Presentation #1: Building Community around Stormwater Resiliency
What happens when you provide people the resources and knowledge base they need to solve a problem in their community? For the UW – Madison Arboretum, the opportunity to explore this question arose from a grant to address stormwater in the Lake Wingra watershed, a highly urbanized watershed in the heart of Madison, Wisconsin. Surrounded by a range of developments and high- and low-income housing, the core strategy of the Water Action To Encourage Responsibility (WATER) project was to engage local non-profits with grants to implement their own stormwater initiatives. The Arboretum provided support with online and in-person trainings covering outreach strategy development, effective communication, and the basics of stormwater solutions. The results include new partnerships with and between a variety of community organizations, schools, and residents in engaged effort to change the narrative around stormwater in a way that can be replicated in other watersheds and communities.
Presenters: Alli Wenman & Gail Epping Overholt
Presentation #2: Adopt-a-Launch: Fostering Ownership to Overcome the Tragedy of the Commons
To many across Wisconsin, water recreation is viewed as an eternal given. People desire well-maintained access to waterways but often pass the expectation of maintaining waters or access points onto others. Historically, a real challenge has existed in engaging local communities into taking action as part of a solution. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance’s Adopt-a-Launch Program was created to engage community members to take ownership of their waterways. Volunteers adopt local boat launches and search for aquatic invasive species while also improving boat launch conditions through litter removal, reporting maintenance issues, and clearing boat launch ramps of washed up vegetation. Through the first year of the program, over 10 launches have been adopted by over 25 volunteers in NE Wisconsin. The success of the novel Adopt-a-Launch Program provides a firm foundation to continue building community ownership of lakes and rivers while recruiting and retaining volunteers dedicated to caring for Wisconsin’s waters.
Presenter: Chris Acy