{"id":9921,"date":"2023-08-04T09:58:46","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=9921"},"modified":"2023-08-07T09:58:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T14:58:53","slug":"uw-madison-water-resources-students-get-hands-on-experience-with-creek-cleanup","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-madison-water-resources-students-get-hands-on-experience-with-creek-cleanup\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Madison water resources students get hands-on experience with creek cleanup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Terry Bradshaw (left), president of the Menasha River Alliance, gives a rope technique demonstration with UW-Madison student Hannah Agner. (Photo by Bryce Rivhter\/UW-Madison)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Determined to remove a log from a large pile, several Nelson Institute Water Resources Management students leaned into their ropes in a field at Badger Farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think that just tying a rope around the log and yanking on it is going to do much, especially for me that\u2019s barely over five feet tall,\u201d said Hannah Agner, a Water Resources Management (WRM) student.<\/p>\n

But the log slowly creaked its way out of the stack and was met with cheers when it finally broke free.<\/p>\n

With the guidance of experienced water trail volunteers involved in Capitol Water Trails, Maunesha River Alliance, and Friends of Koshkonong Creek, the students were practicing different strategies that can be used to clear blocked waterways during a Wisconsin Water Trail Development 101 seminar on April 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve come up with a pretty unique and interesting method of removing stream obstructions, so it was interesting to be able to pull on that and actually move the log out of it using the techniques that they\u2019ve developed,\u201d Agner said.<\/p>\n

This was also the WRM students\u2019 first time seeing the land they had been researching for the past semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we\u2019ve just been studying this creek, we haven\u2019t actually gotten to go out and do any type of field work,\u201d WRM student Colleen Dickey said. \u201cTo actually be here is very motivating. It\u2019s giving me the bigger picture that I need.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their two-year graduate program, the students are partnering with the Friends of Koshkonong Creek and Badger Farms through\u00a0UniverCity Year<\/a>\u00a0(UCY), which is the hallmark program of\u00a0UniverCity Alliance<\/a>\u00a0(UCA).<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Steve Falter, founder of Capitol Water Trails, speaks to students and others at the Koshkonong Creek Watershed event. Photo: Bryce Richter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From 2021 to 2024, a collaborative that includes the city of Sun Prairie, towns of Deerfield and Cottage Grove, and Friends of Koshkonong Creek with support from Badger Farms partnered with UCY to\u00a0work toward a healthier Koshkonong Creek<\/a>\u00a0to improve water quality and support a variety of wildlife and human activities for generations to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an ambassador of UW\u2013Madison, we don\u2019t think we know all the answers,\u201d said UCA Managing Director Gavin Luter, addressing the community members who attended the event. \u201cWe want to learn from you as the experts on Koshkonong Creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

The April 29 event drew participants from the community, including nearby property owners, nonprofit volunteers, and interested residents. UW\u2013Madison Planning and Landscape Architecture\u00a0Professor and Extension Statewide Specialist Ken Genskow<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ed Boswell<\/a>, a teaching faculty member in GIS and geodesign, participated in the event.<\/p>\n

Prior to the demonstrations, the audience heard from Capitol Water Trails\u2019 Steve Falter on best practices for clearing waterways, safety tips, and rights of water users and land owners.<\/p>\n

Genskow and PhD student Andrew Hillman shared the results of a study exploring\u00a0governance options<\/a>\u00a0for the Koshkonong Creek Watershed, which resulted from a class taught by Genskow called \u201cWater Resources, Institutions, and Policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genskow said the students have benefited from hearing directly from individuals and organizations who care about improving the quality of the creek, public access to it, and recreational opportunities on the waterway.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an instructor, it\u2019s helpful to have real, unresolved challenges that emphasize the lessons discussed in class and published literature,\u201d Genskow said. \u201cProjects like this one help keep our educational experiences grounded and raise all sorts of applied research questions for the university to explore in partnership with community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Terry Bradshaw (right), president of the Menasha River Alliance, talks with UW students. Photo: Bryce Richter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boswell showed participants how to use an interactive website to report situations, like downed trees or other blockages, along the creek. These projects align with the\u00a0Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture\u2019s Geodesign Collaborative<\/a>\u00a0that aims to provide digital tools to engage stakeholders and assist communities with planning and design challenges.<\/p>\n

Boswell said the event fostered interaction between the students and community partners with varying interests, from landowners that want to recover flooded farmland and people interested in developing innovative watershed governance structures. He\u2019s already seeing the students\u2019 appreciation for these different perspectives reflected in group discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents choose programs like the MS in Water Resources Management at UW\u2013Madison because they want to make a difference,\u201d Boswell said. \u201cCommunity-based projects provide amazing opportunities for students to apply their skill sets and interests toward solving complex problems while developing empathy for diverse stakeholder perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agner said making those connections was the most important part of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat can really help us in the early stages figure out where we want to take this project and what could actually be of use to them rather than just us writing a report that\u2019s going to get dusty on the shelf,\u201d Agner said.<\/p>\n

This summer, the WRM students will be conducting field work, communicating with neighbors about the issues affecting Koshkonong Creek, and investigating the waterway\u2019s hydrology to see how incorporating wetlands might address flooding issues. This research will inform a watershed management plan.<\/p>\n

Heidi Putnam, who is pursuing dual master\u2019s degrees in WRM and urban and regional planning, emphasized the importance of gathering information from those closest to the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can have the best plan or idea in the world but if you haven\u2019t talked to someone that actually has lived experience in that area, it\u2019s really hard to make that connection, to understand does this validate or invalidate our ideas or opinions about what might work for a place,\u201d Putnam said. \u201cIf you aren\u2019t having a direct conversation from the beginning, you\u2019re not going to have a successful project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Dickey and Putnam have experience with UCY collaborations. While an undergraduate student, Dickey worked on a project addressing water quality in\u00a0Pepin County<\/a>. Putnam recently partnered with\u00a0Polk County<\/a>\u00a0during Fall 2022 as part of her urban and regional planning degree.<\/p>\n

These experiences provide the opportunity for students to connect with community partners across Wisconsin and put the skills they learn in the classroom into practice. It also reinforces the importance of building relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in community is invaluable,\u201d Dickey said. \u201cYou can\u2019t read this online. Being in this space, you learn way more than you can on your own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by Abigail Becker<\/a><\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/news.wisc.edu\/water-resources-students-gets-hands-on-experience-with-creek-cleanup\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Determined to remove a log from a large pile, several Nelson Institute Water Resources Management students leaned into their ropes in a field at Badger Farms. \u201cYou don\u2019t think that just tying a rope around the log and yanking on it is going to do much, especially for me that\u2019s barely over five feet tall,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":9923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[103],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-9921","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-madison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/9921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=9921"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=9921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}