October 10 Program Highlights 25 Years of Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission Accomplishments
September 30, 2013
Sue Jones (608-224-3764), Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission
(Madison, WI) Remarks from former County Executive Rick Phelps and the first Lakes and
Watershed Commission Coordinator Lloyd Eagan will highlight an October 10 program
celebrating the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission’s 25th anniversary.
The program will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2013 in Room 354 of the City-County
Building, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., immediately following the Commission’s monthly business
meeting.
Lyle Updike, the current Lakes and Watershed Commission Chair, said, “The Dane County
Lakes and Watershed Commission is proud of its work over the past 25 years, and we invite
community members to join us in hearing outstanding speakers tell the story of Commission
origins and accomplishments.”
Former County Executive Rick Phelps will speak about the status of county environmental
initiatives when he was elected County Executive in 1988, and how his establishment of the
Lakes and Watershed Commission and hiring its first Coordinator (Eagan) energized county
environmental protection in water, lands, recycling, and land use. After his eleven years of
service as Dane County Executive, Phelps went on to serve for eleven years as Senior Vice
President of Marshall & Ilsley Bank (M&I, now BMO Harris), where he led the bank’s civic
involvement in business and community development. Phelps also served as Senior Vice
President of the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce (now the Partnership
for New York City), where he focused the efforts of 200 CEOs of the city’s top corporations in
rebuilding the World Trade Center site and Lower Manhattan after 9/11.
Former Watershed Management Coordinator Lloyd Eagan will speak about her initial work with
the Commission, including development of its first water action plan and work with the
Wisconsin legislature to enable the Commission to establish effective water quality
improvement standards across all county watersheds. Since leaving the Commission in 1990,
Eagan served in Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources air management programs,
including serving as Director of the Bureau of Air Management from 1997 to 2005, Director of
the DNR’s South Central Region based in Fitchburg, and for the last two years before her
September 2013 retirement as DNR Water Leader for the South Central and South East
Regions.
Current Watershed Management Coordinator Sue Jones, who has served in that role since
1998, will round out the program by sharing Commission accomplishments over the last 25
years and how they have protected and improved water quality and the quality of life for Dane
County residents. Among the Commission’s accomplishments are creation of “Take a Stake in
Our Waters” year-round volunteer opportunities, development of county-wide erosion control
and stormwater standards to keep sediment and phosphorus out of lakes, streams and
wetlands; and creation of the Yahara CLEAN report that is the foundation of current
phosphorus reduction work. See the attachment for additional Commission highlights.
About the Lakes and Watershed Commission – A coordinating and advisory agency within
Dane County government, the Commission's charge is to protect and improve water quality, as
well as the scenic, economic, recreational, and environmental value of Dane County's water
resources. Learn more about the Commission’s current members and priorities at
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