Note: The St. Croix County Board of Supervisors passed the Manure Storage Facility Ordinance on January 7, 2024. See related news blog.

This letter to the editor, by Sue Curtis, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on December 12, 2024.

St. Croix County’s surface waters—including the Apple, Eau Galle, Kinnickinnic, St. Croix, and Willow Rivers—draw many visitors. People come here from the Twin Cities, as well as from distant states and countries, to enjoy water activities—boating, fishing, swimming, and nature-watching, among them.   

Spending by these visitors contributes a lot to St. Croix County’s economy every year—through purchases of goods and services, sales tax payments, and job creation. According to the Wisconsin Dept. of Tourism, in 2023 direct visitor spending in St. Croix County was up to $134.1 million, and the total economic impact was $219 million.

Cleaner water draws far more visitors than dirtier water. People don’t come to swim when algae blooms close the beach, to fish when fish populations fall because sediments cloud and nutrients impair the water, or to boat when the water stinks.

But our St. Croix County surface waters are becoming more and more contaminated by sediments and chemicals that run off the lands within their watersheds.

Now, the North and South Forks of the Willow River are listed by the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources as having high phosphorus levels and decreased fish and aquatic life. The St. Croix River and Lake St. Croix have excess phosphorus levels, and are subject to a Total Maximum Daily Load management plan calling for a 38% reduction in the human-caused phosphorus carried to the rivers and streams of the basin.

A source of excess phosphorus in our surface waters is runoff from fields where too much manure has been spread.

Our St. Croix County Board of Supervisors should adopt the proposed “Manure Storage Facilities” ordinance to help protect our surface waters, and to support our visitor economy. An important provision would require the Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) for a new or expanded manure storage facility to demonstrate either no increase in or reduction of sediment and phosphorus delivery to impaired or exceptional resource waters, and to demonstrate no increase in or reduction of total nitrogen and phosphorous applied to fields within the NMP.

Attend County Board meetings Thursdays, Dec. 12 and 19,  at 5:00 p.m. to support clean water.