A Brief HIstory of Water Quality Initiatives in the Lower Fox River Basin
The Lower Fox River Basin has a long history of water quality initiatives. The river was important to the development of the Fox Valley as an industrial center in the early part of the twentieth century. The industrial activity resulted in the contamination of the river by PCBs and other chemicals. Surface runoff from agricultural lands and urban areas also contributed to the water quality problems in the river and in Green Bay. Because of these water quality issues, lower Green Bay was designated in 1978 as an Area of Concern, which in turn prompted the development of a Remedial Action Plan, or RAP (published in 1988 and updated in 1993). The RAP listed "citizens' desired future state" and identified key actions for a restored bay and river.
A committed group of university professors, water quality professionals, and citizens participated in the remedial action planning process. After that process ended, many individuals continued to work toward understanding and addressing the water quality issues affecting the basin. County Land and Water Conservation Departments carried out Priority Watershed projects to address runoff pollution from agricultural lands. State and Federal agencies, as well as citizens' groups, engaged in efforts to clean up PCBs in the Fox River. During the 1990's, a non-profit organization known as Northeast Wisconsin Waters for Tomorrow (later known as Fox-Wolf Basin 2000 and then as Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance) formed and sponsored studies relating to water quality trading (Lessons from the Trading Pilots: Applications for Wisconsin Water Quality Trading Policy, 1993) and strategies for controlling phosphorus (Analysis of Phosphorus Control Costs and Effectiveness for Point and Nonpoint Sources in the Fox-Wolf Basin, 1999). In 2003, the Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program was established to provide additional water quality data and to engage high school students in learning about water quality issues.
All of these efforts led to a greater understanding of the sources of pollutants within the basin as well as strategies for controlling them. The information gathered will serve as the foundation for writing a watershed plan.
The early history of environmental awareness in the basin is documented on the Fox/Wolf Rivers Environmental History Project web site.
Click here to read the Lower Green Bay Remedial Action Plan. (note: this links directly to a 5 MB pdf file).
Read more about a watershed plan for the Lower Fox River Basin.
