Water Resources
In Wisconsin, we often take water resources for granted – it’s all around us! Beautiful lakes, streams, and wetlands are found throughout the landscape. However, the connection between water quality, quantity, and infrastructure have direct connections to economic development, public health, and daily lives of our communities.
The CNRED Educator works to support policies, programs, and organizations that protect our water resources and conserve water.
A large portion of Walworth County falls within the Rock River Basin. The Rock River Basin covers nearly 3,800 square miles of south central Wisconsin and contains 45 lakes, 3,900 miles of streams, and is home to Horicon Marsh, an internationally recognized wetland and bird sanctuary. The basin borders stretch over ten Wisconsin counties, includes 26 cities and 36 villages, and has an estimated 915,000 residents.
For contact information for the Basin Educator working in the Rock River Basin, see Staff section at the bottom of this page.
2011 Walworth County Rain Barrel Sale
Wetlands Preservation
Resources
- UW Extension Water Resources Education
- WI DNR – Lakes Division
- UW Extension Center for Watershed Science & Education
- Geneva Lakes Conservancy
- UW Extension Lakes Program
- Wisconsin Wetland Association
- UW Extension Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center
- USGS – WI Water Center
- UW Madison Center for Limnology
- US EPA – Office of Water
- UW Milwaukee Great Lakes Water Institute
Reports
Land Use and Wetlands: A Local Decision Maker’s Guide to Wetlands Conservation. Published by the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, this guide offers basic information about Wisconsin’s wetland heritage and describes how proteting and restoring wetlands contributes to the economic health, public safety, and quality of life in Wisconsin’s communities.
Funding
- Lake Grants
- WI DNR – Lake Planning Grants
- WI DNR – Clean Water Fund (treatment facilities)
- US EPA – Water Funding and Grants
- WI Dept. of Commerce – Wisconsin Waterfront Initiative
Rain Gardens
Rain Gardens are perennial gardens of native plants selected for their ability to support a soil environment for rainwater infiltration. They protect surface water quality while adding beauty to a park, yard, or campus. Water from a roof or pavement is routed to the garden where it soaks in instead of running off and carrying sediment and pollutants into surface water bodies.
For more information, please visit the Walworth County UW Extension Horticulture page
Resources
Economic Value and Water
Water, in all its forms and functions, provides a great deal of direct and indirect economic activity to Wisconsin and Walworth County. This includes, but not limited to, increased values of properties adjacent to lakes and rivers, boating and fishing recreation & tourism, water quality (for drinking, recreation, aethetics, and more), natural habitat, open space- the list goes on. It is critical to recognize the importance of preserving our many water resources to continue to draw economic activity in a sustainable way.
The UW Extension Lakes Center has procuded a series of in-depth reports that investigates the direct and indirect economic value of water. These reports include property values, water quality, aethetics, and a great deal m
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