A message from Judd Blau, the DeForest Village President, for the 2015 State of the Lakes Annual Report:
Judd Blau, President of DeForest
The 2015 leaf management pilot project with Clean Lakes Alliance heightened our community awareness on the water quality impact of leaves in storm drains. When communities establish a connection behind the “why” we ask people to participate in any program, we all benefit.
Urban Actions taken by the Village of DeForest in 2015:
Marvin and Marie Schweers Natural Area
DeForest has made efforts to improve the water quality, including:
- A prairie and wetland restoration project adjacent to the Upper Yahara River, for which the Village converted 15 acres of row-cropped land to prairie, converted 15 acres of willow thicket to wetland, and converted straight ditches into meandering scrapes.
- Stormwater trenches that drain to street trees instead of storm sewers, constructed in downtown DeForest.
- Four developer-funded stormwater basins.
- Moving forward, the Village will begin to require phosphorus modeling on all stormwater permitted projects.
In the fall of 2015, DeForest partnered for a leaf-free streets pilot conducted by Clean Lakes Alliance.
