Vegetation along the North Branch Manitowoc River in Calumet County. PC: Fox 11 Online
CALUMET COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — One of Governor Tony Evers’ smaller vetoes in the next state budget is for an issue that has been causing problems for some rural Calumet County residents.
Evers says he took out funding to mitigate flooding in the area because the legislature isn’t funding another DNR program that he supports.
For the past five or six years, the cattails along the North Branch Manitowoc River haven’t been taken out — causing widespread flood problems for people like Dan Diedrich.
“It always has flooded, but it would go away in two days,” said Diedrich. “Now it takes weeks for it to go away.”
Diedrich says parts of the river are blocked, causing water to spread and taking away people’s farmland and trees.
“I bought a piece of property that I’ve got white pines growing on it, white spruce,” said Diedrich. “They’re 25 feet tall. Every year, another five or six of them are dead. Every year, just because they can’t handle that much water.”
State Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, says he’s pushed unsuccessfully to fund the replacement of a Swamp Devil — a specialized machine that used to go down the river to clear out the vegetation.
To get by for a few years, Tusler asked for $70,000 for a private company to do the work. But that ended up being one of Evers’ 23 state budget vetoes.
“I was really shocked,” said Tusler. “They still get to keep the money, so the $70,000 that we allocated for this project, the DNR gets to spend in other ways.”
Gov. Evers provided the following explanation for his veto:
I am vetoing this section because I object to providing an earmark for a natural resources project when the Legislature has abandoned its responsibility to reauthorize and ensure the continuation of the immensely popular Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program. For over three decades, the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program has benefited millions of Wisconsinites and consistently earned strong bipartisan support. Instead of renewing the program and helping the many, the Legislature has opted to benefit the politically connected few. The Legislature must do its job and renew the Warren Knowles-Gaylord Nelson Stewardship program. In the meantime, this veto will provide the department the ability to utilize the funding for the management and protection of the state’s water resources and for environmental quality and environmental management purposes rather than for a specific earmark.
Based on that explanation, Tusler is wondering why similar DNR projects were left in the budget.
“The DNR headquarters in Madison, they are not taking this project seriously,” said Tusler. “Knowles-Nelson is a great stewardship fund. I’m sure we will end up funding it. We just haven’t done that yet.”
“It’s not like we’re asking for a million dollars to get this little section cleaned out,” said Diedrich.
87 rural residents signed a petition in support of the funding to try to relieve the river of what’s keeping it from flowing properly.
City of Brillion officials say the flooding has been costing them as well — forcing the need for a new wastewater treatment plant.
Brillion Mayor Mike Smith says emergency responders are the ones that often have to respond to flood-related problems as well.
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