Watershed Pilots
Monday, January 31
Participants:
Gary Kohlhepp, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Doug Knauer, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Roger Nanney, U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office/USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Bob Schacht, Illinois EPA
Jim Snitgen, Oneida National Tribe of Wisconsin
Tom Trudeau, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Ric Lawson, Great Lakes Commission
The workgroup members first determined the groups main objectives. Pilot projects could provide several
levels of instruction for the Council:
Role models,
Case studies for "lessons learned," and
Opportunities for future collaboration.
The group agreed to focus on examples that could suggest future opportunities for the Council. Several
examples were listed as possible watershed pilots:
The Lake Michigan Mass Balance project,
Total Maximum Daily Loads especially the work being done at Devils Lake, WI on mercury
deposition,
The history of creel survey collaboration for fisheries population data,
Wildlife contaminant monitoring,
Beach closures and related human health-related monitoring, and
Local watersheds which straddle state boundaries.
It was agreed that the best pilot would be to examine the Lake Michigan Mass Balance project for efforts
that would be valuable to continue once this limited-term project ends. The project already has spurred
strong collaboration, so could provide a strong foundation for the Council to build upon.
Action Items: Kohlhepp agreed to develop a first draft of an assessment of the Mass Balance
project for aspects that could be carried forward by Council members. Following distribution of
this draft, the workgroup will hold another conference call sometime in late March. In the
meantime, Lawson agreed to serve as a conduit for electronic mail discussion on this topic.
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