WEIGH IN ON WDNR’S REVISIONS TO THE SURFACE WATER GRANT PROGRAM
Changes to administrative code set for public hearing – written comments accepted until July 24, 2019.
The Department of Natural Resources is in the midst of revising its surface water grants program – the program that doles out lake planning and management grants, AIS grants, and river and stream grants. Consolidating several different sections of code language into one new one (called NR193 for its section of the admin code), it aims to “clarify policies, improve customer service and satisfaction, improve administrative consistency and efficiency and create better and more cost-effective environmental outcomes that serve local needs and advance department management objectives for state surface waters,” according to the DNR.
The department opened the code revision for public comment in June and will hold a statewide public hearing by videoconference on Wednesday, June 10, 2019, at 10 am. Locations for participating in the videoconference were recently updated and may not be reflected on all of the DNR’s webpages for the hearing, so use the info in the sidebar to this email!
The DNR’s page on the revision and creation of the new NR193 is full of good info and you can link to the new code language from there (or, you can go directly by clicking here).
Also, if you can’t attend the hearing you can still submit written comments on the grant program revision until June 24, 2019. Watch wisconsinlakes.org for more information on this change to the surface water grant program.
SPEAK FOR WATER QUALITY IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
Hearings Set for July 11 in Sturtevant
The Speaker’s Water Quality Task Force, a bipartisan joint committee of both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature will be holding a public hearing this week to collect information and gather your input on the problems and solutions to Wisconsin’s water quality crisis. Too many homes in the state can’t drink the water from their tap and too many lakes and streams suffer from summer blooms of toxic algae and other problems from phosphorus, nitrates, and other contaminants in their waters. These hearings are an excellent opportunity for you to tell your story and call for legislators to put Wisconsin’s water first with real legislative solutions and not simple band-aids that fail to reach the root causes of these issues.
This week’s hearing will be held in Sturtevant starting at 1:00 pm with invited speakers and public testimony slated to begin around 3:30. See the sidebar for more information, or click on the link to visit the Task Force’s webpage where you can get more information.
Additional hearings across Wisconsin will be held over the course of the summer, including events in Stevens Point and Tomahawk expected later in July.
Watch wisconsinlakes.org for more information about the task force, upcoming hearings, and how to get involved!