The Economic Base of the Southeast Wisconsin Rivers Basin, with Emphasis on the Agricultural Sector

Excerpts from the report: The Southeast Wisconsin Rivers Basin lies in eastern and southern Wisconsin, north central Illinois, and northern Michigan. There are portions of two major continental drainage basins in the study area, the Upper Mississippi and the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence. The total drainage area is about 15,530,600 acres, or 24,266 square miles. The study area is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan, on the west by the Wisconsin and Galena-Platte drainage basins, on the south by the Wisconsin state line, except for the inclusion of the Rock River basin, downstream to Rockton, Illinois, and on the north by the northern boundary of the Menominee River basin in Michigan. The purpose of this report is to provide economic information and analysis for use in planning the orderly development of the land and water resources of the Southeast Wisconsin Rivers Basin. Although the focus is on the agricultural economy, data on other sectors of the economy are included. The report presents historic conditions and benchmark projections of the agricultural economy. As such, it sets forth directions toward which the agricultural economy is expected to move, provided no additional water resource development occurs on the existing resource base. Procedures used are briefly described, as well as the assumptions on which conclusions are based. Projections of the rural farm population, employment, income, rural farm water needs and agricultural land use to 1980, 2000, and 2020 are presented.