Water Planning, 2006 Water Quality Report to Congress

Wisconsin's Water Quality Management Planning Program encompasses a number of activities:
Ashland Sunrise

Wisconsin Water Management

Basin Planning

Waterbody Assessments ("305b")

Identification of impaired Waters (Clean Water Act 303(d))

Waterbody Assessment Display and Reporting System (WADRS)

Ranking nonpoint source areas

Local Water Quality Aid Program

Sewer Service Area Program

Basin Planning

The State's 32 major rivers fall into roughly 23 water management basins. Management plans for these areas were developed during 2000-2001; this multi-step process involved external partners in the identification and prioritization of issues and identification of goals and objectives for ecosystem management. These plans were posted to the state's Gateway to the Basins website.

Basin planning is due to occur again based on the initial six-year update schedule. Water Program Managers are evaluating a number of alternatives for updating these plans. The grassroots, community-based approach for identifying basin issues and priorities provides an excellent mechansim for relating to local residents to help shape the future of resource management in their area. Basin or watershed planning will be addressed during the 2007-09 work cycle.

For more detail regarding basin planning, please refer to the 2004 Water Quality Planning Document. [PDF 467KB]

Last Revised: 2006