The 9 Key Element Plan

WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON UPDATING THIS PORTION OF THE WEBSITE!

WHAT IS A NINE KEY ELEMENT PLAN????

The 9KE Plan is a comprehensive watershed scale project focused on surface and ground water quality. The plan consists of 9 main steps:

14MileCreek9KEPlan-FINAL-reduce-AUG2020.pdf

informational meetings

Nine Key Element Plan Milestones

Watershed Goals and Management Objectives

Executive Summary

Updated 2/16/2023

The Nine Key Element Plan for the 14 Mile Creek Watershed (9KEP) provides a preliminary roadmap to address the water quality issues this watershed faces. The first ten years of this plan are the most detailed, with provisions to be updated as the plan progresses forward. The expectations for the first few years of the watershed plan are focused on developing relationships and gaining a better understanding of the situation on the ground.  The first element involves active participation with the community by attending and hosting events, understanding their stories and needs, and providing services as possible. The second element, to better understand watershed conditions, is to be accomplished through additional monitoring of water resources, inventorying land use practices, and sharing results with residents. 

Primary Goals of the Nine Key Element Plan within in the first years of implementation:

(Goal 1) To better understand the watershed conditions.
(Objective 1A) Inventory land use practices
(Objective 1B) Additional monitoring of water resources

(Goal 2) Develop outreach capacity and community engagement
(Objective 2A) Share results of preliminary inventories with residents
(Objective 2B) Develop stronger relationships with watershed stakeholders

The initial 10 year plan divides management objectives into four broad categories. These categories are further broken down into milestones with 1-3, 4-7, and 8-10 year time frames. Some of these milestones can be accomplished sooner than others, and some, such as best management practices, are evolving as we learn more about the watershed conditions and the specific challenges on the landscape. 

Progress has been made across 30 milestones, with two milestones completed. A summary and table highlighting most of these milestones can be found below.

100 Increase Best Management Practices to Reduce Pollutant Loading

Of particular challenge is the need to identify effective agricultural best management practices. These practices must address the unique physical and agronomic challenges of vegetable and potato production, and the growers themselves will be the best resource to develop novel approaches and identify suitable applications. 

Producers operating within the watershed have been identified and initial introductions and contacts have been made. Feedback from these vegetable and potato growers have been very helpful, and these stakeholders have actively engaged and participated in discussions over the last year. 

A Geographic Information System (GIS) was created to inventory fields, land use, and physical features such as surface water, soils, and land cover using remote data. This database was used to assist in the planning and collection of crop and tillage transect survey data and the data collected provide ground truthing for other datasets. 

A crop and tillage survey was conducted in the spring. This survey involves driving throughout the watershed to document crop residue cover, tillage intensity, and crop type in a field from the roadside. When permission was available, in-field measurements were taken. A fall cover crop survey was also conducted using roadside visual assessments. 

Adoption of Nutrient Management Plans is unlikely in the near future. The agronomic and production realities of the potato and vegetable industry makes it difficult to leverage practices and funding opportunities designed for dairyland systems. Alternative options and variances are being explored. Currently it appears that the majority of producers are utilizing precision agriculture techniques like variable rate application, frequent foliar and soil sampling, and split applications for fertilizer (i.e “spoon feeding”). Cover cropping is utilized for wind erosion control with 45% of fields fall cover cropped in 2022. Existing challenges include the requirement for intensive tillage to control pests and meet contractual obligations to minimize residues or “trash” that interferes with processing. With 9 different crops commonly planted, the diverse crop rotations used in the watershed provide opportunities for innovative cover crop strategies. New and more diverse cover cropping strategies are also an opportunity to avoid potential allergen contamination from common cover crops like rye, barely, and wheat.

See Table 1. for Milestone 100 progress for 2022 

200 Reduce Nutrient Loading to Groundwater

These milestones focus primarily on preventing nutrients from entering groundwater within aquifers below the soil. This is a longer term part of the project and begins with better understanding the current groundwater conditions through testing and data collection. Current priority milestones to address this are:

300 Improve Lake & Stream Conditions

These milestones focus primarily on preventing nutrients from entering groundwater within aquifers below the soil. This is a longer term part of the project and begins with better understanding the current groundwater conditions through testing and data collection. Current priority milestones to address this are:

400 Outreach & Education Actions

These milestones focus primarily on preventing nutrients from entering groundwater within aquifers below the soil. This is a longer term part of the project and begins with better understanding the current groundwater conditions through testing and data collection. Current priority milestones to address this are:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is a nine key element plan?

A: The 9KE Plan is a comprehensive watershed scale project focused on surface and ground water quality. The plan consists of 9 main steps:

This plan was developed over several years and finalized in September of 2020. We are currently in the implementation phase of the plan, where stakeholders and county staff work to put the plan into action focusing on parts 8 and 9 where milestones are implemented, measured, and assessed for progress.

Q: Are there regulations or rules to follow?

A: No, the Nine Key Element Plan is not regulatory and the project is focused on voluntary action and community organization supported by county, state and local resources.

Q: will the property owners be notified before the county surveys any streams?

A: Yes, all property owners will be given notice and invited to engage in the survey prior to any field work and we will not enter private property without express permission. Public notice will also be given if individual owners cannot be reached otherwise. 

Q: How will the data from the County-wide Well testing Program used?

A: Detailed well testing results will be shared only with the well owner and aggregate data will only be publicly available at larger scales without any identifying personal information or location. Please contact Anna James for more information (608) 339-4269.

Q: If I want to get more involved, where can i start?

A: A good place to start is to have conversations with other folks in your community. Connecting with an existing network with the 14 Mile Watershed Alliance, PACRS, Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri, or forming your own network is a great way to become involved. You can also contact Kyle Kettner (608) 339-4225 to schedule a visit to discuss how your property and personal goals might fit into the 14 Mile Watershed 9 Key Element Plan. 

Q: If we know what the problem is, why hasn't it been fixed yet?

A: When you go to the doctor, they will often prescribe treatments to help manage the symptoms, and also recommend treatments to manage the underlying condition. Often, this treatment can take years and you can expect symptoms to be managed, but not completely eliminated. This is equally true for watershed management and water quality projects. Although we understand the major contributing factors causing water quality issues within the watershed, the scale of the challenge itself means that how we measure progress has to be different. Accordingly, progress often doesn’t look how we might expect it too. A watershed is a complex system. What we see as water quality issues like algal bloom and drinking water with high nitrate levels are symptoms of a larger underlying condition. In this, you will see improvement, but it won’t necessarily be overnight. That is why the county and supporting agencies with the Nine Key Element Plan have made a long term commitment, and the plan includes strategies to help make immediate changes, and also address long term challenges.

Kyle Kettner will be working with partners to highlight progress that has already been done and to elevate the improvements we have already seen. We will also work to keep stakeholders informed about ongoing projects and what to expect with annual update meetings.