2011 Plant Dane! Cost-Share Program: Order Now

The Plant Dane! cost-share program provides native plants at reduced prices to help you establish rain gardens, native plantings and prairie restoration.

Dane Co announces award of PARC grants

Dane County Partners for Recreation and Conservation (PARC) 

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Board Chair Scott McDonell announced today the county will partner with local communities and non-profit organizations on a projects to improve tourism, outdoor recreation, and conservation.

Conservation grants announced by Dane Co. Environmental Council

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and the Dane County Environmental Council announced $11,800 in grant awards for 12 projects that restore natural areas and promote conservation in Dane County. 

Why the Odana infiltration project is so complicated

The Odana project defies description.  The complication comes not so much in the pipes, but in the concept behind it--swapping water all over the watershed, like a carnival shell game. 

When you see something this complicated, you are probably looking at an obsolete technology.

Groundwater at Odana exceeds standards for salt



The Cogen Plant.  Power plants are the largest user of water in the US, after agriculture.

The Cogeneration plant on the west side of the UW campus is allowed to withdraw large amounts of water from Lake Mendota, based on a complicated swap agreement with DNR.

That agreement called for an infiltration field at the Odana Hills Golf Course, where up to 60 million gallons a year of stormwater are pumped into the soil.  Background.

One of the problems with this agreement is that the water being pumped into the soil is rather salty, due to overuse of road salt in the area. Several test wells in the area show levels of salt over the Enforcement Standard.  In other words, the groundwater is starting to become polluted with salt.

Fish Kill observed at Odana Pond, vultures feast

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Spring runoff from urban areas is so salty that it's toxic to fish.

On April 1, six carp were found dead next to one of the ponds in Odana Hills Golf Course. Eleven vultures were loitering about, having finished with all the carp reachable from shore (vultures don't swim).

Governor dedicates "Mt. Walker Ski Resort"

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Mt. Walker on the UW Campus--to be the site of a new ski resort.

Today on the west side of the UW Campus in Madison, Governor Walker was the star of a gala ceremony. It was the dedication of a new ski, golf, and ice fishing resort, on the shores of scenic University Bay.