MIDDLETON, Wis. — The restoration of the Pheasant Branch Conservancy in Middleton offers an opportunity for stormwater management.
More than a decade ago, 160 acres of wetlands and prairies were converted into a dairy farm. In 2019, Dane County purchased that farm for $10 million to convert the land back to its natural state as Pheasant Branch Conservancy.
James Tye, the executive director of the Clean Lakes Alliance, said he’s proud of what this land is now.
“We were really excited that the leadership at Dane County decided that it was a really important purchase,” said Tye. “To take that dairy farm, remove all of the infrastructure, and return it back to what it was 100 to 200 years ago with a prairie.”
He said it’s made way for hundreds of native plants and animal species to thrive. The land now also offers better flood mitigation with the addition of culverts and basins.
“That water now that might go really quickly through to the lake is going to be slowed down by going through these rocks, and it’s going to go through this prairie because we re-sculpted the land to be more natural,” said Tye.
Sara Skwirut works with Tye at the Clean Lakes Alliance. She said having plants absorb the extra water limits the phosphorus that reaches nearby waterways. In turn, that prevents harmful algae blooms in those waterways.
“The toxicity of the blue-green algae makes it actually dangerous for people to swim sometimes, so we have those beach closures,” said Skwirut. “These prairies not only slow down the water and prevent flooding, but they use the nutrients that are coming through the water — the nitrogen, the phosphorus — and they absorb it.”
Tye said as more land near Madison continues to get developed, places like Pheasant Branch Conservancy will become even more valuable.
“This is really acting as a wonderful community asset, so that the water from the built environment can move through here and soak back down into the aquifer,” he said. “It also removes some of the sediment before it goes down to Pheasant Branch Creek and into Lake Mendota.”
Pheasant Branch Conservancy also gives out seeds so more people can grow native plants to better absorb stormwater.