What is a Watershed?

Water from rainfall or snowmelt that doesn’t evaporate or soak into the soil runs into ditches, streams, wetlands or lakes. The land area where the water drains from is a watershed.

What is the Middle Trempealeau River Priority Watershed Project?

The Middle Trempealeau River Priority Watershed Project is a local effort to protect and improve streams, rivers and groundwater in the Middle Trempealeau River Watershed. (Map on following page)

The Middle Trempealeau River Priority Watershed Project began August 6th, 1992. Sign-up ends December 31, 2000. The Watershed officially ends December 31, 2004.

The Middle Trempealeau River Priority Watershed Project is a 220 square mile drainage area located in the central portion of Trempealeau County in West Central Wisconsin. 84% of the watershed is located in Trempealeau County and 16% in the eastern part of Buffalo County. Municipalities include Blair, Whitehall, Independence and Arcadia. There are an estimated 9,573 residents that live in the project area. 62% of the residents live in the four municipalities and 38% live in the townships.

The watershed has numerous streams that drain into the Trempealeau River and includes all of the following named streams:

American Valley Creek             Lyga Valley Creek                          Reynolds Coulee Creek 
Botana Valley Creek                Maule Coulee Creek                        Swinns Valley Creek
Dubiel Creek                            Meyers Valley Creek                       Tappen Coulee Creek
Hunt Valley Creek                    Newcomb Valley Creek                  Traverse Valley Creek
Irvin Creek                               North Creek                                    Trempealeau River
Lakes Coulee Creek                 Peterson Coulee Creek                    Turton Creek
Larkin Valley Creek                  Plum Creek                                     Welch Coulee Creek    
Lewis Valley Creek                   Rainey Valley Creek                        Wickham Valley Creek

Most of the water resource objectives for project area streams involve either protecting existing conditions or improving upon them. Water quality objectives include improving stream conditions so that trout will thrive and reproduce naturally where currently they do not.

Water quality problems identified in this watershed include stream erosion, sedimentation of stream bottoms, organic pollution from livestock waste, warm water temperatures (harmful to trout), and high stream flows. During rainstorms or snowmelt runoff, stream water runs brown, carrying with is visible amounts of eroded soil. Some of this soil stays in the stream as sediment, filling in and destroying such valued aquatic habitats as deep pools gravel stream bottoms. Sources of sediment include cropland soil erosion, gullies and eroding streambanks. Bacteria from livestock waste is another pollutant affecting water quality, limiting recreational use of project area streams.

Since this Watershed was established in 1992 the following accomplishments have been completed year ending 1999.

As of December 1999, $2,179,960.68 in cost share funding assistance has been allocated and spent on the Middle Trempealeau River Priority Watershed Project.