Report on first public meeting about managing the upper Yahara River at Cherokee Marsh
Jan Axelson
Several of us from the Friends of Cherokee
Marsh board attended the first of two public meetings seeking
comments about how to manage the upper Yahara River at Cherokee
Marsh.
Dane County’s Land & Water Resources Department is inviting
the public to share ideas on how to enhance water quality, the
fishery, wildlife populations, and recreation on the river.
County staff called the meetings in response to a Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) planning grant awarded to
the county. The area under consideration extends from just
downstream of State Highway 113 to about three miles upstream,
where the river narrows.
Representatives from the county, the City of Madison, and the
DNR were on hand to share information and answer questions.
Participants were encouraged to submit comments with ideas and
recommendations. Do we want to encourage canoeing and kayaking?
How important is the fishery? Do we value the river as habitat
for birds and other wildlife?
John Reimer from Land & Water Resources and Professor Chin
Wu from the University of Wisconsin’s Civil & Environmental
Engineering Department presented a concept for an area of the
river west of Cherokee Lake, which lies along Burning Wood Way
in the Cherokee Park neighborhood.
To improve water quality and reduce shoreline wetland loss, the
proposal envisions a series of constructed rock peninsulas along
the river’s west shoreline. The peninsulas would capture
sediments and channel the river’s flow. Two additional
peninsulas would re-establish the spits of land that were left
when Cherokee Lake was dug in the early 1960s but have since
eroded away.
Before refining the plan and seeking funding, county staff want
to know if there is public support. Information from the
meetings will eventually be available online. When available,
we'll post links at Cherokeemarsh.org.
A second, identical, meeting will take place Thurs, November
14.If you have an interest in the future of the upper Yahara
River, please consider attending this meeting.
Thursday, November 14
6:30 – 6:45 p.m. (Welcome and Project Background)
6:45 – 8:30 p.m. (Breakout Stations)
Westport Town Hall
5387 Mary Lake Road
Waunakee, WI