Door County wants the state to cut the connection between lush green summertime lawns and lush green Wisconsin lakes. The County Board passed a resolution Tuesday designed to press Wisconsin legislators to pass a statewide ban on the sale and use of lawn fertilizers that contain phosphorus. The only phosphorus use allowed by the resolution is for new lawns or turf during their first growing season, or if a soil test shows that phosphorus is necessary.

Phosphorus is one of the three major plant nutrients commonly sold in lawn fertilizers. When phosphorus runs off land into lakes, rivers and streams, phosphorus does what it does best: It provides a necessary nutrient for the growth of plants, which, in the water, can result in excessive algal blooms.

A single pound of phosphorus in runoff can cause up to 500 pounds of algal growth, according to the resolution. And lawn applications of the stuff are more dangerous because a lawn can carry up to eight times more phosphorus than runoff from a similarly-sized wooded area.

Bill Schuster, county conservationist, said soil testing was done on about 20 different lawns in Door County, and all but two had excessive phosphate levels. Elimination of phosphorus from lawn fertilizer will reduce the presence of algae in Wisconsin's waters and help improve water quality, according to the resolution.

The Wisconsin Association of Lakes board passed a resolution supporting a statewide phosphorus lawn fertilizer phase out modeled on the existing Dane county phosphorus lawn fertilizer ordinance.

Wisconsin lakes are public resources owned in common by all Wisconsin citizens under the Public Trust Doctrine. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the state owns title to lakebeds, and that the ordinary high water mark (OHWM) establishes the boundary between public lakebed and private land. The lakefront property owner only owns the land above the OHWM – where the regular action of water against the bank leaves a distinct mark.

Unfortunately, not all Wisconsin lakes have been surveyed and some property owners not only “own,” but also pay taxes on a parcel that includes all or part of a lake. When government surveyors first surveyed Wisconsin in the 1840s and 1850s, they only meandered and surveyed lakes that were larger than 40 acres and lakes that lay across section lines. All other lakes within the sections were not surveyed and the beds of these lakes were included in parcel acreage. Over the years, the sections were divided and subdivided and lakes that lay on the new property lines generally were surveyed so that acreage figures were for actual land and did not include lakebeds.

Regrettably, some of these owners have sold their parcels and the real estate brokers, county taxing authorities, parties and others involved in the transaction apparently have missed the fact that the acreage includes a lake. In one reported case, the property sold was represented to be 16 acres, notwithstanding that 12 of those acres were lakebed.

In all of these lakebed and OHWM scenarios, property owners should consider the following actions:

• Survey the property.
• Make sure the OHWM is properly identified.
• Compare the survey with the legal description on deeds and at the county assessor’s office, and discuss discrepancies with the assessor
• Consult with the local zoning office and check local ordinances.

The 2003 Groundwater Protection Act establishes protections for Wisconsin’s Exceptional and Outstanding Resource Waters, trout streams and springs; establishes two Groundwater Management Areas where the water table has dropped by 150 feet or more; and creates requirements for owners of high capacity wells (those that pump more than 100,000 gallons per day).

The DNR has been developing administrative rules (NR 820) to implement the Groundwater Protection Act; public hearings about these rules have been scheduled. The Groundwater Advisory Committee has been advising the DNR on these rules and has drafted recommendations to the legislature.

The Groundwater Protection Act and proposed implementing rules only apply to a limited set of waters—in the case of lakes, only those lakes designated as Outstanding Resource Waters (ORW). The Statute did not give DNR the authority to consider the needs of lakes that are not designated ORWs.

ORWs are official designations for lakes, flowages, rivers, and streams that the State of Wisconsin has identified as high quality waters. ORWs typically do not have any direct point source discharges (e.g. from an industry or municipal sewage treatment plant) and any future discharge must not change background water quality. Currently there are 97 lakes and 6 flowages designated as ORWs. 99% of Wisconsin’s 15,000 lakes are not covered under Wisconsin’s current groundwater law.

If future legislation is passed to close the gap in the groundwater law with regard to lakes, these rules could establish the precedent for what information is reviewed, how decisions are made to grant approval for a high capacity well and/or under what conditions high capacity wells can operate near lakes.

Opportunities to comment

• Dec. 13, Menomonie – 1 p.m. in the Multipurpose room of the Dunn County Judicial Center, 615 Stokke Parkway.
• Dec. 15, Green Bay –10 a.m. in Room 207 of the Green Bay City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St.
• Dec. 18, Waukesha –1 p.m. in Rooms 255 and 259 of the Waukesha Administration Building, 515 Moorland Road (Enter through the Court House).
• Dec. 19, Madison –2:30 p.m. in the St. Croix Room of the state Department of Administration Building , 101 E Wilson St.
• Dec. 20, Stevens Point –6 p.m. in Conference Rooms 1 and 2 of the Portage County Courthouse Annex 5 1462 Strongs Ave.

Lakes in Wisconsin are no strangers to fluctuations in water levels. They respond to changes in climate, weather patterns and to what is happening on the land that drains into them. Snow cover, rainfall, seasonal average temperatures, and human consumption all can play a role. Climate trends can last for many years, affecting lake levels, streamflows, and groundwater. The recent unusually dry weather patterns have made low lake levels particularly noticeable. These water level fluctuations can become more pronounced depending on the lake type, weather, and human water use patterns within a lake’s watershed.

Natural fluctuations in lake levels are an important part of a lake ecosystem. Fish, wildlife and people need the near shore vegetation to grow back as water levels recede. As water levels return these plants become habitat for fish and wildlife and improve water quality. Many lakes that are controlled by dams manually lower water levels to trigger this response as a form of management.

The low water levels have been more common on “seepage lakes,” landlocked lakes that have no inlet or outlet streams but are fed by groundwater or springs. Water levels on these lakes typically fluctuate substantially from season to season and year to year, responding to the amount of rain and snow that soaks into the ground and replenishes the groundwater supply feeding the lake. There’s also evidence such lakes naturally fluctuate over decades, responding to larger weather patterns.

A study of water levels on 28 Wisconsin lakes over 20 years estimated that water levels on nine out of 10 natural lakes in the state typically fluctuate by about 1 to 3 feet annually. Over longer time periods, these fluctuations are greater. Seepage lakes fluctuate most widely, ranging from 2.5 to 10.9 feet over 20 year periods.

Recent dry summers and lack of winter precipitation are exacerbating these normal fluctuations. Increased water use is also playing a role in lower lake levels. High capacity wells drawing water for municipal water supplies and irrigation for agricultural crops is probably measurably lowering (exact amount unknown) groundwater and lake levels where density of irrigation and high capacity wells is large.

People you know are making positive contributions to our lakes in many ways. Here’s your chance to recognize their efforts!

Many groups—including lake associations, lake districts, county-wide associations, and other collaborative efforts—are working to make their lakes clean, safe, and healthy for everyone. Maybe you know a lake group who has organized its members and lake residents to make positive contributions to lake quality by starting shoreland restoration programs, participating in local government decision making, working collaboratively with other organizations, or other activities.

If so, please show your appreciation for the important local work people are doing to keep our lakes clean, safe, and healthy for everyone by nominating a deserving lake leader for a Wisconsin Stewardship Award in the Citizen Category.

Lake Stewardship Award categories to recognize outstanding contributions of time and effort to the future of our lakes include: Organized group, Educator, Youth, Public official or employee, and Business. Nominations are due March 16th, 2007.

Please contact the Wisconsin Association of Lakes with questions about these prestigious awards.