v>EPA
                            Agency
                            Great Lakes National Program Office
          Impact
     of Nonpoint
Pollution Control

                              Final Report on the
                               Red Clay Project
                              —Summary Report

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Preface

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created because of increasing public
and governmental concern about the dangers of pollution to the health and welfare
of the American people. Noxious air, foul water, and spoiled land are tragic testimony
to the deterioration of our natural environment.

The Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) of the U.S. EPA was established
in Region V, Chicago, to provide specific focus on the  water quality concerns of the
Great Lakes. The Section 108(a) Demonstration Grant Program of the Clean Water Act
(PL 92-500) is specific to the Great Lakes drainage basin and  thus is administered by
the Great Lakes National Program Office.

Several sediment erosion-control projects within the Great Lakes drainage basin have
been funded as a result of Section 108(a). This report describes one such project supported
by  this  office to carry out our responsibility to improve water quality in the Great Lakes.

We hope the information and data contained herein will help  planners and  managers of
pollution control agencies to make better decisions in carrying forward their pollution
control  responsibilities.

                                                 Dr. Edith J. Tebo
                                                 Director
                                                 Great Lakes National Program Office
                           GREAT LAKES NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE

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                                                                     January 1979
         IMPACT OF NONPOINT
         POLLUTION CONTROL
                        ON
      WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR
 'Western Lake Superior Basin Erosion-Sediment Control Project'

           RED CLAY PROJECT
               FINAL REPORT:
                  SUMMARY
              A Cooperative Interstate Effort Between the
 Ashland, Bayfield, Carlton, Douglas and Iron County Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
                       Prepared by.-
Stephen C. Andrews    Donald S. Houtman    William J. Lontz
   Project Director         Project Specialist          Project Editor
                       Prepared for:
            LJ. S. Environmental Protection Agency
               Great Lakes National Program Office
                536 South Clark Street, Room 932
                    Chicago, Illinois 60605
                      (312) 353-2117

Ralph G. Christensen                        Carl D. Wilson
  Section 108(a) Program                            Project Officer

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Foreword

  Since the first settlers arrived in the western
Lake Superior basin, the red clay soils
dominating the region have presented
problems. For those involved with lumbering,
construction, agriculture and transportation,
the primary concern was the pervasiveness of
the erosion problem and associated damages
and costs.
  With the formation of soil and water
conservation districts in the 1930's and 1940's,
the red clay erosion problem, particularly as it
affected agriculture, began receiving attention.
In the early 1950's the first systematic study of
erosion and land use problems was initiated in
Wisconsin by the governor-appointed Red
Clay Interagency Committee. This early work
was primarily aimed at  demonstrating
techniques for reducing upland and roadside
erosion and stabilizing streambanks. The focus
of this committee's efforts was more on
treating the erosion problem than on abating
water pollution.
  The first Lake Superior Water Quality
Conference in the early 1970's focused some
attention on the south shore erosion and
sediment problems. In response, Wisconsin's

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Red Clay Interagency Committee was given
the charge of identifying the extent of the
problem and outlining an erosion and
sediment abatement plan.
   At about this same time, the soil and water
conservation districts from Douglas County,
Wisconsin and Carlton County, Minnesota
met jointly to consider ways of reducing
erosion in the Nemadji River Basin. With
assistance from the Northwest Wisconsin
Regional Planning Commission, the
Onanegozie Resource Conservation and
Development Project and the Pri-Ru-Ta
Resource Conservation and Development
Project, the two districts prepared plans for
studying the problems and originated
proposals for funds to implement the plans.
   In 1973 the Wisconsin Board of Soil and
Water Conservation Districts was instrumental
in arranging a tour of the red clay area for
representatives from Region V of the United
States Environmental Protection Agency. The
Environmental Protection Agency was
authorized by Congress to demonstrate new
methods for improving water quality in the
Great Lakes with funding provided by Section
108 of the 1972 Amendments to the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act. In May of 1974
with a grant from the U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the continuing
assistance of many agencies, the soil and water
conservation districts from Ashland, Bayfield,
Douglas and Iron Counties in Wisconsin and
Carlton County in Minnesota began the Red
Clay Project.
  This document is the final report of the Red
Clay Project. It is the summary report which
presents the project's findings, conclusions and
recommendations and is accompanied by a
technical report which contains detailed
accounts on the various research and
demonstration activities.

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EPA Review  Notice

This report has been reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency and approved for publication.
Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental
Protection Agency, nor does mention of any trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or
recommendation for use.

Additional copies of this document may be purchased from the National Technical Information Service,
Springfield, VA 22161.

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Contents

 7     Nonpoint Source Pollution Problems
 7     Red Clay Problems
 9     The Red Clay Project
11     Areas of Study
12     Red Clay Slope Stability Studies
14     The Significance of Vegetation in Moderating Red Clay Erosion
15     The Effects of Red Clay Turbidity and Sedimentation on Aquatic Life
         in Western Lake Superior Basin Rivers
16     Land Management Practices
20     The Evaluation of Works Previously Installed by the Wisconsin
         Red Clay Interagency Committee
20     Streambank and Roadside Erosion Survey
21     Shoreline Demonstration, Monitoring and Evaluation
22     Water Quality Monitoring
23     Western Lake Superior Basin Rainfall and Temperature Monitoring
24     Institutional Cooperation
26     Recommendations
27     Framework for Local Management Agency Implementation of
         Red Clay Project Recommendations
31     Concluding Observations
33     Cooperating Agencies and Personnel

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Some nonpoint sources of pollution are stream banks ...






                                     ... roadsides...
                                                         ... urban construction areas .





                                                         ... and agricultural lands ...
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Nonpoint Source

Pollution Problems

   With the passage of the 1972 Amendments
to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(Public Law 92-500), a renewed national
emphasis was placed on solving the problems
of water pollution. This act granted powers
and authorities for studying the problems and
for planning workable ways to solve them.
   The act classified the serious water quality
problems which inspired it into two major
types based on their source. "Point" sources of
pollution include readily identifiable sources
such as municipal sewage treatment plants
and industrial waste discharge systems.
"Nonpoint" sources of pollution are less easily
identified because they are varied and diffuse.
They include runoff and seepage from agri-
cultural land, urban areas, forestry activities,
construction and maintenance operations, and
mining sites.
   Common pollutants from nonpoint sources
are sediment, nutrients, pesticides, heavy
metals and salts. Of these, sediment is the most
abundant and, in some ways, is the most
severe because it is not only a pollutant itself,
but transports other pollutants.
Red Clay Problems

   The red clay area of the western Lake
Superior basin extends in a narrow band from
northeastern Minnesota to the western portion
of Michigan's upper peninsula. The
predominant soils in this area are red clays
interspersed with sands and silts. They were
originally deposited as lake sediment during
glacial periods but now, due to lake recession
Runoff from barnyards enters streams carrying with
it animal wastes and other pollutants.
and geologic uplift, they form much of the land
mass of present-day Lake Superior's south
shore.
  The soils are young and are undergoing a
high rate of natural erosion as a geologic
equilibrium evolves. When man settled in the
area his lumbering, construction and agricul-
tural activities removed the established
vegetation and altered drainage patterns in
ways that accelerated this already high rate of
erosion. Present-day activities, although not
intensive, do still aggravate the erosion
processes. In turn, erosion is detrimental to
man's land and water-based activities alike.
  The major nonpoint sources of pollution in
this area are the lakeshores, streambanks and
other slopes. The damaging pollutants are
sediment, turbidity and color. The hetero-
geneous mixture of clay and sand produces
soils with very little stability which, when
exposed to varying moisture conditions on
steep slopes, often erodes severely. Once in
the water, the heavy particles settle out as
sediment and the fine particles remain
Above photos: The construction and maintenance
of roads in the red clay area removes native vegeta-
tion and interrupts natural drainage courses. This
accelerates the erosion process which, in turn, can
result in damages to roadways.

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suspended for long periods increasing the
water's turbidity. Further, the red clays contain
approximately 2 percent extractable iron oxide
which produces a very visible and
objectionable color. It is this iron oxide which is
responsible for the red color of the streams and
the red plumes where streams discharge into
Lake Superior. This phenomenon occurs even
when the turbidity and sediment rates are low.
                                                Lakeshores are another source of
                                                sediment directly entering the area's
                                                waters. In addition, man's structures
                                                are threatened by the loss of land.
Top: Like roadside erosion problems, streambank
problems are often severe. Unlike roadsides,
however, sediment from many streambank erosion
sites directly enters waterways.

Above: When erosion proceeds unchecked, large
gullies are often formed which can continue to
enlarge until corrective measures are applied.
Sediment from the Nemadji River enters into the Superior harbor
on the western tip of Lake Superior.

