To support our work in the new year, please become a 2015 Friend of Clean Lakes. Better yet, join the 63Club where Friends of Clean Lakes commit to a monthly recurring donation to support our efforts towards cleaner lakes. Your monthly support makes a big difference for our clean lakes efforts.

To show our appreciation, Friends of Clean Lakes receive free admission to all Yahara Lakes 101 events (a $110 value) and a Friends of Clean Lakes yard sign upon request. Thank you in advance for your contribution to healthy lakes and healthy communities – we continue to grow thanks to your support!

In Partnership,

The CLA Team

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Table of Contents

Watershed partners bring in $1.6 million federal grant

This week, the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) awarded $1.6 million to the Dane County Land & Water Resources Department through a new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). CLA is a partner on the project, along with Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, Sand County Foundation, UW-Madison, and Yahara WINs. CLA policy director Elizabeth Katt-Reinders and Rural Program Manager Rachel Fossum worked with Dane County and partners to craft and write the successful proposal, which aims to build capacity for a watershed-wide approach to reducing phosphorus and reaching water quality goals.

Highlights of the proposal include the pairing of traditional agricultural conservation practices with new practices and technologies to reduce phosphorus and sediment runoff to lakes, rivers and streams; and with innovative approaches to engaging and supporting farmers throughout the watershed. Roofed feedlots, zero tillage, harvestable buffers, in-stream legacy sediment removal, and a regional community manure processing and storage site will all play a role in this collaborative effort to clean up the lakes and meet water quality standards.

Partners are providing cash and in-kind matches to the $1.6 million from NRCS. Katt-Reinders explains that the project allows partners to play to their strengths and leverage each other’s resources “to accomplish more together than any of us could accomplish by working alone. We’re all in this together to make sure that Dane County farms remain economically strong while operating in a way that helps clean up the lakes and reach our water quality goals.”

The grant process was highly competitive, with 600 proposals submitted nationally, and only 100 awarded across the U.S. The diversity of the public-private partnerships in the Dane County grant, as well as the established relationships and past successes among partners were integral to the proposal’s success.

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Community Events

Frozen Assets Festival at The Edgewater

Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 7th and join us on the frozen shores of Lake Mendota for our new FREE, family-friendly festival. There will be something for everyone!

On the Plaza

• Free ice skating (courtesy of The Edgewater)
• A “Frozen in Time” Figure Skating exhibition (courtesy of the Figure Skating Club of Madison)
• A snowman decoration contest (courtesy of our Snowmen sponsors)
• Photos with Princess Elsa (courtesy of Sugar and Spice Princess Parties)
• Handcrafted s’mores and locally-prepared hot chocolate

On the Lake

• A hockey slap-shot contest (courtesy of the Madison Capitols)
• Curling demonstrations (courtesy of the Madison Curling Club)
• Ice fishing demonstrations (courtesy of Blue Ribbon Outdoors and Fishidy)
• Sleigh rides (courtesy of Blue Ribbon Outdoors)
• Snowshoeing (courtesy of Rutabaga Paddlesports)
• Shuffleboard, sledding, and broomball (courtesy of KEVA Sports Center)

Check out our event site for more activities and to explore the festival.

Last but not least, register ahead to participate in the first-ever Igloo Walk on Lake Mendota, complete with complimentary hot chocolate, s’mores and snowshoe rentals. The walk is designed to be fun and casual, and will be ongoing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Renowned freshwater scientist and lake-ice expert John Magnuson will be on hand for fun lake science demonstrations. We can’t wait!

Want to get in on the behind-the-scenes fun? Sign up to volunteer at the festival – your support helps to make the festival free to all!

The Fundraiser portion of Frozen Assets is SOLD OUT. Tickets will be mailed to all guests on Monday, January 23rd.

A Special Thank You

Once again, our beyond-generous sponsors have helped us completely underwrite the costs of Frozen Assets. The Edgewater, as a platinum sponsor and event host, provided use of spaces for the festival and fundraiser completely FREE of charge. Our presenting sponsor, Lands’ End, graciously donated quality winter gear and attire for all volunteers and staff. That’s no small feat, as we expect 50-some volunteers! The annual Frozen Assets style guide for the evening fundraiser event was again completely donated, including design, photography, videography, and production provided by our partners. View the guide to see a full list – they deserve cred!

And as usual, our production partners, including Dynamic Events, Studio 88, Majic Productions, Canopies Events, and VAALID, went above and beyond to discount and donate services. Take a look at our full group of sponsors and partners on the Frozen Assets website – you’ll find them at the bottom of every page. They’re local, and they’re worth it!

Thanks to the dedication and passion of these organizations, we are on track to celebrate our lakes in style AND net $100,000.00 for our lakes. Thank you!

