Prioritizing wetland restoration activity within a Wisconsin watershed using GIS modeling

Most wetland restorations in Wisconsin have focused on wildlife benefits without consideration of improvements to water quality. A Geographic Information System (GIS) database was developed for a watershed in southern Wisconsin to: 1) objectively locate drained wetlands and their owners for field manager contacts, and 2) rank drained wetlands for restoration based on their potential to improve water quality. GIS data layers of soils, existing wetlands, and landowners were combined to produce maps, mailing lists, and a computer interface of landowners of drained wetlands in a 410-km2 watershed. The Universal Soil Loss Equation was used with GIS data layers of soils, cropping management, topography, hydrography, and land cover to estimate the potential eroded sediment delivered to streams within the watershed. GIS was used to delineate the mini-watershed of each drained wetland basin, estimate the delivered sediment that could be trapped if the drained basin was restored, and rank the drained wetlands for restoration within strata of topographic contours.