years that being a voice for water protection and watchdogging state and federal mining policies is needed no matter who our elected leaders are.

We anticipate the incoming Presidential administration will work to weaken environmental protections and support mining expansion. This includes reclassifying copper as a “critical mineral,” (it’s now less urgently classified as a “critical material”) which would make mining for copper eligible for federal funding. Such a change could accelerate mining in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. See our map to get a sense of future hotspots for mining, legacy mining concerns, and important ceded Tribal territories and Great Lakes places to protect. 

Clean energy advocates have pushed nationally to create a fully electrified transportation system. To reach that goal, the volume of mining needed to fully electrify the United States would be staggering, and recent research at the University of Michigan suggests it is not even feasible. It would also result in an increase in pollution and waste. Mining is the most water-polluting industry in the United States.

Clean energy is important, but not at the expense of our water.

Federal leaders could work to reduce greenhouse gases and domestic mining through policies like promoting public transit or improving complex recycling of metals such as waste from electronics. Until national leaders take water protection more seriously, we will have to resist mining and protect our water locally. 

Sign up for mining news and action alerts.

Save the date for The Big Share on March 4

By Evan Arnold, Development Director

Thank you to our generous supporters for helping us raise over $40,000 at the end of 2024! With matching contributions from Beth Fuller and Ross and Connie Ellis Ament, your support totaled $58,000 to protect and restore Wisconsin’s waters.

Let’s keep the momentum going during our next big campaign: The Big Share is back on Tuesday, March 4!

The Big Share is an annual day of online giving that brings people together to support more than 70 Community Shares of Wisconsin member organizations working for social and environmental justice.

This year, River Alliance is trying to raise $35,000 during The Big Share – and you can help. Your gift between 7 and 8 p.m. on March 4 puts us in the running to win a $1,000 power hour prize. And your Big Share gift any time helps us reach our goal!

Your support helps us continue advocating for clean drinking water, finding practical solutions for climate resilience, and restoring Wisconsin’s rivers, streams, and lakes. Whether through donations or encouraging others to contribute, your efforts will make a timely impact during this campaign!

Welcome and thank you

Welcome new board members

Every December, we elect our board of directors and officers. We are thrilled to welcome Meg Galloway, Charles Rathmann, and Tom Wiensch to our board! Each brings valuable knowledge and dedication to protecting Wisconsin’s waters.

Meg Galloway, a water engineer and Senior Policy Advisor for the Association of Floodplain Managers, spent 30 years regulating water and dams at the Wisconsin DNR.

Charles Rathmann began his involvement with River Alliance on our Fund Development Committee, where he contributed ideas and secured new donors. An angler, he enjoys the view of the Lower Wisconsin River from his home in Muscoda.

Tom Wiensch, a lifelong environmentalist, angler, paddler, and advocate from Oneida County, recently worked to secure the Pelican River Forest Easement.

Thanks for your service

Mel Vollbrecht’s six-year term on our board was marked by numerous accomplishments. During her service, Mel made significant contributions to the success of the River Alliance of Wisconsin by providing technical expertise in water resources to both the staff and board, offering steady leadership during unexpected transitions and challenges, exemplifying our values through her leadership of the Governance Committee, and fostering a welcoming culture that has built lasting friendships among board members and staff. We are grateful for Mel’s continued involvement as a member of our Governance Committee.

Jessica Schultz brought a great perspective to our board. Her nonprofit organization, local watershed group, and Northeast Wisconsin knowledge helped us make well-informed decisions. We look forward to continuing to work with Jessica and the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance on our shared goals of protecting Wisconsin’s waters.

2024 photo contest winners

Wisconsin shutterbugs sent us their favorite photos last year. Winners of last year’s photo contest served as judges and picked these winners from the following categories. Visit wisconsinrivers.org and subscribe to our Word on the Stream e-newsletter to learn when our 2025 photo contest will be announced. 

Animals

“Ferry Bluff Eagles Nest” by Terry Drea

People

“Brothers Watching the Sunset on the Dock” by Katie Weisbezawecker

Plants

“Coneflower, Cascade Falls” by Elliot Gilfix

Threats

“Eye of the Beholder” by Gary Johncox

Landscapes

“Dave’s Falls” by Earl Buss

Best in show

“Down the Hatch!” by Lois Leis

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.