Study proves lake's economic value

Improving Delavan Lake's water quality has proven to be a good economic investment, a new UW-Whitewater study concludes. Delavan Lake is a focal point for thousands of full and part-time residents who own houses on or near the lakeshore. The lake attracts visitors who enjoy a variety of recreational activities, most notably boating, fishing, swimming in the summer, and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. The study estimates these visitors spend $9.4 million annually.

Prior to its restoration, Delavan lake was a mucky, murky mess choked with carp, algae, and phosphorus. A $7 million rehabilitation project conducted between 1989 and 1993 improved the lake's water quality and increased its economic importance to the surrounding region. Economic activity increased by $5 to 6 million per year.

Continued nutrient loading from agricultural and growing urban areas may be undoing the rehabilitation's water quality improvements. In 2004, the lake was once again classified as eutrophic. Mary Knipper, President of the Delavan Lake Improvement Association, says of the study's conclusions, "we want people to understand the investment and the dividends of the restoration. But we also want them to ask themselves how to continue to get dividends from that investment."

Delavan Lake:

• Contributes $77 million annually to the economy and generates about 812 jobs.
• Rehabilitation of water quality raised average lake shoreline property values by about $177,000 between 1987-2003.
• Increased lakeshore property values reduced real estate tax bills for non-lake property owners by $178 per year.
• Improving Eurasian water milfoil management would increase economic activity by $6 to $8.5 million annually.
• Degradation of water quality to pre-restoration levels would reduce economic activity by $5 to $6 million annually.

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