About 40 people toured the Festge Spring Complex on April 25, where nearly 30 cold springs supply about half the flow to the upper reaches of Black Earth Creek.

A storm-damaged transformer spilled about 125 gallons of hydraulic oil into a ditch that drains to Brewery Creek on April 14. The DNR reports no dead fish were seen, and summer surveys found trout abundance within normal ranges.

Audrey Rice, a Cross Plains resident and fly fisher, shares how she went from curious creek visitor to BECWA board member.

BECWA's fundraising for a portable 3D model of the watershed passed its $15,000 goal, with delivery expected by mid-October

Stakeholders are proposing a new groundwater study of the Black Earth Creek watershed to look at how development affects the springs that keep the creek cold. The estimated cost is $271,100, and funding beyond USGS's $53,420 is still needed.

Phase 1 of the 480-acre Marchstone Development is underway in Cross Plains, with no excessive sediment seen so far. Phase 2, which includes a proposed golf course, is still in planning.

Cross Plains trustees kept the 150-foot hillside buffer but exempted 17 lots near the proposed Marchstone golf course. BECWA and Trout Unlimited had opposed the change.

Drainage District #7 held a public hearing on a proposed plan to dredge Brewery Creek. Village officials and CARPC raised concerns about the impact on the creek and a joint wetland restoration project.

Black Earth Creek reached 77 degrees F this summer at the USGS station in Black Earth, well above what brown trout prefer, just as budget shortfalls threaten to scale back the monitoring program in 2027.

The DNR is testing trout streams across Wisconsin for neonicotinoid pesticides, including streams in the Black Earth Creek watershed, to see how they affect the aquatic insects trout depend on.

Update about the Cross Plains hillside protection ordinance changes.

The Village of Cross Plains will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to its Hillside Overlay Ordinance, which protects bluffs from development.

BECWA founding member Steve Born is being recognized with an Alumni Award from UW-Madison's Nelson Institute. Read his remarkable story of a life devoted to water.

By Michelle Harris & Andy Morton, BECWA Board of Directors On Earth Day, April 22, 2025, BECWA hosted a community Forum on the Health of the Black Earth Creek Watershed at the Wisconsin Heights Middle School Steproom. The Forum was an opportunity to communicate key points of BECWA’s 2024 Watershed Report ( BECWA.org/2024-watershed-report ) as well as to share information on several key watershed-related initiatives and topics. The Forum The 80+ forum attendees included waters

A 480-acre development proposed near Cross Plains has been advancing through approvals, raising concerns about its potential impact on the Festge Springs Complex and the cold-water trout fishery it feeds in Black Earth Creek.

When astronauts return from their first mission to space, they often speak about the wonder and beauty of Earth, and how they have a reinforced sense of responsibility for the planet. While BECWA doesn’t build spaceships, we do foster locally based stewardship for our watershed. That is why BECWA is working to use 21st-century modeling and software technology to bring our own birds’ eye view of the Black Earth Creek Watershed to life! This dual platform project will serve as

A 115-acre Vermont Lutheran Church property hosting a Black Earth Creek tributary is becoming a conservation success story, with invasive species management underway and a DNR electroshocking survey turning up 77 brown trout.

BECWA, the DNR, UW-Madison Biocore, and local librarians are teaming up again to bring kids hands-on creek exploration experiences at watershed libraries throughout 2025.

A Black Earth Creek restoration project combining large wood habitat structures, bank stabilization, and floodplain reconnection with native plantings and improved public access to the water.

BECWA celebrates Johnny Armstrong's five years of service as Treasurer and website manager, whose modernization of our financial and digital infrastructure leaves a lasting mark on the organization.