ORAL PRESENTER CO-AUTHOR: Paul Meuer, Tall Pines Conservancy TITLE: Wetland restoration for water quality along Mason Creek ABSTRACT: Water quality is a driving factor for surface water restoration throughout Wisconsin and often requires a watershed-scale approach to identify the sources of impairment and prioritize methods for improvement in our downstream waterbodies. Tall Pines Conservancy and Stantec will share a restoration project along a channelized section of Mason Creek in Waukesha County, where landowners, non-profits, municipalities, consultants, and agency partners collaborated in support of water quality improvement. Mason Creek is impaired due to elevated water temperature, low dissolved oxygen, and high levels of suspended solids and phosphorus. This restoration project enhances the floodplain connectivity between Mason Creek and adjacent wetland areas to improve aquatic habitat and expand the horizontal reach of flood events to reduce sediment and phosphorus loading to downstream waterbodies. We will focus on watershed planning and project partnerships, provide an overview of wetland design elements for water quality improvement, share lessons learned from permitting and construction challenges, and discuss ongoing monitoring and adaptive management efforts. BIO: Sarah Majerus is a wetland ecologist and enjoys working with local non-profits, businesses, and municipalities to provide integrated solutions that protect and conserve water resources. Her project experience includes wetland delineation, permitting, habitat restoration planning and design, watershed planning, and project management. She is a PWS with SWS and a WDNR Assured Wetland Delineator.