Good news for Madison lakes, but climate change could offset it - Madison.com

Good news for Madison lakes, but climate change could offset it

A continued drop in phosphorus loads has spelled good news for the Yahara chain of lakes in recent years, which could someday more than double the number of summer days when the lakes are clear and free of algae blooms.

But threatening that goal, according to a report released Wednesday by the Clean Lakes Alliance, are rainfall events that are more frequent and intense, paired with warmer winters that lead to greater runoff and phosphorus getting into the system.

The weather patterns have the Clean Lakes Alliance, elected officials, environmentalists and community leaders hoping to double down on their efforts to further protect the 385-square-mile watershed that feeds major lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa.

“Long-term climatological data show a region that is getting wetter and warmer,” the report states. “Increasing rainfall volume and intensity represent an unwelcome trend that can negatively affect the performance of many conservation practices.”

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The system, developed jointly by Dane County and the city of Madison and known as a “clean beach corridor,” effectively walls off a section of Lake Mendota.

While past reports have looked back on what has happened within the watershed, the latest report, the centerpiece of the Clean Lakes Alliance’s Greater Madison Lake Guide, also included a look forward at trends in five different areas.

Weather and climate is trending poorly, while the phosphorus balance in the system and land conservation practices are trending well. Meanwhile, phosphorus delivery to the lakes and in-lake water quality responses are classified as trending fair or mixed.
Cameron Anderson, associate director of Upper House and an artist, stands near an installation he created to represent the Yahara Watershed. The piece, which was on display Wednesday at the Clean Lakes Alliance's Community Breakfast, depicts the many lakes of the watershed, including, in the foreground, Lake Waubesa and Upper Mud Lake.

A record crowd of more than 800 people gathered Wednesday morning in the 40,000-square-foot Exhibition Hall at Monona Terrace to take in the event and hear from speakers that included members of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and James Tye, who founded the Clean Lakes Alliance in 2010 and has built the organization into a major advocate promoting healthy lakes.

“The community is ready to take even bolder actions for the lakes,” Tye said. “Our opportunity is to double down. Do things at a faster pace to help protect the lakes.”
Visitors to Governor’s Island explore a walking trail on the peninsula on Lake Mendota's north shore.

Manure control

One of those key initiatives is working with Dane County to build a community manure digester in the watershed’s northern sector. The county already has earmarked $3 million for land and a feasibility study for the project that officials hope could be up and running within the next five years. The digester would be designed to help reduce the spread of manure on agricultural land, one of the leading contributors to phosphorus loads, along with lawn fertilizers in urban areas.

“That’s the big bold idea that we need to do, and we need to do it as a community,” Tye said.

The digester would add to other conservation efforts in that area that have included working with cities and villages to create stormwater retention ponds so sediment settles and less phosphorus enters the lakes. Farmers are also being encouraged to convert some of their land to prairie or perennial grasses or have it be used for rotational grazing.
Jon Greendeer, president-elect of the Ho-Chunk Nation, was among the many speakers Wednesday before a crowd of more than 800 people at the Clean Lakes Alliance's Community Breakfast at Monona Terrace.

In 2019, the county spent $10 million to purchase the 160-acre Acker farm adjacent to Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Work is underway to convert the property to prairie, which will have the added benefit of absorbing more rainwater that would otherwise run off into Lake Mendota.

“What we know is that we need something on a much broader scale,” Parisi said of the proposed digester. “It would be something available to all farmers in the North Mendota Watershed, not just large farmers but small farmers, too, who might not be able to do some of things on their own. It would help us deeply.”
Farmworkers till a field off Highway I in the town of Westport. Agriculture is one of the big contributors to phosphorus loads in Dane County lakes, but officials are hoping to build a community manure digester north of Madison in the next five years to help reduce manure spreading on area fields.

The Clean Lakes Alliance in 2022 also played an active role in monitoring and helping to keep invasive species out of the lakes.

Keeping watch

For the 11th year, it coordinated a water monitoring program that used 96 volunteers to cover 87 nearshore and seven offshore locations to help identify blue-green blooms, which can lead to beach closures. Compared to 2021, all lakes except Lake Kegonsa, located at the southern end of the chain, showed improvement in water clarity, according to the report.

Beach closures in 2022 dropped to 91 compared to a record 267 in 2021. The Clean Lakes Alliance also assisted in the state Department of Natural Resources’ Clean Boats, Clean Water program by hiring three watercraft inspectors who worked at Marshall Park and Warner Park boat landings on Lake Mendota and at Olbrich and Olin parks on Lake Monona. Dane County Land and Water Resources staffed boat launches at Babcock Park on Lake Waubesa and at Fish Camp on Lake Kegonsa.

Tribal input

Wednesday’s breakfast also highlighted the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose people lived here and paddled and fished the lakes thousands of years before Eben and Roseline Peck, considered Madison’s first white settlers, built a cabin in what is now Madison’s Downtown in 1837.

