The Lower Wisconsin Riverway is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, comprising 92 continuous miles of sandy, shallow river, floodplain wetlands, terraces, and river bluffs from the Prairie du Sac Dam to the confluence with the Mississippi River. An important historical, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic resource, it is well-known for its canoe camping, hunting opportunities, sport fishery, forest resources, Native American mounds, rural life, and other features. Ecologically, its significance has been recognized in many ways at statewide to global scales for its rare species as well as the number and high quality of native and surrogate, wetland, and upland plant-animal communities, their interconnections, and their natural transitions. Overlain on its natural hydrologic and nutrient dynamics are the effects of chemical and nutrient contamination from its 12,280 square mile watershed, altered flood regimes influenced by its many dams and watershed wetland losses, invasive species, and other challenges. Yet the riverway has adapted with the help of enlightened land and water management. In recent decades, climate change has introduced long-lasting challenges, especially with increased summer flooding—the causes of which are at a global scale and often considered unsolvable. This symposium reviews the state of the riverway and the reasons for its biodiversity while identifying management challenges and discussing how to think about it under the “new order.” Facilitator: Mike Mossman (Wisconsin DNR - retired) Part 1: Before the break (Part 2 is after the break) 1:50 - 2:10 Mark Cupp (Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board) The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway: A riparian corridor with wetlands of international importance 2:10 - 2:30 Jean Unmuth (Wisconsin DNR - retired) Feast and famine: Effects of droughts and floods in the Lower Wisconsin River basin 2:30 - 2:50 Lisie Kitchell (Wisconsin DNR) Native mussels of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway 2:50 - 3:10 John Lyons (UW Zoological Museum) The future of the fishes of the Lower Wisconsin River floodplain Sponsored by Merjent