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                                            The Red Clay Project

                                               The Red Clay Project was a research and
                                            demonstration project sponsored by five soil
                                            and water conservation districts from two
                                            states. The local district supervisors were com-
                                            mitted to the task of seeking practical solutions
                                            to the many forms of red clay erosion and the
                                            resulting water quality problems. To assist
                                            them in their task, they applied for and
                                            received a grant from the United States
                                            Environmental Protection Agency under the
                                            provisions set forth in Section 108 of the 1972
                                            Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution
                                            Control Act (PL 92-500). The overall
                                            objectives of this partnership  were to
                                                              V
   CARLTON
   ^^^•1
MINNESOTA
                           WISCONSIN
Red Clay Project - general location map
demonstrate economically feasible methods of
improving water quality, to assess the
capabilities of existing institutions to
cooperatively implement a pollution control
program and to provide data and recommen-
dations that could be used in future programs.
   The agreement between the federal
Environmental Protection Agency and the
local soil and water conservation districts
involved considerably more interagency
cooperation than a strictly two-way, federal-
local alliance. Soil and water conservation
districts have been legally empowered by their
respective states to enter into cooperative
agreements with other units of government
and their agencies to accomplish common
objectives. Since their inception, districts have
built up working relationships with numerous
federal, state and  local agencies. Using their
legal authorities and these established
relationships, the  soil and water conservation
districts from Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas and
Iron Counties in Wisconsin and Carlton
County in Minnesota joined together and
called upon their cooperating agencies to help
them develop, implement and evaluate  the
Red Clay Project.
   To govern this  complex association of
institutions, the sponsoring districts formed an
executive committee with equal representation
from each district. The Douglas County  Soil
and Water Conservation District was
designated the fiscal agent and it assumed
responsibility for the grant with the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. The chairman of
this five-member committee was also from the
Douglas County District. The function of the
executive committee was to set administrative
policy, approve programs and administer
financial affairs.
   Although the Douglas County Soil and
Water Conservation District was appointed the
fiscal agent, under the terms of the grant
agreement the individual districts maintained

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                                     RED CLAY PROJECT BUDGET
                                         BY FUNCTIONAL AREA
                      Land Management

                      Land Treatment

                      Technical Assistance

                      Monitoring and Evaluation

                      Research

                      Information and Education

                      Administration
$1,144,412
$
;$  562,049
$   76,906
$  265,847
10
 3.3%

30.4%

22.2%

19.9%

14.9%

 2.0%
 7.2%
RED CLAY PROJECT BUDGET
BY COUNTY
Ashland
Bayfield
Carlton
Douglas
Iron
Research
Information and Education
Administration
$ 249,629
$ 507,921
$1,403,544
$ 662,580
$ 31,482
$ 562,049
$ 76,906
$ 265,847
6.6%
13.5%
37.0%
17.6%
.8%
14.9%
2.0%
7.2%
the authority to manage programs within their
district. This authority held by the individual
districts included the power to write contracts,
make local financial decisions and operate and
maintain their own programs and installations.
This procedure allowed districts to manage the
project in their area consistent with their
ongoing programs and policies.
   In a similar manner, each soil and water
conservation district retained the power to
conduct other Red Clay Project operations in a
manner consistent with the established order
in that district. A voluntary compliance
approach was used to solicit participation by
local units of government and private
landowners. Participation, therefore,
depended upon individual priorities, budgets
and the ability to provide local services and to
meet local costs. The solicitation of landowners
for participation in the Red Clay Project was
done by each conservation district following
procedures established by that district. The
cost-share rates for practice installation were
also set individually by district. Generally, the
cost-share rates were consistent with local
conservation aid programs and were not
specifically designed to encourage program
participation with artificially high rates.
  Although many of the project operations
were controlled by the individual soil and
water conservation districts, overall
procedural uniformity was maintained through
the use of an operations manual. This manual,
prepared especially for the project, outlined
procedures for reviewing and approving
program items and for obtaining reimburse-
ments in a timely fashion.

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Red Clay Project -
detailed location map
                                                                                10
        Skunk Creek
     CARLTON_
        PINE'
                                                                                             Indian Cemetery

                                                                                                  Madigan Beach
                Nemadji Basin I
       Major Study Areas

       Intensive Study
       Areas
Areas of Study
   Early in the development of the project,
several directions for field study were identified
by the executive committee and the project
director with the assistance of a multiple-
agency technical and research advisory
committee. Research and field demonstration
projects were chosen which would increase
the understanding of the mechanisms affecting
the pollutant load to area streams and to Lake
Superior. Areas of study were also selected
which would, in turn, identify the effects of this
pollutant load on the streams and the lake. An
attempt was made to incorporate a wide range
of problem areas but at the same time to have
them complement one another and provide
an integrated picture of the erosion and water
quality problems of the red clay area. A
premium was placed on the generation of data
essential to the formulation of useful recom-
mendations for the development of long-term
water quality programs.
   Geographical study areas which were
selected were representative of conditions in
the entire watershed. Research was conducted
only in the Nemadji River basin. The
monitoring of water quality and climatic
conditions was carried out in all geographic
areas where research and field demonstration
activities were performed. The following
criteria were used to select geographical areas
for project studies:
1.  The proportion of loamy glacial till and
   sandy beach deposits in the uplands with
   respect to the clayey lacustrine basin.
2.  The relationship of present land use
   patterns within the study area to land use
   patterns in the basin. The ratio of open
   cropland and pasture to woodland was
   used to indicate the relative intensity of
   land use within the area.
3.  The presence of actively eroding areas
11

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                  along the river channels and drainageways.
                  Erosion conditions in the geographical
                  areas were representative of those in the
                  entire basin.
               4.  The roadside erosion taking place within
                  the study areas. Roadside erosion in the
                  study areas was also representative of the
                  entire basin.
               5.  The land ownership patterns. Land rights
                  were generally easier to obtain and it was
                  assumed that ongoing practice mainten-
                  ance would be easier on publicly owned
                  land.
               6.  Access to the work sites. Most of the
                  eroding areas in the basin had very limited
                  access. Although it was necessary to con-
                  struct some roads, this was minimized by
                  attempts to select easily accessable sites.
               7.  The distribution of geographical study areas
                  to coincide with political boundaries. An
                  attempt was made to have at least one
                  study area in each soil and water conserva-
                  tion district. The work done in each study
                  area was determined by the needs of the
                  sponsoring district, the budget limitations of
                  that district and the project and the unique-
                  ness of the site and the proposed work.
                 Using these considerations, six geographical
               study areas were selected. In the following
               discussion, references made to the sediment-
               producing capabilities of these watersheds
               were based on the use of the Universal Soil
               Loss Equation during the planning stages of
               the project. The study areas delineated for the
               Red Clay Project were:
               1.  Skunk Creek Watershed in Carlton
                  County, Minnesota—A relatively high
   sediment-producing basin covering
   approximately 10.7 square miles. Land use
   intensity within the basin was relatively low.
   There were, however, numerous stream-
   bank and roadside erosion sites in this
   subwatershed.
2. Little Balsam Creek Watershed in Douglas
   County, Wisconsin—A moderate sediment-
   producing watershed covering about 5.4
   square miles. Land use intensity within the
   basin was judged to be relatively low.
3. Pine Creek Watershed in Bayfield County,
   Wisconsin—A moderate
   sediment-producing basin covering
   approximately 15.7 square miles. Land use
   intensity here was estimated to be
   moderate.
4. Spoon Creek Watershed in Iron County,
   Wisconsin—A moderate sediment-
   producing watershed covering about three
   square miles. Land use intensity was low.
5. Madigan Beach in Ashland County,
   Wisconsin—As a site for shoreline protec-
   tion work, Madigan Beach was selected for
   its high, actively eroding bluffs and
   exposure to severe, Lake Superior storms.
6. Indian Cemetery Beach on Madeline Island
   in Ashland County, Wisconsin—As another
   area for shoreline protection demonstra-
   tions, this site was selected for its low bluff,
   narrow beach and cultural and historical
   significance.
Red Clay Slope

Stability Studies

   Red Clay Project researchers undertook
studies of the condition and behavior of the
soils within the Lake Superior red clay area.
The purpose of the studies was to utilize
available sampling and testing techniques and
opportunities to determine the depth of the
zones in which massive slope failure normally
occurs. Also studied were the mechanical
properties and behavioral traits of the soils and
their relationships to slope stability and rates of
erosion.
   These studies resulted in findings which
have broadened the field of information on
which our understanding of the soils of this
region is based. Several conclusions were
arrived at from which corrective measures can
be derived. The findings and conclusions are:
1. The clay soils of this region generally
   contain approximately two percent extract-
   able iron oxide.
2. Man's early removal of the forest cover,
   modification of natural drainage patterns
   and other activities have promoted drying
   in a five to seven foot thick surface zone of
   the clay soils.
3. Drying in this surface zone has changed the
   mechanical behavior of the clay from a
   plastic solid to a brittle solid susceptible to
   fissuring and massive slope failure.
4. Moisture accumulation in fissures provides
   the necessary lubrication for flowing and
   sliding to occur within the surface zone.
5. The topography of the red clay area will
   continue to evolve under the influence of
   natural processes.
6. There are workable practices which man
   can incorporate into land use plans which
   will slow natural erosion processes.
12

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         Stream  Volley Side  S(op§s
                     Maximum Common   Minimum Reeei»en
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                                                           The Significance
                                                           of Vegetation
                                                           in Moderating
                                                           Red  Clay Erosion

                                                             The Red Clay Project conducted research
                                                           on the relationship between erosion and
                                                           vegetation. Two studies were done to
                                                           determine how vegetation helps control the
                                                           amount of water in the soil. Soil stability was
                                                           suspected to be related to a rather narrow
                                                           range of moisture content. Dry conditions
              Top: Dr. Koch of the University of Wisconsin-
              Superior and his assistants systematically checked
              different tree species for their ability to intercept
              rainfall.