Jon Greendeer, president elect of the Ho-Chunk Nation, spoke of the unique nature of the Madison chain of lakes, where two ancient dugout canoes have been found since 2021. His peoples’ lands are now largely populated by non-Indigenous people, who also need to take responsibility for the land and lakes.

“We are all part of the ecosystem around us,” Greendeer said. “We don’t own the planet. We have to be humbled and use it with respect.”
Workers at Skipper Bud’s launch a power boat into the waters of the Yahara River, which feeds into Lake Mendota. Madison lakes are well used and contribute to the region's economy.

Samantha Skenadore, who is also a member of the Oneida Nation, a federal Indian and tribal law attorney for Quarles and an expert in water rights litigation, spoke of the plan to reimagine the Lake Monona shoreline along John Nolen Drive. She has an affinity for the mounds built by her ancestors that surround the lakes, though many have been destroyed.

“It’s that medicine in the ground here in Dejope (the name given to the Madison area by its original Ho-Chunk inhabitants) that keeps us and binds us all together,” Skenadore told the crowd. “And that very much pertains to the water.”

Photos: See underwater treasures in Madison's lakes

The Habitat
The Habitat was a research vessel deployed by UW-Madison scientists from 1975 to 1986.

The Habitat
The Habitat, a research vessel formerly used by UW-Madison scientists, sits at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Habitat interior
The interior of the research vessel Habitat is shown at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Ice shanty
The structure of this ice shanty remains mostly intact at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Sunken boat
This sunken boat was found near James Madison Park in Lake Mendota.

Sunken boat
Red paint is still visible on this boat sitting at the bottom of Lake Mendota near James Madison Park.

Old car
A diver inspects this old car in Lake Mendota near Picnic Point.

Overturned car
This overturned vehicle is one of two cars at the bottom of Lake Mendota off Picnic Point.

Overturned car
This is another view of the upside-down car off Picnic Point in Lake Mendota.

Overturned car
Another view of the overturned car off Picnic Point at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Abandoned boat
A diver shines a light on a boat abandoned near Picnic Point in about 60 feet of water in Lake Mendota.

Generator
The remains of a generator sit at the bottom of Lake Mendota off Shorewood Hills.

Ice shanty debris
Sometimes people let ice shanties fall to the bottom of a lake or fail to remove them before the lake ice melts. Here you can see a generator, tire and other debris from inside a shanty abandoned on Lake Mendota near Shorewood Hills.

Sunken boat
The bow of an old excursion boat, perhaps a century old, that provided tours sits on the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Diver explores wreck
A diver inspects a sunken excursion boat at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Smilin' Bill wreck
The Smilin' Bill rests about 20 feet below the surface at the bottom of University Bay in Lake Mendota.

Silt-covered boat
Silt and mud cover the Smilin' Bill at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Mysterious wagon
A wagon sits at the bottom of Lake Mendota. Divers haven't figured out the details about what happened to lead it to the bottom.

Monona Terrace supports
Posts help support the concrete poured for Monona Terrace.

Ice diving
Ice diving is popular among scuba enthusiasts in the Madison area. Here divers wait for their turn underwater during the winter. Typically divers wear dry suits or pour warm water down the front of their wet suits to be able to handle the chilly water temperatures.

Abandoned dredge
Part of a dredge is left over in Lake Monona.

Weed sprayer
An old weed sprayer, with a paddlewheel, sits at the bottom of Lake Monona in about 35 feet of water.

Boat lift
A sunken boat lift was found at the bottom of Lake Waubesa. The lift was used to raise and lower boats into the lake.

Overturned boat
An overturned boat with motor sunk into Lake Waubesa.

Overturned boat
The overturned boat in Lake Waubesa.

Sunken canoe
Not many canoes sink to the bottom of a river or lake. This one did in Lake Waubesa.

Fish crib
A fish crib in Lake Waubesa helps shelter fish, allowing them to hide and grow to maturity. The cribs, often made by anglers, also make for excellent fishing habitats.

Sunken car
This is one of several cars at the bottom of Fox Bluff in Lake Mendota.

Sunken antique car
This car from the early 20th century could have entered Lake Mendota near Fox Bluff around 100 years ago.

Weed cutter
The remains of a weed cutter sit at the bottom of Lake Mendota.

Sunken car
This is the rear of a car at the bottom of Lake Kegonsa.

Sunken car
A car sits at the bottom of Lake Kegonsa.

Sunken boat
A boat, with its steering wheel still in place, sits in Lake Kegonsa.

Boat mystery
A boat, with motor intact, was found at the bottom of Lake Kegonsa. It's unclear if the boat was abandoned or sank as the result of an accident.

Sunken scow
The "Irish," a sailing scow, was found under about 45 feet of water in Lake Monona where it meets the Yahara River.

Bottle collection
These vintage soda bottles are from Tamara Thomsen's collection, gathered from Madison's lakes.

Vintage bottle collection
Tamara Thomsen collected these vintage beer bottles during cleanup dives in Madison lakes.