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Mendota Freeze

On Friday, January 2nd, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office officially declared Lake Mendota frozen! Congratulations to the winners of our annual Mendota Freeze Contest: Laura Graham of Madison correctly guessed the freeze date at 6 p.m. on December 1st, and won the grand prize of a $1,000 gift card to Lands’ End. The contest runner-up was Peppin Karras, who correctly guessed at 8 p.m. the same day and won four tickets to Walt Disney World, courtesy of Spectrum Brands. In total, 15 people guessed the correct date, and the top 11 won various prizes from our sponsors – thanks to everyone who participated!

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Yahara Lakes 101

On January 8, Bob Uphoff spoke to our Yahara Lakes 101 audience on Clean Lakes Alliance’s agricultural affiliate, Yahara Pride Farms (YPF). Uphoff is the vice chair of YPF, owner and operator of Uphoff Ham & Bacon Farm, and a very engaging speaker. Conversation with Uphoff, CLA staff, and 101 attendees continued long after the presentation concluded.

In his talk, Uphoff explained how YPF is so different from the many other groups and boards he had participated in previously. He also talked about the YPF cost-share and certification programs. Uphoff shared that “as a farmer, what impressed me was that [Clean Lakes Alliance was] trying to understand that we do run businesses,” and to keep the bottom line in mind when making the case for conservation practices.

Follow Clean Lakes Alliance on Youtube to watch the presentations at any time.

Upcoming speakers

• Thurs., February 12, 2015: Marty Melchoir of Inter-Fluve on the streams-lakes connection & sediment loading

• Thurs., March 12, 2015: Dr. Ankur Desai of UW-Madison AOS on climate change & the Yahara lakes

• Thurs., April 9, 2015: Dr. Dick Lathrop on restoring shallow lakes by reducing carp densities

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Projects & Phosphorus Reduction

Rural initiatives

While the ground is still frozen rock-solid, our agricultural affiliate Yahara Pride Farms is already preparing for spring. Read below to learn more about how we’re working on rural phosphorus-reduction through our Yahara Pride Farmers.

Save the date! Yahara Pride Farms Watershed-wide Conference

Thursday, March 5^th, 2015 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Please join us for this year’s conference, which will focus on “Nutrient Management and Precision Ag.” This topic is at the forefront of ag innovation in our region and around the world, and we’re pleased to be hosting local industry leaders and speakers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin-Extension to share their expertise.

We expect 100-150 attendees, including farmers, agribusinesses, agency employees, and other watershed stakeholders.

The conference will take place at the Comfort Inn & Suites in DeForest, Wisconsin. If the topic pertains to your work in the watershed, please register to attend free of charge. Lunch is included.

2014 YPF Cost-share & Certification

Since 2012, Yahara Pride Farms has been cost-sharing conservation practices on local farm acreage, thanks to generous funding for the program from Yahara WINs. The program helps farmers to try out or expand practices like cover cropping, vertical manure injection, and strip tillage. In 2014, we exceeded our goal to grow the program: for our fall cost-share sign-up, farmers indicated plans to implement between 5,000-8,000 acres of conservation practices (compared to 3,000 in 2013). We will continue to finalize this number as Yahara Pride farmers report back the total acres that they were able to implement. Every acre counts, because these practices all keep soil on the fields and excess nutrients out of our lakes and waterways.

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Urban initiatives

We are in the process of meeting with partners and gearing up for our 2015 urban phosphorus-reduction efforts. 2014 was a successful year of engaging urban residents and getting more people involved in clean lakes efforts – read on here for a summary of last year’s Renew the Blue efforts.

Greater Madison Yard Care Survey – Results

Over 1,600 community members took our online yard care survey, and we have now aggregated the results into a brief report. The Yard Care Survey Report provides a baseline for how urban residents living in our watershed manage their stormwater and fall leaves, and it helps us evaluate the decision-making factors that influence these actions. The report also has confirmed that most urban residents are eager to find more information about sustainable yard topics like healthy lawns, rain gardens, leaf composting, and rainwater collection, and how yard care can affect our lakes. Thank you for helping to guide our urban outreach work!

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Thank you to our Funders

In the last two weeks, we have received new grant awards from the following organizations:

• Patagonia
• Professional Dairy Producers Foundation
• Dairy Business Association and Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative
• Milk Source

These awards will go towards our work in the agricultural community through Yahara Pride Farms. Thank you!

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Lake Calendar

• Yahara Lakes 101: 2nd Thursdays year-round, except December (8 – 9 a.m.)

• Frozen Assets: Sat., Feb. 7, 2015
  Festival (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.)
  Fundraiser (8 p.m. – midnight)
• World Water Week: Mar. 20 – Sun. Mar. 29

• Save Our Lakes Community Breakfast: May 5, 2015 (7:30 – 9 a.m.)