County Conservation Committee approves formation of watershed advisory committee, delays vote on dam decommissioning

VIROQUA, Wis.––The Vernon County Conservation and Education Committee (CEC) delayed their vote on a resolution to approve a federal plan to decommission 23 dams in two watersheds during their June 2024 meeting. The resolution was still being reviewed by other counties and legal counsel but will be revisited in their upcoming meeting on July 11. The committee did unanimously approve moving forward with the formation of an advisory committee to discuss what will come after the dam decommissioning process.

Two county board supervisors and committee members, Mary Henry and Nathaniel Slack, will work alongside County Conservationist Ben Wojahn and County Administrative Coordinator Cassandra Hanan and bring back recommendations, including the proposed structure and involved stakeholders. Those recommendations will be brought to the next CEC meeting on July 11. Preliminary discussions proposed two CEC members on the committee, two representatives from the watershed groups and perhaps a couple of “at large” members...