|
|
Lakes Workshop: Reflections of the
Landscape |
|
Join us at a summer lakes workshop in Eau Claire
on Friday, August 10! See the full program agenda,
workshop brochure with paper registration form, and
maps to the Technical College on WAL's
website.
Workshop offers something for every
lake enthusiast
Lake leaders at the workshop will share successful examples
and innovative ideas--ranging from regional coordination
of aquatic invasive species prevention efforts, to tips
for controlling runoff and erosion on your waterfront
property, running an effective lake group, and creating
a common vision to accomplish lake improvement goals
(see below for a sampling of topics). This event is
also a great opportunity to meet other lake people and
share ideas with others who care about lakes.
A number of workshop sessions will highlight examples
of successful water quality improvement initiatives
and ways to engage people in lake management decisions.
For instance:
Adams County Lakes Planning Program
Discover how lake classification data is being used
to aid Adams County's land and water resource management
decisions, guide countywide lakes planning efforts,
and address watershed management goals. This valuable
information is being used to set water quality goals,
create lake management plans, and link funding sources
to implement watershed best management practices that
will achieve water quality goals.
Framing the Message: Engaging People
in Lake Improvement Goals
Lake management is a scientific endeavor. Yet, the people
who live on the shorelines and those who use lakes for
recreation usually aren't scientists, nor are the local
government officials who control the budgets used to
fund many local management activities. This communication
conundrum often inhibits a meaningful dialogue about
lake improvement goals. At this event, we'll explore
how to use community and individual values to talk about
the issues and concepts of lake management in a way
that involves everyone in vital lake management decisions.
Reflections on Effective Lake Management
Are you looking for ways to energize and improve the
effectiveness of your lake group? The Lake Nancy Protective
Association has doubled in size and number of members
in the last few years. This lake association has also
struggled with managing Eurasian water milfoil, possibly
detrimental zoning actions, and built an aquatic invasive
species management program.
Choose among many other great sessions at this workshop:
- Looking Behind the Shore: Watersheds Influences
on Lakes
- Understanding Agriculture's Impact through the
Discovery Farms Program
- Water Quality Improvement Project in the Red Cedar
River Basin: Understanding People, as well as the
Resource
- Reflecting People's Values in Lake Plan Goals:
an example from Lower Long Lake in Chippewa County
- Healthy Lawns, Healthy Lakes: Initiatives to Phase
out Unnecessary Phosphorus in Lawn Fertilizer
- Tips for Controlling Runoff and Erosion on Your
Waterfront Property
- Regional Coordination for Aquatic Invasive Species
Prevention in the Chippewa Valley
- Tips for Sharing Shallows and Near-Shore Areas
with Wildlife
|
|
|
|
|
Participate in shoreland zoning (NR 115)
hearings or send written comments |
|
The interests of thousands of lakefront property
owners, anglers, boaters, tourists, and the businesses
that depend on healthy lakes are served by good shoreland
zoning rules that preserve the character of our lakes
and quality of life.
Wisconsin's shoreland zoning rules (NR 115) contain
statewide minimum standards for shoreland development
in unincorporated areas. NR 115 is being comprehensively
revised for the first time since it took effect in
1968 (download
current proposal).
Overall, this draft of the rule has many good features
to help protect the rights of property owners and
the public to enjoy good water quality, fish and wildlife,
lake recreation, and scenic beauty. The rule takes
existing uses of properties into account, and makes
it easier for property owners to maintain their property
while still protecting their lake.
We encourage you to attend public hearings and send
in your comments on these extremely important rules.
Please visit our
website for talking points, background, detailed
discussion of good features in the rule and needed
adjustments.
Public Hearings
- Aug. 2, Green Bay
Neville Museum Theater - 210 Museum Plac
- Aug. 7, Pewaukee
Waukesha County Technical College - Pewaukee Campus
- Richard T. Anderson Education Center - 800 Main
St.
- Aug. 8, Stoughton
Opera House - 381 E. Main St. (608) 873-7523
Note: The Opera House is on the second floor of
the City Hall, a red brick building at the corner
of Fifth and Main (Hwy. 51)
Written Comments
Send comments over the internet at: http://adminrul
es.wisconsin.gov.
Mail your comments to:
Toni Herkert,
Bureau of Watershed Management
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707
Comments will be accepted by any means through September 7, 2007.
|
|
|
|
|
Manure leaks causing chronic lake
problems, possible human health risks |
|
Manure is loaded with nutrients, like phosphorus,
that can kill fish by sucking oxygen out of a stream,
cloud water causing algae blooms, and, if a lake receives
a constant supply of manure, change what plants and
animals can survive in the lake. Manure can also harbor
pathogens, such as e coli bacteria, that cause
severe and sometimes fatal illnesses in humans.
