In what is now the necedah national wildlife refuge and adjacent meadow valley state wildlife area, extensive drainage efforts in the early 20TH century straightened the little yellow river and…

This federal Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements program (CFDA 15.654) provides $994,533 to restore and enhance over 1,700 acres of wetlands along 14 miles of drainage ditches in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area in Wisconsin. The project aims to slow water flows, retain more water upstream, and restore wetland functions, which will reduce strain on downstream road infrastructure and provide additional benefits such as enhanced wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and improved evapotranspiration. The grantee, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association Inc., will employ an approach of installing 132 low-head (less than 6-inch) ditch plugs to disable the drainage network and reconnect the ditches to surrounding floodplains. This work is expected to be completed by December 31, 2027.

In what is now the necedah national wildlife refuge and adjacent meadow valley state wildlife area, extensive drainage efforts in the early 20TH century straightened the little yellow river and created large drainage ditches that changed the hydrology and vegetation communities. Those ditches – each up to 20 feet wide and 5 feet deep – drain wetlands and consolidate water, accelerating flow rates and increasing flow quantity, particularly during increasingly common flood events. This water flow strains or damages municipal roadway infrastructure (roadbeds, culverts, and water overpasses) while contributing to other downstream flood damage. By disabling a key ditch network to slow water flows, retain more water upstream, and restore associated wetland benefits, the strain on downstream road infrastructure will be reduced. Contemporaneously, other downstream IRA-funded infrastructure improvements will be accomplished on the local, rural road infrastructure. Expected outcomes include more resilient road infrastructure, reduced surface water outflows, improved wetland functioning, enhanced wildlife habitat, greater carbon sequestration, and improved evapotranspiration rates. An approach prototyped by the US fish and wildlife service will be employed to disable the functionality of these large ditches through a succession of 132 ditch plugs with very low head (less than 6 inches each). Each ditch plug is APPROXIMATELY100 feet long, with fill created by removing bank spoil barriers that prevent ditch water connectivity to the surrounding floodplains. This project will restore or enhance over 1700 acres of wetlands along more than 14 miles of existing ditch.