Photo by Tim Hundt of the Steve Fortney farm near Soldiers Grove in Crawford County taken on August 29th, 2018. Steve is a fifth generation farmer who is trying to hang on to the family farm but told Tim it is getting harder and harder as the Kickapoo River has been out of its banks so many times over the last 15 years. His home is on high ground on the hillside so has escaped major damage but his buildings now get flooded on a regular basis.

Photo by Tim Hundt of water rising on the main bridge that sits over the Kickapoo River in the community of Viola on August 29, 2018. The highest water had not yet reached Viola but was working its way down the River from the communities of Ontario and La Farge. The river would eventually crest in Viola at 23.72 feet beating the old record of 21.25 feet set just 10 years earlier in June of 2008.

In 2019, The Driftless Writing Center based in Viroqua submitted a grant application to Wisconsin Humanities describing "Stories from the Flood." The project was to record interviews with residents about their experiences of the catastrophic flood of 2018 at workshops like the one pictured above. "Stories from the Flood" was awarded a Major Grant and the seed of that idea has grown and continues to expand.

Wisconsin Humanities gives $200,000 in grants every year to organizations of all sizes and all around the state. With seven annual deadlines, we support locally-initiated public humanities programs that promote reflection, dialogue, and civic participation. Learn more about our grant program here.

Erosion in the Black River watershed, Wisconsin (1935)]

Much has been written about the region, as well as the work of Wisconsin's famed conservationist Aldo Leopold's work there in the 1930s. We recommend checking out:

• "Birth of a Conservation Movement: Contour Farming in Wisconsin,"  for an overview.
• "Coon Valley Days: A short history of the Coon Creek Watershed Demonstration Project," about the nation's first watershed project.
• "Wading Out the Kickapoo River Flood," about a cross-disciplinary research project led by Caroline Gottschalk Druschke and Eric Booth.
• The Driftless Reader, edited by Curt Meine, with writing by Black Hawk, Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, Aldo Leopold, David Rhodes, and many others.

The Driftless Writing Center’s “Stories from the Flood” project published a book that can be read online here. This project and publication was funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities.

More than 100 people have been interviewed so far as part of the "Stories from the Flood" project. The stories in this episode from Nick and Ellen Voss, Clinton Bagstad, Ryan McGuire, and Cele Wolf were generously shared and used with permission.

How do local events, like flooding, fit into the big picture of climate change? And how can we understand the scientific data using local examples? Beyond The Headlines is a program of Wisconsin Humanities that looks at how journalists partner with communities to be part of the solution. The website provides many resources, including these tips for reporting local climate stories from an independent organization of scientists and journalists.

Wisconsin Humanities hosted a very special event for journalists, water experts, and community leaders about water issues in our state as part of the Beyond The Headlines project. Panelists addressed how to share data and stories and help Wisconsin citizens stay informed. The event was recorded and can be viewed here.