Title: Rock County (Wis.). Division of Environmental Health: Records Pertaining to Water Quality of Badfish Creek and Rock River Basin
Inclusive Dates: 1967-1991

Creator:

• Rock County (Wis.). Division of Environmental Health

Call Number: C2009/004

Quantity: 8.0 c.f. (8 record center cartons)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records documenting the work of the Environmental Health Division, primarily related to the water quality of the Rock County portions of Badfish Creek and the Rock River Basin. Records seem to be those of David Holman, Director of the Division of Environmental Health, 1968 through circa 1991. The water quality in Rock County was affected by the way in which the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) treated its discharge; these records document efforts to improve treatment of the resulting wastewater flowing into Rock County waterways.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-c2009004

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In 1967 portions of Badfish Creek failed to meet water quality standards so in 1971 Rock County and the Rock Valley Metro Council financed a study of the creek which concluded that better water treatment was needed. In 1972 the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) issued a contract for expanding the Nine Springs Treatment Plant. In 1974 MMSD proposed the establishment of a Facilities Planning Advisory Committee to guide the conduct of a Facilities Planning Study. Since the Nine Springs Plant's wastewater flowed into Rock County, the proposal recommended including representatives from Rock County, thus Holman as director of the county's Environmental Health Division, plus a representative of the Rock Valley Metro Council sat on the Committee.

The Facilities Planning Advisory Committee's charge was to formulate a wastewater discharge effluent strategy, which included the design of a facility. Most of the records in this series document the work of this committee; particularly that of Holman. Types of records include minutes, surveys, data, correspondence and memos, press releases, transcripts of public hearings, interim and final reports. Subjects include wastewater treatment and disposal, water pollution, environmental impact, and public health.

According to current (as of 2011) Environmental Health Director, Tim Banwell, the resulting final reports were a milestone at the national level as one of the first uses of how computer models were interpreted and applied.

Acquisition Information

Accession Number: C2009/004

C2009/004 Box   1	News clippings
Box   1	Stream data
Box   1	Drafts of Facility report, including math models
Box   1	Facility Planning Commission with the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)
Box   1	Pollution studies
Box   2	MMSD Cliver Study
Box   2	Disinfection Study Work Group, MMSD
Box   2	Rock River Study results
Box   2	Surveys, testing
Box   2	Disinfection policy
Box   3	Facilities Commission minutes
Box   3	Correspondence: Dave Holman (as Environmental Protection Director)
Box   3	Hearings
Box   3	Resolutions, legal documents
Box   4	Hearings
Box   4	Technical data
Box   4	Final review of Facilities report
Box   4	MMSD moratorium
Box   4	Public meetings information
Box   4	Facility meeting minutes
Box   5	Surveys: raw data and tabulation
Box   5	Correspondence with outside concerned parties
Box   5	FPAC meeting minutes
Box   5	Final review
Box   6-8	Published reports