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MMSD chlorides flyer - keep water fresh

Emily Jones, Pollution Prevention Specialist, Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Next time you’re at Camp Randall Stadium, take a look around and picture twenty 50-pound bags of water softener salt stacked on top of each of the 80,321 seats. That’s about how much salt makes its way down the drain and to Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District’s wastewater treatment plant every year.

But the salt doesn’t stop there. The treatment plant isn’t designed to remove salt, so salt passes through the plant into local streams, where it can threaten freshwater life. Removing salt at the treatment plant would be expensive and energy-intensive, so MMSD is working to protect water more efficiently by reducing the salt that goes down the drain.

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Zebra mussels Madison lakes

Zebra mussels, a native of Europe and Asia, have recently established a reproducing population in lakes Mendota and Monona. These little filter-feeding organisms can negatively impact native lake ecosystems. Although they might increase water clarity by feeding on zooplankton, green algae and other debris, zebra mussels do not eat blue-green algae. This means they can deplete the water of important fish food and natural algae grazers. Zebra mussels may also damage boat hulls and engines and cut the feet of swimmers. Zebra mussels are difficult to eradicate once established in a water body.

Clean Lakes Alliance is working with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and UW-Madison Center For Limnology to track zebra mussel population establishment and expansion in the Yahara chain of lakes and could use your help!

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Harvestable Buffers with Yahara Pride Farms
If you’ve seen swathes of grass on farmland, you may be familiar with the concept of conservation buffers. These strips of vegetation slow runoff and separate farm fields from waterways, helping to keep our streams and lakes healthy. Yet with increasing urbanization and growing farms, land in our watershed is at a premium. One option, harvestable buffers, is offering many farmers in Dane County a way to reduce phosphorus runoff while keeping valuable acres in production.

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Composting grant looks to identify new tools for managing manure

MADISON, Wis. — Clean Lakes Alliance has been awarded a $60,000 two-year grant from Fund for Lake Michigan to determine whether windrow manure composting could have water quality impacts in the Yahara River watershed and beyond, including potential reductions in phosphorus runoff.

“Our lakes face serious challenges from urbanization and intensification of agriculture,” said Elizabeth Katt-Reinders, Clean Lakes Alliance Deputy Director. “With its potential to manage manure, benefit soil health and protect our lakes, composting could be a big win-win.”

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When we talk about our lakes, we often end up talking about our farms. This should come as no surprise: if you walked onto a random acre of land in Dane County, chances are two times out of three you’d be looking at a farm.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, agriculture in Dane County accounts for $3.4 billion in economic activity annually. From our multi-generational dairy farms, to our land-grant university, to the Dane County’s farmer’s market, agriculture is part and parcel to our identity.

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Project update via Peter Foy, President of the Friends of Lake Kegonsa Society

The Friends of Lake Kegonsa Society (FOLKS) has initiated what is hoped will result in a major carp removal project that will be conducted over the next two years on Lake Kegonsa. An initial carp tracking study is intended to identify times and locations where large concentrations of carp might be targeted for removal. FOLKS is working closely with Dane County, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the UW Limnology Department on this challenging project. The project will be supervised and monitored by Kurt Welke, Fisheries Manager, WDNR with support from Dr. Richard Lathrop, honorary fellow at UW-Madison Center for Limnology and retired DNR limnologist.

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