2001/07/25 - OTHER - (NA) - Note

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BURNETT COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT 7410 County Road K, #109 Siren, WI 54872 Telephone: (715) 349-2186 Fax: (715) 349-2102 August 2, 2001 Judie Chouinard 20863 County Line Rd. Frederic, WI 54837 Dear Judie: The purpose of this letter is to address some of the concerns you mentioned in your letter requesting an informal hearing and to give you important information about the hearing itself. I will address the concerns in your letter in the order that you listed them: 1) How was the 100 lbs. of phosphorus arrived at? -Actually your feedlots have been measured twice to estimate their annual phosphorus load. The first time was on August 13, 1997. The second time staff visited your farm was November 7, 2000. At this time it was estimated that the calf yard contributed 43 pounds of phosphorus, annually and the larger earthen yard contributed 120 pounds of phosphorus, annually, for a total of 163 pounds of phosphorus. The next highest contributing barnyard in the watershed was estimated at 106 pounds of phosphorus, annually. We have also estimated what the reduction would be if we constructed some clean water diversions, which basically just keeps runoff from entering the barnyard area and it brings the total for both lots down to 42 pounds, annually. The Wisconsin DNR developed the model to estimate nutrients running off a barnyard. The model is called BARKY. The parameters that went into the model's calculations for your barnyard included the number of animals, the slope of the yard, the soil type it is located on, the size and land cover of the direct watershed to the yard (which, in your case, was farmstead, roof area and a little bit of the field to the north of the buildings). The model was developed using basic principles of hydrology (runoff/rainfall) and the average amount of manure produced by different types of animals. For more information on the Barnyard Runoff Model (BARKY) please contact Ruth King, WDNR 715-635-4142.