              Above: Dr. Donald Davidson, also of the University
              of Wisconsin-Superior, conducted research on the
              role of plant roots in stabilizing clay banks and
              absorbing soil moisture.
Work in the laboratory and in the greenhouse
provided much useful information on the role of
plant species in erosion control. Here Dr. Lawrence
Kapustka of the University of Wisconsin-Superior
inspects different plant species grown under
controlled conditions.
encouraged soil fractures and crumbling, while
wet conditions created liquid-like conditions
and soil slippages. Another study was under-
taken to determine the way plant roots exert
holding power to counteract soil movement.
   The findings and conclusions of these
studies are:
1. Vegetation plays a major role in retarding
   erosion in the geologically young red clay
   soils. However, no type of vegetation alone
   can completely offset the natural erosion
   forces.
2. Grasses and herbaceous plants yield bene-
   ficial anti-erosion effects. However, their
   relatively shallow and weak roots do not
   serve to prevent massive slope failure in
   surface zones where brittle clay conditions
   already exist.
3. Woody plant species have stronger root
   systems which do help prevent slides.
4. Of all vegetation types, climax woody
   species (such as firs, pines and maples)
   provide the best erosion control because of
   their stronger root systems and the manner
   in which their canopies intercept rainfall.
5. Woody climax vegetation species are not
   efficient at lowering soil moisture content.
6. Herbaceous species and some woody
   species (aspens) are relatively more
   efficient at removing water from soil.
7. The use of vegetative methods specifically
   for reducing soil moisture content in the
   surface zones of red clay soils has not been
   shown to be beneficial for controlling
   massive slides. Species which are best
   suited for water removal (grasses and
   aspens) are most effective in drier years
   when they tend to lower moisture content
   too far which, in turn, induces fracturing,
   fissure formation and a greater potential for
   massive slide erosion.
14

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The Effects of Red Clay

Turbidity and

Sedimentation on

Aquatic Life in

Western Lake Superior

Basin Rivers

  Research was undertaken to assess the
effect of relatively low levels of sedimentation
and turbidity on aquatic life in red clay area
streams. Through systematic water quality
monitoring, sampling aquatic life populations
and assessing the aquatic environment,
researchers studied behavioral patterns of
numerous species of aquatic life in both
natural and laboratory settings. Researchers
were looking for relationships between these
aquatic animal species and varying levels of
nutrients, turbidity and sedimentation.
  Previous aquatic life studies in other areas
had focused on situations where man's
activities such as logging, mining and agricul-
ture had had the effect of creating extremely
high levels of stream sedimentation. The
glacial lake deposits of the Nemadji River
system are highly erodible even under strictly
natural conditions. However, due to the nature
of the interrelationship between red clay
erosion and red clay sediment, the small
particle size of the clay and the amount of
extractable iron oxide in the clay, the general
condition of the streams is one of low sediment
loads, low turbidity and a high amount of
color.
  Aquatic problems attributed in the past to
red clay turbidity have included the substitu-
tion of undesirable fish species for more
desirable ones, negative effects on spawning
runs, decreased oxygen levels and increased
nutrients as well as general observations on
"adverse effects on biological life processes."
None of these statements can be supported by
the findings from this research in the Nemadji
River basin.
  Analysis of areas of Lake Superior and the
Nemadji River system which are turbid
throughout the year due to erosion of uncon-
solidated glacial lake deposits indicated that
any direct, physical effects of this turbidity and
resultant low level sedimentation are minimal.
Furthermore, although turbidity does induce
important changes in aquatic life behavioral
patterns, changes found through this research
were, for the most part, considered beneficial
rather than detrimental to the survival of native
species.
  Although a positive balance seems to have
been struck between present levels of turbidity
and sedimentation, and existing aquatic life in
the red clay portions of the Nemadji River, the
potentially severe effects of erosion on aquatic
life elsewhere, or even here under artificially
accelerated conditions, should not be under-
estimated. It is well known that soil misman-
agement can upset the natural balance to the
extent that severe short and long-term
consequences are inevitable for aquatic flora
and fauna.
  The findings of this research are that:
 1. Red clay does not contribute significant
    quantities of nutrients to Lake Superior
    but may serve to transport nutrients con-
    tributed from other sources.
 2. Oxygen levels are not significantly
    affected by red clay or associated
    organics.
 3. Primary production does not appear to be
Project researchers, Dr. William Swenson, left, and
Philip DeVore, right of the University of
Wisconsin-Superior, undertook research on the
effects of red clay sediment and turbidity on fish
populations and other aquatic life.
For the aquatic life studies, samples were taken
constantly of the various species in red clay area
streams.
                                                                                                                                             15

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                  significantly affected by turbidity within
                  the range of depths at which most produc-
                  tion occurs in these relatively shallow
                  streams.
               4. Bacteria exhibit no definite trends with
                  turbidity within sites, but do seem to have
                  higher counts in turbid than in non-turbid
                  sites. Fungal counts exhibit opposite
                  trends. Bacterial and fungal populations
                  are generally beneficial to the aquatic
                  system as they are the primary food
                  source for many of the macroinverte-
                  brates.
               5. Number of macroinvertebrates per unit
                  area, total number of taxa, diversity, and
                  biomass are not significantly affected by
                  clay turbidity and siltation within the
                  Nemadji River system.
               6. The size of particles on the stream bed
                  had much greater effects on macroin-
                  vertebrates than turbidity and sedimenta-
                  tion. Only where sand was the primary
                  product were significant detrimental
                  effects of erosion identified.
               7. All genera of insects which occurred in
                  clear streams also occurred in turbid
                  streams. Certain insects generally asso-
                  ciated with silts, especially certain mayflies
                  and beetle larvae, were found only in the
                  turbid streams.
               8. Laboratory monitoring of activity and
                  respiration of the stonefly demonstrated
                  no significant effects at turbidity levels
                  normally encountered in the Nemadji
                  River basin.
 9. Fish populations were not demonstrated
    to change as a result of turbid conditions
    but rather, because of water temperature
    and discharge differences between turbid
    and clear water sites. All species bene-
    fitted from increased cover which is
    harder to maintain in turbid streams due
    to increased tendencies for slippage at
    toes of the clay banks.
10. Walleye in the lower Nemadji River, the
    Duluth-Superior harbor, and Lake
    Superior benefit from red clay turbidity as
    it enables them to inhabit the shallow,
    more productive waters.
11. Rainbow smelt and four species of suckers
    successfully reproduce in the turbid areas
    of the Nemadji River.
12. Egg survival bioassays with walleye and
    rainbow smelt indicated decreased
    survival at turbidities over 10 ftu. Survival
    was at least half of control at turbidities
    prevalent in the Nemadji River. Levels of
    sedimentation in the bioassay were much
    higher than in the natural system, pro-
    bably resulting in higher egg mortality
    than would naturally occur.
13. Channel form and available cover are the
    primarly factors affecting fish population
    size for all species in the Nemadji River
    system.
16
Land Management

Practices

   Although the Red Clay Project offered
innovative opportunities and unique
challenges, most of the "on-land" erosion
control measures were not entirely new to
local officials, farmers and other managers of
the land. All the counties had long been
designated soil and water conservation districts
and had applied conventional soil conserva-
tion programs frequently in cooperation with
the Soil Conservation Service and other
institutions.
   What was new was the opportunity to
accelerate these programs in areas of each
district where red clays pose widespread and
persistently critical erosion problems. What
was unique was the challenge of adapting
conventional soil management techniques to
the perplexing red clay conditions. What was
innovative was a mandate to apply these
traditional measures in combinations and in
locations which would yield some demon-
strable impact on water quality.
   A typical five-step, problem-solving
approach was followed by investigators in
assisting with land management practices.
Generally, the first step was to identify critical
problems and inventory their locations. The
second step was to develop alternative
solutions. The third step was to assist in the
selection of the most feasible and acceptable
solutions. And the fourth and fifth steps were
to implement and evaluate the selected land
management practices. The presence of an
overriding objective of enhancing water
quality, and not simply of preventing soil loss,
served to influence the work, and decisions
about it, throughout each of the five problem-
solving steps. Thus, to cite a hypothetical
example, given a choice between treating a

-------
Practice
Conservation Plans
Livestock Exclusion
Access Roads
Animal Waste Systems
Brush Management
Conservation Crop Systems
Critical Area Treatment
Crop Residue Management
Diversions & Field Ditches
Farm Windbreak
Fencing
Field Windbreak
Flood & Sediment Retention
Grade Stabilization (Channel)
Grade Stabilization (Gully)
Grass Waterway
Land Smoothing
Pasture & Hayland Manage.
Pasture & Hayland Planting
Stocktrail
Stream Channel Protection
Tree Planting
Water Facilities (Ponds & Wells)
Heavy Use Area Protection
Road Erosion Control
(with structure)
Livestock Crossing
Unit
NO
AC
FT
NO
AC
AC
AC
AC
FT
AC
FT
AC
NO
NO
NO
AC
AC
AC
AC
FT
FT
AC
NO
AC

