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What a Project in Wisconsin Can Teach Others About Working With Farmers to Reduce Phosphorus Runoff

January 24, 2019

WHAT A PROJECT IN WISCONSIN CAN TEACH OTHERS ABOUT WORKING WITH FARMERS TO REDUCE PHOSPHORUS RUNOFF

Adoption of best management practices on farms near Green Bay, Wisconsin, could help answer nagging questions about how well these strategies work to reduce nutrient pollution.

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Photo courtesy of NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District

January 23, 2019 — “People say the farmers are the ones who can save Green Bay, and it’s really true,” says Jim Snitgen, water resources supervisor for the Oneida Nation.

His office, in the tribe’s Little Bear Development Center about thirteen miles from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is decorated with aerial photos of streams and farm fields. A table holds vials of aquatic critters preserved in clear liquid, and his desk is stacked with binders detailing several stream restoration projects.

Why exactly does Green Bay need saving? Because it suffers from too much phosphorus, which contributes to Cyanobacteria, more commonly known as blue-green algae. Around the world, these bacteria are turning water a disgusting shade of green and other colors, and producing poisons that can sicken people and kill animals. And when the algae die off they can rob oxygen from other life in the water, killing fish and other aquatic life.

Around Green Bay, several small streams carry excess nutrients from farm fields into the bay and eventually into Lake Michigan. One of them, Silver Creek, is the focus of a pilot project designed to answer a crucial question: Can farmers reduce their pollution enough to help the bay, while remaining profitable? The project lies within the boundaries of the Oneida reservation, and more than half the land is owned by the tribe, which leases a lot of land to non-tribal growers.

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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