County Resources

County participation in the multi-discharger variance (MDV) for phosphorus is completely voluntary. If counties participate, they agree to comply with the requirements of the program to the best of their ability. By participating in the MDV, counties will have access to additional financial resources for nonpoint source pollution control activities, including funds to supplement staff costs. Chapter 3 of the Program Policy for Implementing Wisconsin's Multi-Discharger Variance [PDF] provides details about programmatic requirements and expectations for counties that choose to participate.

How To Participate

To participate in the MDV, counties must register their projects in the BMP Implementation Tracking System (BITS) no later than January 2.

For more information and to register in BITS, visit the BITS webpage.

Available Financial Resources

The DNR will determine annual MDV payment based on the number of point source participants in the area and the number of participating counties within a watershed. Because this will vary by year, it is not possible to guarantee funding at this time. However, DNR staff will work with the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association to inform counties of potential funding opportunities at the end of each calendar year so counties can make informed participation decisions. Once a point source chooses the MDV option, they commit to making MDV payments for five years. Counties will receive payments from point sources by March 1 for every year they choose to participate in the MDV.

Expectations

Participating counties must complete a watershed plan and submit this plan to the DNR no later than one year after receiving the MDV payment. Plans must be submitted in BITS. Please visit the BITS webpage for further guidance on submitting plans. Counties should work with DNR staff to obtain MDV plan approval prior to using MDV funds.

Annual reports are also required from counties receiving MDV funding. These reports must be submitted to the DNR no later than May 1 in the year after the plan was due. Annual reporting requirements include a description of the nonpoint source pollution control projects completed in the previous year, the pounds of phosphorus reduced by those projects using accepted modeling technology, and the amount of MDV money used to fund staff and/or monitoring activities. The annual report will build upon the initial plan submitted in BITS by completing the BITS implementation phase (available to users upon project approval). Completed annual reports will be published on the MDV Annual Report page.

General information about annual reporting requirements is provided in Section 3.05 of the Program Policy for Implementing Wisconsin's Multi-Discharger Variance [PDF]. Further instructions on the BITS report submission can be found in the user manual and tutorial videos on the BITS webpage.