In the past few years, manure spills have contaminated
drinking water wells, caused severe fishkills, and
contributed to chronic nutrient loading in lakes across
the state. But the extent of chronic manure leaks
and the levels of potentially dangerous bacteria in
water supplies remain unknown.
Extent of the bacteria problem unknown
Monitoring fields for bacteria runoff is tricky and
costly because there are so many potential overflow
areas, as well as drain tiles, most of which are not
mapped. But there are indications of a chronic manure
runoff problem in places like Manitowoc County, where
liquefied manure gets spread on fields that have been
engineered and plumbed to drain as quickly as possible-into
the world's fifth largest lake.
Phosphorus-fueled algae blooms perpetually cover
some Lake Michigan shorelines, and the swimming beach
advisory rate was triple the state average last year
because of potentially dangerous levels of bacteria.
A group of about 100 Manitowoc County citizens are
regularly sampling the waters around their homes for
bacteria and are finding readings that are at times
off the charts. One weekend in June a monitor's sample
from the beach below his house showed 5,000 E. coli
colonies per 100 milliliters of water. The state standard
for swimming advisories is 235 E. coli colonies per
100 milliliters. Further DNA testing revealed that
close to 100% of the overall fecal pollution in the
water was from cows.
Changing farm practices a factor
The use of liquefied manure to fertilize farm fields
has increased significantly in Manitowoc County and
across the state during the past decade. Yet spreading
liquid manure is a potentially big environmental and
public health issue in places like eastern Manitowoc
County, where the clay-rich soil is slow to drain.
Underground plumbing, called drain tiles, have been
installed two to four feet below the surface of many
fields to prevent slow-draining croplands from being
flooded by big rains or snowmelts. The pipes carry
excess water to the field's edge, dumping water into
ditches or creeks. These pipes are also potential
conduits for bacteria found in liquid livestock waste.
In some cases, these drain tiles are leaking manure
directly into surface waters. Conventional wisdom
was that two to four feet of soil would be deep enough
to filter contaminants before they reached drain tiles.
But Manitowoc's clay-based soil can be riddled with
worm holes that run down to the drain tiles. The soil,
especially in late summer, is also prone to cracks.
Both worm holes and cracks can mainline manure straight
into the pipes.
Larger farms with more animals mean
more manure to manage
Wisconsin's 160 largest farms, called Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations (CAFOs) represent less than 1% of
the state's 20,000 livestock farms, but are home to
about 11% of the animals on farms in the state. Each
CAFO produces as much organic waste as a city of 18,000.
The number of these big farms is growing, which means
more manure to manage.
DNR Manure Management Rules (NR 243) passed in March 2007
tightened manure spreading regulations for Wisconsin CAFOs.
But the rules don't cover small farms, which for dairies are
defined as farms with fewer than 700 milking cows.
|
|
|
|
|
Regulations aim to reduce mercury in
Wisconsin lakes |
|
Wisconsin is poised to clamp down on mercury emissions
at Wisconsin power plants. If approved to move forward
by the Natural Resources Board in the fall, the regulations
would restrict mercury emissions from coal-fired power
plants 90% by 2020. Similar restrictions are being
advanced in other states and by the federal government.
Coal fired power plants are the largest source of mercury
in Wisconsin lakes. Mercury thrown into the air by power plant
smokestacks settles into lakes as it floats back down to
earth. Mercury reacts with bacteria and other chemicals to
convert to its toxic form, methylmercury.
Tiny zooplankton pick up the methylmercury almost
immediately. Small fish eat zooplankton, and as methylmercury
moves up the food chain into larger species, mercury
concentrations get higher. Many northern Wisconsin lakes are
naturally high in acidity, and are also better at making
methylmercury for unknown reasons.
In 2001, Wisconsin upgraded its fish advisory from specific
lakes to a statewide warning that urges consumers--especially
children and women of childbearing age--to limit consumption
of fish such as walleye or northern which tend to have higher
levels of mercury.
Winds bring mercury emissions from power plants across the
globe into Wisconsin lakes. Wisconsin power plants contribute
10% to 20% of mercury deposition in the state--and perhaps 30%
near power plants. 70% of Wisconsin's electricity is generated
from coal.
In 2004, the DNR advanced mercury legislation that is
viewed as weaker--in part because of an agreement with the
Legislature, then controlled by Republicans, that Wisconsin
law should mirror federal regulations that eventually
followed.
Last summer, Governor Jim Doyle said he favored a higher
90% cut in mercury emissions because sporting groups said the
state wasn't going far enough with a 75% cut by 2015 and a
goal of an 80% cut by 2018.
|
|
|
| |