AC
NO
TREATMENT PRACTICES
Average*
Estimated Est. Unit
Needs Cost
(74) Planned Installed (74)
46
520
34,000
4
390
1,540
9
80
51,800
4
100,000
6,200
4
4
4
106
810
820
250
1,800
2,700
165
0
0

27
0
46
767
13,180
1
64
252
211
0
23,800
0
113,315
0
6
0
3
5
73
1,667
716
4,600
2,700
50
32
1

27
6
42
574
13,180
0
49
252
211
0
11,500
0
87,565
0
5
0
0
5
53
1,580
634
4,600
1,054
18
30
1

1
6


3.40
15,000.00
4.00
2.00
666.00
1.50
.75
100.00
.70
.20
150,000.00
15,000.00
7,000.00
500.00
25.00
20.00
80.00
23.00
213.00
100.00
2,250.00
750.00

3.872.00
2,000.00
Average*
Unit
Cost
(78)


1.62
0.00
54.00
.92
41.00
0.00
.48
0.00
.71
0.00
83,895.91
0.00
0.00
1,272.61
16.50
15.80
109.18
9.42
332.00
162.50
2,562.00
750.00

3,872.00
3,217.00
Average cost per long term agreement
Average cost per acre treatment






Cost-Share Rates
Bayfield Carlton Douglas


	
	
60
0
75
0
60
	
100
	
	
100
65
70
50
70
70
75
100
80
100
100

	
100
12,447
70


56
75
50
0
75
0
75
75
100
75
100
100
	
75
	
0
75
75
100
75
100


75
100
9,000
55


75
	
50
0
75
	
50
	
80
	
100
100
75
75
50
70
70
75
100
75
100


75
100
6,280
98.50
'Cost does not include technical assistance/administration
                                                                                                                                                                      17

-------
18
               severely critical fertile area which had little
               likelihood of loading its eroding soil into a
               water course or treating a moderately critical
               fallow-soil area which was certain to degrade a
               nearby body of water, the latter would receive
               attention through the Red Clay Project.
                  The Universal Soil Loss Equation was used
               as an indication of soil loss and the effective-
               ness of land treatment. The equation could not
               address the problem of transport nor could it
               be applied to raw streambanks or slide areas
               adjacent to streams. In Pine Creek, 90% of the
               land area averaged .15 tons per acre per year
               soil loss. Little Balsam Creek study area
               averaged .55 tons per acre per year and Skunk
               Creek was within the allowable soil loss (3-5
               tons per acre per year). The average annual
               estimated soil loss for the study areas was
               slightly less than 1.0 ton per acre. These soil
               loss estimates indicate that a relatively small
               percentage of the total land area contributes a
               disproportionately large share of the sediment
               in streams and lakes. The task of matching
               conservation practices to such critical areas is a
               process which must include an awareness to
               conditions specific to each site as well as a
               sensitivity to landowner attitudes, project costs
               and potential benefits.
                  Although any erosion control practice may
               be appropriate under certain conditions, those
               practices which have been found to be the
               most applicable to conditions encountered
               during the course of the Red Clay Project are
               listed below. The selection of these practices as
               the most applicable is based on evaluations
               using the Universal Soil Loss Equation and
               on-site inspections.
                 1. Maintenance of Vegetative Cover. This
                   practice includes managing for trees,
                   grasses, crop residue and other materials
                   which maintain surface cover and protect
                   the soil from erosion.
                2. Livestock Exclusion. This practice
Above photos: One of the primary recommen-
dations of the Red Clay Project is the use of
exclusion fencing to prohibit use in erosion-prone
areas. The photo at top shows cattle being allowed
to graze on a wooded hillside. Above, the same area
is shown after cattle have been excluded.
    removes or restricts livestock entry into
    critical areas. Complementary practices
    are necessary to maintain this practice.
 3. Alternate Watering Facilities. This is a
    complementing practice for livestock
    exclusion. Watering facilities allow for
    proper distribution of livestock and pro-
    vide an alternative to instream watering.
 4. Stock Trails and Walfciuays. This is a com-
    plementing practice for livestock exclu-
    sion. Livestock trails and walkways
Above photos: Along with exclusion fencing,
livestock trails and stream crossings are recom-
mended by the project. These before and after
pictures on the John Lunda farm in Bayfield
County, Wisconsin depict the improvements that
can be made.
    provide access to areas without creating
    additional erosion.
 5. Livestock Stream Crossing. This is a com-
    plementing practice for livestock
    exclusion. Livestock are kept out of
    streams and provided access to pasture
    and watering areas. Streambanks and
    other critical areas are also protected.
 6. Critical Area Seeding. This includes the
    establishment of permanent vegetative
    cover on critical areas.

-------
Livestock watering systems, such as this innovative
facility on the Clarence Day farm in Douglas
County, Wisconsin, provide water for livestock
excluded from streams.
 7. Grassed Waterways and Diversions. This
    practice involves the safe disposal of
    runoff in properly installed and main-
    tained grass channels. It reduces soil
    erosion and provides stable outlets for
    runoff.
 8. Animal Waste Management Systems. This
    practice includes the control of running
    water through areas of heavy use by
    livestock and the development of a
    system of storage, disposal and utilization
    for animal wastes to reduce water pollu-
    tion. Components of an animal waste
    system are waste storage facilities, water
    disposal and erosion protection devices
    (diversions and waterways), animal waste
    disposal plants, and cropping systems.
 9. Sediment Traps. These practices are
    basins created by water retention struc-
    tures to trap and store sediment.
Above photos: Barnyard improvements such as
diversions, grass waterways, fencing, trails and
stream crossings are shown here in these before
and after pictures on the Walter Johanik farm in
Bayfield County.
10. Streambanfc Protection and Slide Stabili-
    zation. This includes any protection and
    stabilization practices which withhold
    significant amounts of sediment from
    adjacent waters.
11. Foodwater Retarding Structures. These
    structures serve the primary purpose of
    temporarily storing floodwater and con-
    trolling its release.
Top: An impoundment on the Gerald Hammitt farm
in Carlton County, Minnesota serves to trap
sediment from Elim Creek.

Center: Depicted above is a grade stabilization
structure installed by the project on Skunk Creek
in Carlton County.

Above: Concrete cribs filled with riprap protect a
stretch of streambank along the Little Balsam
Creek in Douglas County, Wisconsin.
                                                                                                                                                        19

-------
             The Evaluation of

             Works Previously

             Installed by the

             Wisconsin Red Clay

             Interagency Committee

                From 1958 through 1967, erosion control
              practices were installed in Ashland, Bayfield
              and Douglas Counties by the Wisconsin Red
              Clay Interagency Committee. These practices
              were monitored and evaluated by that
              committee and their findings were previously
              reported. Members of the committee were
              asked by the Red Clay Project to reevaluate
              their work to determine the effectiveness of the
              erosion control methods and practices after
              adequate time had elapsed for them to have
              responded to a wide range of weather
              conditions. The reevaluation also provided
              current data on erosion control practices and
              procedures which could be compared with
              practices and procedures used by the Red
              Clay Project.
                The work done by the Red Clay Inter-
              agency Committee primarily consisted of
              roadside and streambank erosion control
20
Members of Wisconsin's Red Clay Interagency
Committee inspected a grassed waterway installed
in Ashland County.
                                           measures. Some upland treatments such as
                                           grassed waterways were also installed. The
                                           reevaluation concluded that, after a lapse of
                                           ten to twenty years:
                                           1. Generally, most of these accepted erosion
                                             control practices withstood the weathering
                                             effects of the past one to two decades and
                                             helped stabilize the areas where they were
                                             installed.
                                           2. When treating bank erosion, stabilizing the
                                             toe of the bank is of primary importance.
                                           3. Proper slope modification, seedbed, pre-
                                             paration and seeding mixtures are
                                             necessary to establish protective and
                                             stabilizing vegetation.
Streambank and

Roadside Erosion

Survey

   The Red Clay Project undertook a program
to collect all existing data on the extent of
roadside and streambank erosion problems
and to inventory as many of the unsurveyed
areas as possible within time and monetary
limits.
   During the first phase of this program, the
literature-search, the most recent survey data
on streambank and roadside erosion in the red
clay area was collected from all available
sources. This information was recorded on
maps and in tabular form. The second phase
was to survey erosion sites along those road-
sides for which data was not obtained in the
literature-search and, thereby, making
complete the erosion survey of all roadsides in
the red clay area of the five counties. Portions
of three rivers whose watersheds contrast
agricultural land use, recreational use, and
undeveloped or wild area were also inven-
toried. The purpose of the streambank survey
                                                                                      Roadside erosion surveys were conducted in all five
                                                                                      counties of the Red Clay Project area.
was to compare erosion patterns in an attempt
to determine the impact of land use.
  The information collected from this study
was used as support data for other project
activities and will be available for future use by
researchers, soil and water conservation
districts and others applying conservation
practices. The findings of the comparative
streambank survey are:
1. Despite differences in land use, the major
   cause of erosion along all three streams was
   basically natural. Direct erosion by differen-
   tial stream discharge undercutting and the
   resulting bank failure constituted nearly all
   of the observed erosion sites.
2. At only a few sites was erosion observed
   that could be directly related to agricultural
   use and here the direct cause was that of
   migrating livestock.
3. Man-caused erosion on the banks of the
   recreational-use stream was evidenced at
   canoe entry and exit sites. The damage
   caused  by recreational and agricultural use
   was categorized as minor.

