On Thursday, May 16th, Dane County announced plans to purchase 160 acres of property for conservation. The property acquisition will be the largest conservation preservation investment in the county’s history, costing nearly 10 million dollars.
About the author: My name is Karin Swanson and I am a student of the Yahara Watershed Academy. I work for Clean Lakes Alliance as the Marketing and Communications Associate Manager and I am a Meteorologist. I am sharing my journey through the Academy in an effort to expand our community’s knowledge and passion for the Yahara River Watershed.
The third class of the Yahara Watershed Academy took place on April 10th at Edgewood College in Madison. There are five day-long classes included in the Academy before the June graduation. Students have been learning about the science and history of the Yahara River Watershed, while being mentored by local leaders.
A cohort of 25 students makes up the 2019 Yahara Watershed Academy. The Academy involves a partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Edgewood College. By graduation, students will have received the knowledge and skills to become a network of informed leaders for our watershed.
The third day of instruction began with a leadership panel made up of five area leaders, including:
Clean Lakes Alliance is pleased to announce a trifecta of speakers joining us for our Community Breakfast on Wednesday, May 8th at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall. We’ll hear from City of Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, and Wisconsin DNR Secretary Preston Cole about their plans for the Yahara Watershed.
At the breakfast, we’ll renew our public partnerships with the city, county, and state to align our efforts for the Yahara CLEAN Compact and to improve water quality. Join us for the beginning of a NEW united approach to lake health.
Did you know 100 BILLION gallons of water pass through the Yahara lakes system annually? That’s more than 151,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
In Wisconsin, we are fortunate to have plenty of freshwater with more than 15,000 lakes! In Dane County, our five Yahara lakes make our community special, providing opportunities for recreation, research, and beauty.
We are more than a quarter of the way through 2019, and the days are starting to warm as we head deeper into the spring season. As the lake season approaches, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with our lakes.
The Wisconsin State Climatology Office declared “ice off” for Lake Mendota and Lake Monona on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Lake Wingra’s “ice off” was declared on March 28, 2019. Lake Mendota recorded 86 days of ice during the winter of 2018/19, while Lake Monona had 97 days of ice and Lake Wingra had 111 days of ice cover.
About the author: My name is Karin Swanson and I am a student of the Yahara Watershed Academy. I work for Clean Lakes Alliance as the Marketing and Communications Associate Manager and I am a Meteorologist. I am sharing my journey through the Academy in an effort to expand our community’s knowledge and passion for the Yahara River Watershed.
The second class of the Yahara Watershed Academy began on March 12th with some sunshine and the promise of warmer temperatures. The forecast held a marked improvement over February’s class, which took place during the biggest snowstorm of the season. Our cohort of 25 Academy students met bright and early at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum as birds chirped welcoming words for our arrival.
We are pleased to announce that the Dane County Board voted unanimously on March 7, 2019 for “Amending Chapter 14 and Creating Chapter 49 of the Dane County Code of Ordinances, Agricultural Performance Standards and Manure Management.”
This statement was presented by Clean Lakes Alliance Executive Director James Tye to the Dane County Lake Level Task Force on March 5, 2019.
Clean Lakes Alliance applauds the leadership of the Dane County Board and the Dane County Executive in putting $12 million toward flood recovery and lake improvement projects in the 2019 budget, and in creating the Technical Work Group and task force to address recent flooding around the Yahara Chain of Lakes. We believe these initiatives help move us toward becoming a more resilient community. But we need to work together as a community to address the increasing volume of water and runoff BEFORE it enters our lakes and waterways.
Flooding and historically large cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms last summer are symptoms of a changing climate and a harder, less resilient landscape. To address these challenges, Clean Lakes Alliance has expanded our advocacy efforts at both the municipal and county levels to address flooding and slow down runoff.
