5 people in the water

Coldwater Stream Program

Pepin County Cold Water Stream Program (PCCWSP) Guidelines/Fact Sheet

Criteria

  • Property will have to have a cold water stream located on parcel (Bear, Arkansaw, Little Arksansaw, Boyd Spring, Little Plum, Plum, Porcupine, Creek 1-2, Creek 9-10, Fall, Duscham, Bogus, Schuh)
  • Ranking will take place if there are more applications received than funds available, so sites where work already has been done (Bear Creek) will get priority over new sites
  • Agree to sign the Pepin County held Stream Access Easement for public fishing to occur on project site only during the regular trout fishing season
  • Size and location of practice/habitat structure will be determined by Conservation Planner Technician or County Conservationist with input from Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Biologist depending on site conditions, resource need, practicability, etc
  • Water Action Volunteer monitoring program will be required before (at least once) and after (at least 1 year) construction of practice/habitat structure, which the Pepin LCD will train the landowner or Non-Profit Organization (NPO)
  • List of practices/habitat structures: lunker structures, bank shaping and stabilization, cross-logs, plunge pools, root wads, rock deflector/weirs, boulder retards, turtle/frog hibernacula, brush bundles, sediment traps, seeding, mulching, access roads, mechanical stripping, etc
  • Maintenance agreement will be 5 years from the date of installation
  • Maximum of $5,000 per landowner or NPO will be rewarded if two or more applications are submitted
  • Total of $10,000 of County Cost-Share funding will be allocated for this program per year
  • Spot reviews will be performed by Conservation Planner Technician or County Conservationist every 2 years to ensure practices/habitat structures are maintained properly.

 

Benefits of Practices/Habitat Structures

  • Increased habitat for cold water stream plant and animal species to use
  • Provide an area for public fishing access that may not have existed before
  • Reduce sediment load within the streams, which will reduce the temperature and improve dissolved oxygen
  • Bring back the pre-European settlement floodplain that allows flood water to disperse
  • To bring landowner and NPO, cold water stream interest back to Pepin County
  • Reduce soil erosion on stream banks and recreate riparian zones
  • Give public opportunity to learn about the importance in protecting cold-water streams
  • Help restore degraded land back to near pre-European settlement conditions
  • Additional information is available to read in our Pepin County Government Center office
PCBIP Application