-------
Shoreline
Demonstration,

Monitoring and
Evaluation

   Protective, preventive and remedial erosion
control measures employable under condi-
tions typical of those encountered along the
western Lake Superior shoreline were
demonstrated by Red Clay Project researchers
at two sites in Ashland County. Interest
evidenced in this aspect of Red Clay Project
work was, to some extent, attributable to the
severity of the problems and the uniqueness of
the areas involved. Interest also centered
around a contrast in techniques, one conven-
tional and the other innovative.
   One of the sites, Madigan Beach, was
selected for its high, actively eroding bluffs and
its exposure to severe storms. Here a
technology entirely innovative for Lake
Superior, the installation of Longard tubes,
was employed. Longard tubes are large,
flexible vinyl tubes filled with sand and coated
Project Director Stephen Andrews (left) and
Project Engineer, Dr. Tuncer Edil of the University
of Wisconsin-Madison (right), discussed plans for
installing Longard tubes at Madigan Beach in
Ashland County.
The tubes were placed in seawall positions to
reinforce the toe of the clay cliffs and in groin
configurations to help build up protective sand
beaches.
Longard tubes help build up a sand beach. When
used to protect the toe of cliffs, Longard tubes will
probably be more effective when the banks behind
them are modified as shown here in the foreground.

with a protective epoxy paint. They were
placed in a variety of patterns designed to
protect the base of shoreline bluffs and to build
up a protective sand beach. Design layouts
used by Red Clay Project researchers included
differentially-spaced groins, seawalls and
groin-seawall combinations.
   The second site, the Indian Cemetery on
Madeline Island, was chosen because of its low
bluff, narrow beach and historical and cultural
significance. Here a conventional rubble-
mound revetment was installed.
   Both shoreline protection projects under-
went construction during the summer of 1977.
Subsequently they were monitored and
evaluated by Project investigators. At the end
of the Red Clay  Project, arrangements were
made for the LJ.  S. Army Corps of Engineers to
initiate a continuous monitoring process for
the work at these two locations.
   Findings and  conclusions which can be
offered on the basis of monitoring and
evaluation activities completed to date are:
1. Longard tubes appear to be competitive in
   both cost and performance with more
   conventional shore protection and beach
   stabilization structures.
2. Bluff modifications may be an important
   factor in the successful performance of
   Longard tubes.
3. Rubble-mound revetments provide positive
   shore protection at sites with conditions
   similar to those found at  the Indian
   Cemetery site.
A rubble-mound revetment was installed on
Madeline Island in Ashland County to help protect
an Indian Cemetery of historical significance. The
revetment was used here at this low-bluff and
narrow-beach site.
21

-------
REPRESENTATIVE WATER QUALITY DATA
NEMADJI

Mean Daily Flow CFS
Total P mg/L
P Transport mt/yr
Total N mg/L
N Transport mt/yr
Organic N mg/L
Organic N Transport mt/yr
Suspended-Sediment mg/L
Suspended-Sediment
Transport mt/yr
Mean Turbidity JTU
1976
307
.07
19.2
.50
137.10
.38
104.20
53

77,677
35
1977
230
.07
14.4
.30
61.6
.22
45.20
75

1978
456
.10
40.7
1.10
448.00
.84
342.10
104

67,240 132,398
30
62
1976
26.50
.06
1.4
.24
5.7
.16
3.80
28

1,685
20
PINE
1977
22.90
.04
.80
.30
6.10
.22
4.50
23

2,389
13

1978
26.00
.04
.90
.37
8.60
.30
7.00
35

7,499*
28
              *3,119 mt transported in 1 day following 5" rain over 24 hr. period August 23,1978
              2,224 mt transported in 3 days following storm event May 27-29,1978
22
Mr. Eno Giacomini (second from left) of the U. S.
Geological Survey in St. Paul discussed the Red
Clay Project's water quality monitoring program
with NACD's District Operations Committee
during a tour of the project's work sites.

Water Quality

Monitoring

   Monitoring of water quality and sediment
was conducted at thirteen project stations. The
samples were analyzed for over fifty physical,
chemical and biological parameters. In
addition, a ground water study  was
undertaken in Carlton County, Minnesota and
a bedload transport study was conducted in
the Nemadji River in Douglas County,
Wisconsin.
    The findings of these activities are:
  1. The streams of the red clay area are
    predominantly event-response in
    character.
 2. Pesticides and herbicides were not found
    at any concentration in either the water
    or bottom material samples.
 3. Heavy metals were not found except for
    trace concentrations at detection levels.
 4. Fecal coliform—fecal streptococci ratios
    indicate livestock and wild animals as the
    primary contributors of fecal waste. Game
    management and farm animal estimates
    indicate that 50% or more of the fecal

-------
    waste is generated by non-farm animals
    (population density of 18 persons/mi2', 15
    deer/mi2,10 farm animals/mi2). Shifts in
    contribution did not occur with fluctuation
    in flow.
 5. Nemadji River suspended sediment
    concentrations range from 2 mg/L to
    1190 mg/L with a 3 year daily mean of
    77 mg/L.
 6. Nemadji River total phosphorus con-
    centrations range  from .01 mg/L to
    .36 mg/L with a 3 year mean of .08 mg/L.
 7. Nemadji River total nitrogen concentra-
    tions range from .10 mg/L to 2.4 mg/L
    with a 3 year mean of .63 mg/L.
 8. Nemadji River organic nitrogen concen-
    trations range from .1 mg/L to 2.2 mg/L
    with a 3 year mean of .48 mg/L. Organic
    nitrogen is approximately 76% of the total
    nitrogen and is consistent with
    expectations of forested watersheds.
 9. Except at stations  immediately down-
    stream from construction activities it was
    impossible to identify construction related
    changes in suspended-sediment
    concentrations.
10. In a very small watershed such as Pine
    Creek it was possible to identify upward
    suspended-sediment concentration shifts
    that were not related to changes in flow
    and were probably the result of bank
    collapse or in-stream activities.
11. The Minnesota ground water study found
    that in the deep valleys of the upper
    Nemadji River there is a tendency for
    upward movement of ground water. This
    upward movement may cause wetting of
    fissure zones from beneath thus
    triggering slides.
12. The Nemadji River bed load transport
    study found that only 3% of the total
    sediment load is transported on the bed
    of the river.
Western Lake Superior

Basin Rainfall  and

Temperature Monitoring

  The Red Clay Project conducted a
monitoring program designed to record on a
continuous basis the intensity of rainfall and
wind and to profile the temperature of the air
and soil. The program used existing
monitoring technology wherever possible, but
also involved the development of new
low-cost instrumentation techniques. It took
place at locations throughout the Skunk, Little
Balsam and Pine Creek watersheds.
  This micrometeorological data base was
generated for its usefulness in illuminating
otherwise latent cause and effect relationships
between soil loss due to erosion and natural
phenomena such as the presence and intensity
of rainfall and significant fluctuations of soil
temperature along steep banks. The
information gathered represented a support
service to other research activities and, as such,
provided no independent conclusions.
However, the results are reflected in related
research work.
  One of the major developments of this
program was the production and refinement of
a low-cost system for continuously  monitoring
precipitation, wind, air and soil parameters at
remote sites.
Right top and center: Dr. Donald Olson of the
University of Minnesota-Duluth, in top photo, has
developed a low-cost system for the continuous,
remote monitoring of precipitation, wind and air
and soil temperatures.

Right: The relatively inconspicuous monitoring
equipment continuously collected weather data at
strategic sites throughout the red clay area.
                                                                                                                                             23

-------
24
               During the planning stages, many agencies worked
               together to get the Red Clay Project started. Shown
               here are members of the Minnesota Soil and Water
               Conservation Board, the Wisconsin Board of Soil
               and Water Conservation Districts, the Douglas
               County Soil and Water Conservation District, the
               Northwest Wisconsin Regional Planning
               Commission, and the LI. S. Environmental
               Protection Agency.
Institutional

