I
levels. Soil conservation and management are closely related to the issues of
stormwater management, flood control, control of nonpoint source pollutants,              I
changing land use, and deterioration of the natural resource base. Therefore,
it is important that soil conservation be considered within the framework of a
comprehensive watershed planning program which will enable the formulation of
coordinated, long-range solutions.
The initial regional plan also recommended that local agencies charged with
responsibility for nonpoint source pollution control prepare refined and de-
tailed local-level nonpoint source pollution control plans. Such plans are to
identify the nonpoint source pollution control practices that should be applied
to specific lands. Working with the individual county land conservation commit-
tees, local units of government, and the Commission, the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources is carrying out the recommended detailed planning for nonpoint
source water pollution abatement on a watershed-by-watershed basis.          This
detailed planning and subsequent plan implementation program is known as the
Wisconsin Nonpoint Source Priority Watershed Pollution Abatement Program. This
program was established in 1978 by the Wisconsin Legislature and provides cost-
sharing funds for the cost of an individual project or land management practice           I
to local governments and private landowners upon completion of the detailed
plans. The funds are provided through nonpoint source local assistance grants
administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.   As of 1993, two
priority watershed projects shave been conducted in the Rock River watershed--
the Turtle Creek Priority Watershed Project4 and the Oconomowoc River Priority
Watershed Project.5
The Turtle Creek Priority Watershed Plan:       The Turtle Creek watershed was
selected for inclusion in the Wisconsin Nonpoint Source Priority Watershed
Pollution Abatement Program in 1982, and the watershed plan was completed in
1984. The project implementation phase was carried out from 1984 until April
1992 and included the following recommended components:
*  Provision of streambank erosion control practices for selected sites.
*  Provision of wind erosion controls on lands in the Comus Lake subwater-
shed.
*  Preparation of detailed conservation plans to develop management practic-
es on about 21,000 acres of cropland which are estimated to have soil
losses of greater than six tons per acre per year. The target soil loss
for these lands was established at five tons per acre per year which was
estimated to result in a reduction in total sediment losses from cropland
by about 53 percent.
*  Installation of facilities and management practices for 75 barnyards
representing a reduction of about 80 percent of the phosphorus loading
from barnyards in the study subwatershed.
4 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Publication, Turtle Creek Priority

Watershed Plan, March 1984.
5 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Publication No. WR-194-86, A Non-
point Source Control Plan for the Oconomowoc River Priority Watershed Project,
March 1986.
-522-
I