Dear Friend, The lyrics to my Scottish grandmother's favorite song go, "Keep right on to the end of the road…"and that's what we need you to do! On T

         
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Working to preserve the land west of Lake Waubesa from poorly planned development

Dear Friend,

The lyrics to my Scottish grandmother's favorite song go, "Keep right on to the end of the road…"and that's what we need you to do! On Thursday, Oct. 9 you have one last chance to weigh in on the fate of the Waubesa Wetlands and 819 acres of high quality farmland.

Please attend the CARPC meeting at 7 p.m. at the Fitchburg City Hall, 5520 Lacy Rd., in the Council Chambers!

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The inimitable Harry Lauder, who sang "The End of the Road." Click on photo to hear him!

FB city hall

This is the hall to fill!

Let's fill the hall!

On Sept. 11 the hall was packed, and the commissioners could see how important these votes are to the community. Let's keep the momentum going by filling the Council Chambers one more time. Here are the three things that you can do to help:

Watch our video at www.westwaubesa.org, and share it via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's a great motivator and should bring more people to the hearing.

* Attend the CARPC meeting Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Fitchburg City Hall, 5520 Lacy Rd., and register in opposition to the Northeast Neighborhood. (If you registered on Sept. 11, you needn't do so again, but please do attend!)

If you haven't yet, write the CARPC commissioners at allcommissioners@CapitalAreaRPC.org, and urge them to reject the NEN and the NSPN.

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Harvest Moon Festival tonight, Friday, Oct. 3!

As always, the WWPC will have an information table at the Harvest Moon Fest at the Lussier Family Heritage Center, and we encourage you to come to this really fun, family-oriented event!

What: A great time, with a bonfire, learning stations, Brandon Beebe's Beatle Band, s'mores, a silent auction, and more.
Where: Lussier Family Heritage Center, 3101 Lake Farm Rd, Madison
When: Friday, Oct. 3, 6 - 9 p.m.
Cost: $4 (kids 5 and under are free!)

For much more info, click here!

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The blue area in the NSPN drains into a closed depression. High levels of storm water will have to be pumped out, eventually reaching Lake Waubesa.

The North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood is also a threat to Lake Waubesa's water quality!

We didn't realize this 'til we heard and pondered the testimony of Fitchburg's Environmental Engineer Rick Eilertson on Sept. 11 during the CARPC's public hearing on the North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood (NSPN). He revealed that the city is considering installing a lift station in the NSPN's Closed Depression #1 (north of Lacy Rd. and west of the Badger State Trail), to pump out excess storm water during or after a large storm. (To read his testimony and to see it on video, click here.)

The storm water would be routed to a wet pond, and from there into a storm sewer that would take it to Dunn's Marsh (just west of Seminole Hwy.), and from there into the Nine Springs Creek, through Upper Mud Lake and into Lake Waubesa.

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Dr. Joy Zedler
Video image by Matt Hill

UW Arboretum's Grady Tract in danger

Wetland scientist Dr. Joy Zedler, who holds the Aldo Leopold Chair in Restoration Ecology at the UW Arboretum, was at the 9/11/14 hearing, and afterwards wrote a letter to the CARPC expressing her concerns. (Click here to read her letter.)

She's concerned about what storm water from the NSPN would do to the Grady Tract, that portion of the UW Arboretum that's south of the Beltline.

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Dunn's Marsh, west of Seminole Hwy and south of the Cannonball Path. A corner of the Grady Tract is visible in the upper right corner.

Grady tract map

UW Arboretum's Grady Tract. Seminole Hwy is along the left side, and the Beltline is across the top of the map.

Portion of Dr. Zedler's letter to the CARPC

"Dunn’s Marsh itself is a conservation area for the City of Madison, so they should provide input to CARPC about future storm inflows. However, my concern is that water flowing into Dunn’s Marsh flows downstream into the Arboretum’s Grady Tract. Water flows into the southwestern corner of the Grady Tract, which has a rare patch of (planted) swamp white oak trees. The prolonged ponding of water in Grady Tract has blocked Arboretum access to a historical fire lane that parallels the Harlan Hills Development. The Arboretum fire truck and maintenance vehicles and even foot traffic can no longer use this former fire lane."

Downstream channel that can't take more storm water...now slated to take more storm water!

"Excess flows and ponding were discussed in November 2011 when Fitchburg staff and Arboretum representatives met onsite. Arboretum land would benefit from reduced inflows--not from augmented flows. Another concern was that the downstream channel (east of Arboretum land) could not handle increased bursts of stormwater in the absence of ponding in Greene Prairie. That is, Arboretum land serves as a holding pond, moderating flows and reducing erosion further downstream.

"Now, based on the 9/11/2014 hearing, this streamflow path is considered acceptable for excess runoff from Stoner Prairie Development. How can a stream channel accommodate future Stoner Prairie Development runoff but not existing runoff? "

How indeed?

The answer is that the Arboretum's Greene Prairie, located in the southeastern portion of the Grady Tract, is already compromised by the excess water that flows off of Harland Hills. Adding storm water from the NSPN may overwhelm this ecosystem, and negate the significant outlays of public money that are being made to restore this area's ecosystem.

And the damage won't stop there. The storm water, carrying sediments and nutrients, will keep flowing all the way into Lake Waubesa. If you've seen our video "Waubesa Wetlands in Danger" you know that this lake doesn't need any more nutrients! The algae blooms are bad enough already.

In a 1994 article titled "Urbanization Taking a Toll on Famous Greene Prairie," I saw this hopeful quote:

"Kline noted that the watershed is almost completely developed now. The impossibility of further large-scale development there, coupled with the ideas being developed by local units of government to reduce storm water surge, may help alleviate the flooding of the Greene Prairie."

Ah, but she wasn't aware that 20 years later, clever people would envision importing more storm water from other watersheds!

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Photo © Joe Veltman

CARPC: think ahead, protect our lakes, reject this application!

Fitchburg should create its development in the 1126 acres of developable land already within its Urban Service Area. We urge the CARPC to reject the NSPN application.

Remember...
Please be respectful of the Commissioners, CARPC staff, and Fitchburg staff. Do not assume that any of them want to harm the wetlands. Please don't accuse them of anything, just state why you think the amendments should be rejected.

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The southern end of Lake Waubesa, looking northwesterly towards the Northeast Neighborhood.
Photo © Nadia Olker

A huge thank you!

Thanks so much to all of you came to the Sept. 11 meeting, wrote to the commissioners, spread the word, and helped pay for our postcards with your donations! I hope to see you again on Oct. 9, when the commissioners will hear us and vote.

Yours,

Phyllis Hasbrouck

Chair of the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition

P.S. Please mark Oct. 9, 7 p.m. on your calendar to attend the continued NEN hearing, at the Fitchburg City Hall!

www.westwaubesa.org
westwaubesa@gmail.org

Tips and talking points: the story in two nutshells

We are trying to stop two proposed developments from happening at this time. The reasons are both financial and environmental. Since Fitchburg already has 7 areas (1126 acres) within its current Urban Service Area that are empty and ready for development, it makes no sense to open another two areas for development, burdening the taxpayers with two more sets of infrastructure to maintain.

(If this is your first e-newsletter from us and you need some background on the issue, click here to access our brochure. And click here to see our 20-minute video shot in the Waubesa Wetlands.

Our previous newsletter from May has a summation of the water-related concerns about these two proposed expansions. (You need to stick to those reasons when talking to CARPC.) Just click here and scroll down past the signature.

CD Rainbow over Waubesa Wetlands during flood

The Waubesa Wetlands after a storm. Thanks for helping us to protect them!
Photo by Cal DeWitt

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