Cooperation

  The first organized efforts to systematically
study red clay erosion and sedimentation
problems were distinguished by a unique and
extraordinary amount of interagency
cooperation. In Wisconsin, the Red Clay
Interagency Committee was composed of
several state and federal agencies based in the
state capital. When working in the red clay
area, they received cooperative assistance
from locally-based representatives of many
more local, state and federal agencies. The
Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation
District in Minnesota joined with the Douglas
County District in Wisconsin to form an
interstate alliance of conservation districts to
seek approaches and funding sources for
solving their shared problems.
  This multiple agency approach was
continued by the Red Clay Project. Rather
than attempting an elaborate analysis of what
instutional systems might work best, it was
determined to use existing relationships
developed over the years by county soil and
water conservation districts. Throughout the
United States, enabling legislation had been
passed in each state that permitted the
creation of conservation districts as special
purpose units of state government.  Although
they developed differently over the past forty
years, districts generally evolved into political
entities having effective working relationships
with nearly every  local, state and federal unit
of government and agency concerned with
natural resource conservation.
  Soil and water  conservation districts in
Minnesota and Wisconsin are functionally
alike in terms of objectives, authorities and
district operations. In both states, districts have
similar legal responsibilities to conserve the
natural resources  within their boundaries.
They also have similar legal authorities to enter
into agreements with other units of govern-
ment to accomplish common  goals. The major
difference between them is that in Wisconsin,
district supervisors are elected members of the
county board who serve on the agriculture
committee while in Minnesota, supervisors are
elected at large.
   Because of the wide geographical area
covered by this basin-wide research and
demonstration project and because of its
five-district, two-state sponsorship, a multiple
agency approach to project operations was
selected. The sponsoring soil and water
conservation districts formed a project-
governing executive committee consisting of
equal representation from each of the districts.
The Douglas County Soil and Water
Conservation District was designed the fiscal
agent for the entire project and its
representative to the committee served as
chairman. The committee met monthly to
conduct project business. Through
agreements, the scope of work and procedures
for each district were identified.
   Representatives from participating agencies
were called together to form a technical
advisory committee, an information-education
advisory committee and a program advisory
committee. These committees met in  special
sessions and, upon request at the monthly
meetings to advise the executive committee
regarding project operations. Because none of
the districts had staff trained in managerial
capabilities, project staff were hired through
Dr. Tuncer Edil (far right, back to camera),
described the project's shoreline monitoring work
at a quarterly progress meeting in Superior.
Much of the project's research was carried out by
members of the Center for Lake Superior Environ-
mental Studies of the University of Wisconsin-
Superior. Shown here from left to right are: Larry
Brooke, Lorraine Koch, Philip DeVore, Rudy Koch,
Lawrence Kapustka, William Swenson, Albert
Dickas and Donald Davidson.

-------
Mr. John Streich (left, facing camera), of the U. S.
Soil Conservation Service explains the land
treatments put in on the Clarence Day (center)
farm in Douglas County. The occasion was a
project tour by Wisconsin Board of Soil and Water
Conservation District members and advisors.
Mr. John Ourada (second from left), engineer with
the Duluth Area Soil Conservation Service office,
discussed land treatment practices in Carlton
County, Minnesota with Mr. Albert Zimmerman
(left), Chairman of the Ashland SWCD, Mr. Elmon
Ott, Wisconsin BSWCD, and Mr. Jerome Hytry,
Wisconsin State Conservationist with SCS.
contracts with capable agencies. All project
work elements were accomplished by
cooperating agencies and institutions working
under contract for the project.
   As was stated earlier, the intent of the Red
Clay Project was for the existing institutions,
soil and water conservation districts, to run the
project. No systematic attempts were made to
analyze or evaluate these relationships. The
following findings and observations are based
on subjective assessments by the project
director, project specialist and other
investigators closely involved with the
management and operations of the project.
1. Five soil and water conservation districts
   from two states effectively sponsored and
   managed a basin-wide  research and
   demonstration project.
2. The multiple agency approach followed by
   the project proved to be highly successful
   even though differences in standards,
   funding mechanisms and implementing
   procedures between states posed many
   communication and operation difficulties.
3. The application of conservation practices
   was influenced by landowner attitudes,
   long-range costs and site-specific conditions
   as well as potential benefits, immediate
   costs and the general applicability of con-
   sidered "best" management practices.
4. The application of conservation practices
   relied upon the voluntary compliance of
   landowners and  units of government.
   Attempts to prepare and implement a
   sediment control ordinance met with
   considerable resistance from local elected
   officials.
5. In certain critical  areas,  zoning ordinances
   or regulations may be the most effective
   tool to achieve erosion  control.
6. Due primarily to a lack of adequate funds,
   there was a noticeable inability on the part
   of some town-level and city departments of
   government to cooperate with soil and
   water conservation districts.
7. None of the sponsoring soil and water
   conservation districts had staff capable of
   managing district affairs and projects.
8. Soil and water conservation districts had to
   rely principally upon federal and state
   funds to carry out a program of the
   magnitude and intensity of the Red Clay
   Project.
9. Higher cost share rates did  help induce
   landowner cooperation, however many
   other factors (e.g. landowner attitudes,
   practice maintenance, landowner age,
   specific farm conditions, encouragement
   from neighbors and professionals) were
   influential in determining which practices
   were applied.
                                                                                                                                                     25

-------
              Recommendations

                Soil and Water Conservation Districts
              should be designated as the local management
              agency.

                The local management agency should be
              given early and continuous involvement in
              establishing and managing any future
              non-point source pollution control programs,
              plans and strategies affecting its area.

                 The local management agency should be
              adequately staffed, and constituted so as to
              provide balanced representation of the area
              and its water quality interests.

                 In rural areas where regional problems have
              been identified, multijurisdictional cooperation
              should be used as an effective approach for
              management programs.

                 Because of significant differences in
              standards, funding mechanisms and imple-
              menting procedures, non-point source
              pollution control programs in rural area should
              not involve more than one state.

                 Multi-agency programs should have a
              common focus through a single set of goals,
              objectives and policies to insure effective
              management and uniform results.

                 Sufficient evaluation should be conducted
              prior to  implementation to clearly identify
              critical areas and influential parameters, thus
              ensuring cost-effective abatement.

                 Sufficient, but not excessive, levels of
              cost-sharing should be provided as an
              incentive for cooperation and to help defray
              landowner costs.
26
  The local management agency should
provide educational programs for citizens,
cooperating units of government and agencies
to establish and maintain an awareness of
water pollution problems and abatement
strategies.

  The local management agency and its staff
should establish close working relationships
with units of government, utilities, private
landowners and industries to ensure the
implementation of erosion and sediment
control practices in conjunction with their
construction and maintenance activities.

   Conservation plans should be prepared for
identified critical areas so that specific remedial
measures can be applied to those natural or
man-induced problem areas where water
quality benefits warrant land treatment.

   The selection for use of any one, or
combination of, management practices should
take into consideration site-specific conditions,
costs, landowner attitudes and potential
benefits.

   The local management agency should place
a high priority on management practices that
provide the greatest benefit at the lowest cost.

   Where possible, maximum use should be
made of management and vegetative
measures. Structural engineering solutions
should only be considered where benefits
outweigh costs and environmental concerns.
Innovative management techniques, sensitive
to conditions specific to particular sites and
locations, should be encouraged.

   In order for long-range water quality
benefits to be realized, management practices
should be maintained and monitored for
extended periods of time.
  Water quality programs for the abatement
of non-point source pollution should be
closely coordinated with other natural
resource conservation programs to avoid
duplication of effort and expense and to
ensure maximum efficiency of all resource
conservation and environmental protection
programs.

  A voluntary compliance approach should
be established in future nonpoint source
pollution control programs as a first, and
preferable, management procedure.

  State regulations or local ordinances should
be adopted only where effective management
techniques necessitate.

  If regulatory programs are used, the state
water quality management agency should be
responsible for setting minimum standards and
for overall enforcement.

  If regulatory programs are used, the local
management agency should be responsible for
monitoring compliance and recommending
enforcement action.

  The toes of slopes at erosion-prone sites
should be protected by vegetation or other
means.

  On streambanks, disturbed areas and other
erosion-prone sites, vegetation should be
established as early as possible and maintained
continuously. For long-term protection,
advanced successional woody species should
be established, due to their greater root
strength. In non-critical areas, woody species
should also be phased  into a herbaceous
cover, whenever possible.

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   Policies restricting human and livestock
activities to those which are compatible with
erosion control should be incorporated with
active management for protective vegetation
on streambanks, disturbed areas and other
erosion-prone sites.

   Stream channel deepening should be
minimized through methods of retarding
upland runoff.

   In managing for fish habitat, vegetation and
woody root systems that aid in the
maintenance of undercut banks, steep-sided
channels and deep pools should be preserved.

   Along streambanks and associated drainage
areas, slope stability equations should be
employed to demarcate a safe zone within
which all human activity that arrests or reverts
the successional process would be prohibited.

   On or near slopes where surface moisture is
low, surface drains and diversions should be
used to control water accumulation  in fissures.

   Longard tubes should be considered a cost-
effective alternative where shore protection is
warranted. When possible, and practical,
installation should be accompanied by
regrading of the bluff and reestablishment of
vegetative cover.
 Framework for

 Local  Management

 Agency Implementation

 of Red Clay Project

 Recommendations

   Three primary recommendations
 emanating from the Red Clay Project are basic
 to the implementation of a water quality
 program at the local level and serve as the
 foundation upon which this framework was
 developed. These recommendations and basic
 assumptions are: that soil and water conser-
 vation districts should be the local
 management agencies for implementing the
 nonpoint source pollution control portion of
 any future water quality programs, that soil
 and water conservation districts must have
 adequate administrative and technical staff,
 and that districts, as local management
 agencies, must have early and continuous
 involvement in establishing, managing and
 evaluating water quality programs.
   The framework assumes that adequate
 funding is available. It is important to note that
 when  funding is provided from outside sources
 (non-local management agency), conditions
 are usually attached which determine, in part,
 how the funds are expended. Elements of the
 208 programs currently being developed in
 states  across the nation would undoubtedly
 have an  impact on the refinement and use by
local management agencies of this process.
   The following is a step-by-step process
 designed for soil and water conservation
 districts acting in the role of local management
agencies to carry out the administrative and
procedural recommendations of the Red Clay
Project in an expedient manner. By following
this generalized problem-solving procedure
 and filling in where needed with the details
regarding their geographical area of concern,
districts can, in essence, implement a long
range program for nonpoint source water
pollution abatement. The following imple-
mentation process incorporates the
procedural recommendations of the Red Clay
Project which can apply to all soil and water
conservation districts in Minnesota and
Wisconsin as well as to similar districts
throughout the nation. Project recommenda-
tions relating specifically to the Lake Superior
red clay area have been presented in the
"recommendations" section of this report but
are not included in the following framework.

