Marathon County is roughly halfway to its goal of reducing phosphorus in the Fenwood Creek watershed, county officials say. That deadline is looming toward the end of the year.
County conservation officials say efforts including a new pilot program have met about half the reductions aimed at in the county’s strategic plan of 14,000 pounds of phosphorus runoff in the Fenwood Creek watershed. That means a reduction of 7,000 pounds.
Phosphorus runoff from farming leads to algae blooms, which consume oxygen fish needs. There are 65 farms in the watershed and roughly 65% of the land in the watershed is farmland. Phosphorus runoff has led to major fish kills in the Big Eau Pleine reservoir several times in the past.
Amongst efforts is a pilot program in which Marathon County is the first in the state to incentivize farmers to reduce phosphorus runoff directly — instead of paying for practices, the program provides funding for actually reducing phosphorus levels on an index. All five farms made significant reductions to their phosphorus contributions through practices such as grass water drainage, cover crops and reduced tillage.
Marathon County Conservationist Kirstie Heidenreich says county leaders will need to have a discussion on what happens if the county doesn’t meet its strategic plan goals on Fenwood Creek.
