Land & Water Conservation Committee

Waupaca County Land & Water Conservation Committee meeting, October 12, 2026: The committee reviewed conservation cost-share agreements funded through several grants, including a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative award covering the Bear Lake, Shaw Creek, and Mouse Creek areas. The GLRI grant totals $515,000, with $93,900 remaining; the agreements commit funding over three years for multiple practices, including cover crops, no-till, and nutrient management. The committee approved the listed agreements except for three involving DND Buyer, from which a member abstained due to a conflict of interest. The department also reported that its NRCS agreement application was denied in July and a new application had not yet begun; remaining funds were expected to sustain the program only through the end of March, potentially affecting full-time support for the demonstration-farm program. The budget was otherwise unchanged, though staff found a prior-year $5,000 discrepancy in the county-funded demo farm project.

The committee discussed two farms’ noncompliance with nutrient-management planning requirements and approved pursuing attorney-signed letters for both cases. Staff described possible loss of farmland-preservation tax credits and obligations under prior cost-share agreements as compliance mechanisms. Members also discussed rising costs for conservation practices and the possibility that revised NRCS storm-design standards could increase future project costs. Separately, the department reported switching employee phones from US Cellular to T-Mobile, with government pricing of about $100 per new iPhone; no procurement vote on the phone change was reported.