STEP 1, Identification of Problems
        and Areas of Concern
Purpose:
   The first step in this, or any, problem solving
process is the identification of the types of
problems that exist. Once this is done, an initial
estimation of the severity of the problems
should be made along with a determination of
their geographical extent. The determination
of the extent of the problems should include
data from monitoring, research and public
opinion.
   When shared problems are evident, such as
might exist between local management
agencies within the same watershed, every
attempt should be made to pool problem-
solving resources.  Agreements to cooperate
should be established between the involved
units of government and all concerned
agencies. Unless justification and incentives
are unique, such consortia that cross state lines
should be avoided.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—other local units of government (municipal-
  ities, town boards, county boards or their
  committees)
—resource conservation agencies
—industries
                                                                                                                                        27

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28
The Douglas County Soil and Water Conservation
District met with the Bayfield County Soil and
Water Conservation District to review shared
roadside erosion problems and methods for
treating them.

—private landowners and land managers
—special interest groups
—interested citizens
Activities:
—gather citizen and local government input
—inventory records to determine current
  knowledge of problems
—survey the extent of the problems
—identify other local management agencies
  with similar problems
—identify a coordinating group for local
  management agencies with similar problems

Step 2, Definition of Purpose
Purpose:
   Once the problems have been identified
and the geographical and managerial areas of
concern have been delineated, those agencies
involved  must develop a system of goals,
objectives and policies. It is important that a
single set of goals, objectives and policies be
established for everyone working on the
program. This is essential where geographical
areas transcend political boundaries and
agency jurisdictions.
Actors:
—local management agencies
                                                            —local, state and federal units of government
                                                            —natural resource conservation agencies
                                                            —industries
                                                            —private landowners and land managers
                                                            —special interest groups
                                                            —interested citizens
                                                            Activities:
                                                            —secure cooperative agreements with
                                                             involved agencies
                                                            —hire local management agency administra-
                                                             tive and technical staff
                                                            —conduct cooperative work sessions and
                                                             planning meetings
                                                            —identify work responsibilities for involved
                                                             agencies and groups
                                                            —prepare goals, objectives and policies
                                                            —conduct public advisory meetings to review
                                                             and, if necessary, revise goals, objectives and
                                                             policies

                                                            Step 3, Inventory and Assessment

                                                            Purpose:
                                                              The third phase of the program is to prepare
                                                            a detailed inventory of the resources and the
                                                            problems in the affected area. This inventory
                                                            process is necessary for assessing the extent
                                                            and severity of the problems and will help
                                                            identify critical areas and determine treatment
Mr. Raymond Polzin. Douglas County Agricultural
Agent and Red Clay Project Secretary, is shown
here leading a discussion at one of the many public
meetings in the project area.
needs. Not only should the land resource be
assessed, but there should be sufficient water
quality monitoring prior to implementation to
determine the exact nature of the problems
and to serve as a base for measuring
accomplishments.
  The culmination of the inventory and
assessment process is the assignment of
priorities to the problem areas. Critical areas
which contribute the most to the pollution load
of the waters must be identified and ranked
according to need and treatment potential.
Non-critical areas can also be assigned priority
for treatment under complementary or
subsidiary programs.
  This entire process will require considerable
manpower  and time.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—local units of government
—private landowners and land managers
—special interest groups
—interested citizens
Activities:
—arrange for water quality monitoring by
  qualified personnel
—identify and map critical areas with the
  assistance of landowners and cooperating
  agencies
—set priorities for critical areas
—establish cost share rates
—conduct public advisory meetings to review
  and, if necessary, revise critical area
  priorities  and cost share rates

Step 4, Securing Landowner
        Cooperation

Purpose:
  An important aspect of this entire procedure
is the acquisition of landowner cooperation.
The most direct method would undoubtedly
be the use of regulatory methods. This

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At one of many meetings with town boards, Project
Director Steve Andrews and former SCS Team
Leader Steve Payne work with town board
members to plan ways to solve roadside erosion on
town roads.
approach, however, does little to improve
landowner attitudes, encourage cooperation
or solicit effective planning and participation.
One indirect method, high rates of cost
sharing, may encourage cooperation, planning
and participation but, again, does not
necessarily improve landowner attitudes.
   The development of a good conservation
ethic among landowners is necessary to
ensure the continued involvement of the
landowner in the application and maintenance
of conservation practices. Ideally, this should
be done throughout the planning and
implementation processes and not merely as
one step in the process. From the beginning,
continuous and concerted educational
programs must be undertaken by local
management agencies. Only through
education can recusant landowner attitudes be
altered and can a conservation ethic be
developed which would facilitate cooperation,
planning and participation and lessen the need
for any regulatory programs.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—local units  of government
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
—special interest groups
—interested citizens
Activities:
—initiate and maintain continuing informa-
  tional programs for the general public
—sponsor educational programs to encourage
  cooperation from private landowners and
  units of government
—establish close working relationships with
  private and public landowners

Step 5, Preparation of
       Conservation Plans

Purpose:
  When critical areas needing treatment have
been identified and assigned priority,
conservation plans for treating these areas
must be drawn up by landowners and qualified
professionals. Conservation plans must be
directed at specific problems in critical areas
and at the potentially most effective treatments
for these problems. Conservation planners can
not rely solely on pre-established, generalized,
"best" management practices.
  Site-specific considerations that must go
into critical area conservation plans include:
assumed efficacy of the proposed practices for
each specific site, the costs of installing the
remedial measures, the costs for maintaining
the practices, the potential benefits to be
derived from treatment, and landowner
attitudes.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
—resource conservation agencies
—other qualified conservation planners
Activities:
—develop alternative treatment practices
—select the most workable and acceptable
  measures in cooperation with landowners
—secure implementation, operation and
  maintenance contracts with landowners

Step 6, Installation of
        Conservation Practices

Purpose:
  The types of practices included in
conservation plans must be determined by the
specific characteristics of each individual site.
Efforts should be made to use innovative
techniques to meet unique site needs.
Managerial or non-structural control practices
generally can be used more pervasively—and,
consequently, more effectively—and at lower
costs than structural treatments. In some
instances, structures may be recommended
where land and water use demands intensive
protection. In other instances, regulatory
systems, such as ordinances, may be
recommended. This may be the case where
livestock and human use  must be restricted on
eroding or erosion-prone zones.
  The amount spent on the installation  of a
conservation practice  is a function of the
tradeoffs made between the greatest potential
benefits and the lowest actual costs. Coupled
with a strong educational program,
cost-sharing should be used as an incentive for
program participation. It must be cautioned,
again, that excessive cost-share rates, because
they do nothing to improve landowner
attitudes, should be discouraged except in
extreme problem areas where immediate
treatment is needed.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
Activities:
—provide assistance and supervision for the
  implementation of conservation practices by
  landowner
                                                     29

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30
              Mr. Don Benrud (left), District Conservationist
              with SCS in Barnum, is shown here inspecting a
              recently installed watering pond on the Edwin
              Carlson (right) farm in Carlton County.
—cooperate with landowners to ensure timely
  and successful completion of the contract

Step 7, Maintenance of Practices
Purpose:
  Local management agencies should be
responsible for inspecting installations and for
working with landowners to ensure their
continued operation and maintenance.
Policies and guidelines will have to be set to
provide for inspections, to guarantee
continued maintenance and to correct
maintenance violations.
  In addition to monitoring treatment
activities on the land, water quality monitoring
will have to be continued to make certain that
benefits are ensuing from the applied practices.
When water quality benefits are no longer
derived from practices, consideration will have
to be given to altering practices to meet the
needs. When water quality improves to the
point where remedial measures are no longer
needed, alternate, less costly management
practices should be used to maintain the
elevated levels of water quality.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
Activities:
—inspect practices to determine compliance
  and efficiency
—meet individually with landowners to
  encourage practice maintenance
—set policies for correcting instances of
  noncompliance

