County staff report progress on phosphorus, septic replacements and groundwater; RPC offers alternate population projection for land-use plan

Marathon County conservation and planning staff briefed the Environmental Resources Committee on April 1 about progress on several multi-year programs — including phosphorus reductions in the Fenwood Creek watershed, septic-system replacement work, a groundwater protection plan in development — and presented a working draft of Chapter 9 (land use) of the county comprehensive plan. The regional planning commission offered an alternative population-projection model the county may use for planning.

Fenwood Creek phosphorus reduction Conservation manager Kirsty Heidenreich reported that the Fenwood Creek pilot project has reduced phosphorus but remains short of the committee’s 2024 strategic-plan target. "We have reduced, we lehi to about a 13% reduction in the watershed, which is about 8,980 pounds of phosphorus," Heidenreich said, and noted the committee’s original goal was a 20% reduction (14,016 pounds). She cited funding constraints that limited the county’s ability to scale the incentive-based pilot across the whole watershed; staff plan further outreach and funding requests.

Septic-system replacement and maintenance Land resources manager Shad Harvey told the committee the county has replaced…