Collaborative creek restoration benefits Billings Creek
In the past couple years, streams and creeks throughout the Driftless region in Southwestern Wisconsin have been reshaped and seen bank erosion due to severe storms and more than average flooding.
With the worst flooding hitting the Driftless last summer, conservationists are beginning restoration efforts that are crucial to the health and management of the area’s waters.
While flooding, course change, depth, and flow are a natural occurrence over time, it only takes a succession of a few very bad floods to accelerate that change, but not always in a good way. Natural structure that helps support a healthy aquatic ecosystem, can be negatively impacted by such events.
Billings creek a small tributary to the Kickapoo River, was earmarked for a collaborative restoration, that was 6 months in the planning, and saw the Vernon County Land and Water Conservation Department, UW Madison, Trout Unlimited, and the Valley Stewardship Network work together, making improvements to a section just Southeast of Wildcat Mountain State Park along County highway F. The project started today July 8th, and is slated to be completed in just one week.
In this video; http://bit.ly/BillingsCreekRestoration, we interview Vernon County Land and Water Conservation Department Technician, Matt Albright, and Caroline DruschKe from University of Madison.
For more information on Caroline Druschke and her work at UW-Madison visit, https://headwaterslab.com/, and visit http://vernoncounty.org/LWCD/index.htm for more information on the efforts of Matt Albright and his colleagues, at the Vernon County Land and Water Conservation.