Step 8, Evaluation and Adjustment
Purpose:
  Conservation practices have to be
continually monitored, evaluated and, if
needed, modified. The entire water quality
management program should also be
evaluated continually and changed if
necessary. There is nothing unalterable about
goals, objectives and policies. When they are
no longer applicable to the problems at hand,
they should be modified to reflect the current
situation. The changing problems, needs, goals
and objectives can only be analyzed through a
continuous evaluation process.
  To aid in the evaluation and adjustment of
water quality programs, supplementary natural
Mr. John Lunda (left), Bayfield County farmer, talks
about the work he did with the Red Clay Project to
a science class from a nearby school. Under the
leadership of Mrs. Sizer (left center), the class
developed a physical model of the Pine Creek
Watershed and the works installed by the Red Clay
Project.
resource conservation programs can be easily
and effectively tied in throughout the process.
As an example, the federal Resource Conser-
vation Act program can be used to help
evaluate water quality programs or,
conversely, evaluations of local water quality
programs could be used as a part of the
Resource Conservation Program.  Similarly,
local management agencies can work with
ongoing Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service programs to set
cost-share rates and administer cost-share
programs. And as a final example, the
application of conservation practices for
ongoing soil and water conservation district
programs can be readily tied in with the
application of conservation practices for water
quality programs.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—special interest groups
—industries
—conservation professionals
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
—interested citizens
Activities:
—continue collection of water quality and land
  management data to determine practice
  efficiency
—evaluate data and program operations with
  cooperating agencies
—establish standards and guidelines for
  altering ineffective practices
—seek citizen input on program effectiveness
  and revise, if necessary, goals, objectives and
  policies

Step 9, Implementing Regulatory
        Systems (Optional)

Purpose:
  Given sound educational programs and

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reasonable cost-share rates, general program
compliance and practice implementation
could be achieved through the voluntary
compliance of landowners. At the very least, a
voluntary compliance system should be used
initially and then, if this fails or if certain
practices, such as restricting use, necessitate, a
regulatory approach could be tried.
  Because  of the sensitive nature of
regulatory programs, local and state respon-
sibilities must be carefully delineated. For this
process, all past experiences as well as
innovative techniques should be utilized. Many
landowners have expressed the desire that, if
needed, regulations and ordinances should be
developed and administered at the local
(county) level. Locally-elected officials,
however, are generally hesitant to take on this
responsibility, probably because of their close
contact with the affected landowners.
  If regulations are used, the state should set
minimum standards and should be responsible
for overall enforcement. Local management
agencies should have the authority for working
with landowners to settle disputes, supervise
compliance and recommend enforcement
action.
Actors:
—local management agencies
—resource conservation agencies
—private landowners and land managers
—public landowners and land managers
—county boards or their committees
—town boards
Activities:
—obtain citizen input on the need for local
  ordinances and in developing ordinances
  if deemed necessary
—develop ordinances in cooperation with
  county and town units of government
—establish standards, supervise compliance
  and make recommendations  for
  enforcement actions
Concluding
Observations
  More than four years of erosion, sediment
control and water quality demonstration
activities are represented in the findings,
conclusions and recommendations
summarized above. Some of these results belie
conventional, or popularly held beliefs, views
and attitudes; particularly those refining public
perceptions of the nature of the red clay
problem or proposing new approaches and
methods. But far from all that has been
accomplished was unexpected or innovative.
Indeed, much project emphasis was inten-
tionally focused on ways in which traditional
land use-related institutions, procedures and
techniques could be reoriented to meet the
challenges posed by society's renewed
dedication to. clean water.
  What was learned from this experiment has
significance for the process of non-point
source water pollution control as well as for the
participants. In addition, several tools have
been developed or refined during the course
of the Project. A few concluding observations
in these three areas are offered below as a way
of further distilling the gist of the experience
and relating it to the future.
  Process. Red Clay Project activities
suggest that key ingredients to successful water
quality management fall into three
fundamental steps of the management
process. As such, these ingredients become
conditions or prerequisites which, on the basis
of this project's experience, are felt to be
needed to sustain effective programs. These
conditions are grouped below as they relate to
a generalized management process.
1. Those conditions that aid in the
   definition of the problems and the
   goals:
   —a problem-encompassing management
     institution, even if multijurisdictional
   —a common set of goals, objectives and
     policies, even where multiple agencies
     and levels of government are involved
   —a persistent emphasis on critical area
     identification and assigning priorities
   —the careful involvement of a full range of
     inter-and intra-governmental as well as
     private-sector representatives
   —an ongoing, continuous and broad-based
     educational program
2. Those conditions that aid in the
   identification of alternatives and the
   mechanisms for selecting from
   among them:
   —the preparation of critical area manage-
     ment plans
   —the matching of alternative management
     practices with site-specific conditions and
     landowner attitudes
   —the generation of cost-benefit and cost-
     effectiveness information
3. Those conditions that aid in the
   implementation, guidance and
   evaluation of the management
   program:
   —the designation of a soil and water
     conservation body as the local manage-
     ment agency
   —the reliance  on voluntary compliance
     prior to regulation
   —the use of reasonable cost-sharing to
     encourage voluntary compliance
   —an emphasis on local innovation and on
     non-structural, low-cost practices
   —the use of continuous, long-term
     monitoring programs
   Participants. The Red Clay Project
results have the potential of affecting three
major groups of participants in non-point
source water pollution programs in a variety of
important ways. A few of the impacts which
can be expected are:
                                                                                                                                               31

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                 Landowners and Private Interests
                 —increased confidence that abatement
                   actions undertaken will have
                    recognizable water quality payoffs
                  —continued assurance that society will
                    assist with the problem through technical
                    assistance and cost-sharing
                  —improved participation opportunities
                  —expanded knowledge base through
                    research, information and education
                 Local Units of Government and Their
                 Agencies, including the Local
                 Management Agency
                  —increased assurance that water quality
                    programs are both beneficial and
                    acceptable through  planning and public
                    participation
                  —greater focus for cooperative action and
                    joint programs through critical problem
                    identification and setting priorities
                  —more effective reliance on the full
                    spectrum of management tools-
                    preventive  and remedial, voluntary and
                    regulatory, structural and non-structural
                    —through formulation of alternatives
                 Non-Local Units of  Government and
                 Their Agencies
                 —enhanced opportunity for society-wide
                    goals to be  achieved in responsive and
                    innovative ways
                 —improved focus for meaningful roles in
                    cooperation with local program partners
                 —increased assurance that substantial
                    allocations of time, staff and financial
                    resources will meet the test of cost-
                    effectiveness
                 Tools. The Red Clay  Project has served to
               spotlight several tools of the trade that promise
               important dividends for water quality
               management. Some of these are conventional,
               such as comprehensive critical area erosion
surveys, an open and continuous planning
function, and a posture of intensive inter-
agency cooperation. Others are refinements of
existing technologies, such as the development
of a solid state monitoring system for constant
recording of precipitation, wind, air and soil
factors at remote, unmanned sites. While still
others pose unique opportunities for pro-
gressive or enterprising management
institutions. The last category would include
the use of zoning setback formulas for
structures adjacent to critical slopes in such a
way as to establish a balance between the
location's erosion rate and the design life of the
proposed structure. It would also include the
identification and designation of safe-zone
areas, or erosion conservancy zones, where all
land-disturbing activities would be excluded in
the interest of erosion control.
  Perhaps above all else, the Red Clay
experience stands as evidence that much of
the foundation upon which highly complex
water quality problems can be addressed may
now be in place. It is possible to overcome
traditionally difficult social, economic, political
and institutional obstacles through a manage-
ment perspective balanced by research,
technical and financial assistance, and by
interagency cooperation  and  public education.
Existing federal, state and local resources,
public and private, can be combined in a
partnership for enhanced water quality.
32
                                                •&U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1979—651-396

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Cooperating Agencies and Personnel
Arrowhead Regional
Development Commission
  Richard Isle
Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources
  Dan Retka
Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency
  John Pegors
Minnesota Soil and
Water Conservation Board
  Steve Pedersen
  Vern Reinert
National Association of
Conservation Districts
  William Horvath
Northland College
  Robert Brander
  Tom Klein
  Virginia Prentice
Northwest Regional
Planning Commission
  Mark Mueller
  John Post
United States Army
Corps of Engineers
  Louis Kowalski
United States Bureau
of Indian Affairs - USDI
  Charles McCudy
United States Environmental
Protection Agency
  Ralph Christensen
  Carl Wilson
United States Geological Survey
  Eno Giacomini
  Steve Hindall
  Vito Latkovich
  William Rose
  Ron Wolf
United States Soil Conservation
Service - USDA
  Clarence Austin
  Don Benrud
  John Ourada
  Steve Payne
  John Streich
  Peg Whiteside
University of Minnesota -
Duluth
  Don Olson
  Michael Sydor
University of Minnesota -
Extension
  Arnie Heikkila
University of Wisconsin -
Extension
  William Lontz
  Raymond Polzin
University of Wisconsin -
Madison
  Tuncer Edil
  Peter Monkmeyer
University of Wisconsin -
Milwaukee
   Bruce Brown
University of Wisconsin -
Stevens Point
   Bob Burull
University of Wisconsin -
Superior
   David Bray
   Donald Davidson
   Philip DeVore
   Albert Dickas
   Larry Kapustka
   Rudy Koch
   Joseph Mengel
   William Swenson
   Paul Webster
Wisconsin Board of Soil and
Water Conservation Districts
   Don Houtman
   Eugene Savage
Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources
   John Konrad
Wisconsin Department of
Transportation
   Emil Meitzner
Wisconsin Red Clay
Interagency Committee
   William Briggs
   Garit Tenpas

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