On May 18th, 2022, more than 300 leaders throughout the Greater Madison-Dane County region met at The Edgewater on the shores of Lake Mendota. The meeting celebrated what promises to be a new era of collaboration to benefit our local waters. With a collective call to “Renew the Blue,” a 19-member coalition of organizations introduced what some might describe as a stakeholder declaration to a sold-out audience.
In 2021, our volunteers embarked on the 9th season of LakeForecast water quality monitoring. This work involved collecting nearshore condition reports at piers, beaches, parks, and access points around the five Yahara lakes. From May through September, volunteers took water quality measurements. They measured water clarity, recorded air and water temperature, identified the presence of green algae and cyanobacteria, and noted additional visual observations. Reports are entered into the LakeForecast app where all data are updated in real time.
We had so much fun at the Frozen Assets Festival and hope you did too! Whether you participated in person or virtually, we THANK YOU for supporting lakes Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa, and Kegonsa!
Temperatures below the freezing mark, combined with cold water, helped Lake Mendota officially freeze in the early morning hours on Friday, January 7, 2022. The official declaration comes from the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. Lake Mendota, the largest lake in the Yahara Watershed, froze 23 days shy of January 30th. The latest ice-on date ever declared was on January 30th, 1932.
New opportunities to learn about and help our lakes can arise unexpectedly. Such is the case when Madison Gas and Electric‘s Jeff Jaeckels reached out to Clean Lakes Alliance about a research group looking for volunteers to study the lakes in a novel way. Studying the lakes through artificial intelligence will allow Clean Lakes Alliance and our partners to better monitor and research harmful algal blooms.
On Wednesday, December 1st, 2021, Clean Lakes Alliance kicked off its 10th annual Mendota Freeze Contest. This year, Greater Madison experienced near-normal November temperatures. As of the first of the month, Lake Mendota, and the other four Greater Madison lakes, remained completely open. Despite this week’s mild temperatures, more than 165 years of data show the median freeze date for Lake Mendota is only a little under three weeks away on December 20th.
A warm temperature and a sunny sky greeted golfers participating in this year’s FORE! Lakes Golf Outing, held for a third year at Nakoma Golf Club. The event was made possible thanks to platinum sponsor, Johnson Financial Group; cart sponsor CG Schmidt; scoreboard sponsors Buye Law Office, Lands’ End, and Weed Man Lawn Care; and a host of hole and green sponsors.
The Greater Madison area often tops lists of best places to live. One of the reasons frequently cited, is our lakes. We talked to five photographers in the Madison area and found out what they love most about photographing the Yahara lakes. Read more from the photographers, and see a sampling of their work – as they feature different views of our watershed.
Close to half of the Yahara Watershed’s shorelines include public lands and parks. Here are
a few hidden gems, which happen to be some of Clean Lakes Alliance’s favorite spots to enjoy our waters!
The Yahara CLEAN Compact will continue to improve the condition and usability of our lakes and beaches. What we are doing to protect the lakes is working. However, more needs to be accomplished and at a faster pace. The concentration of phosphorus per gallon of water in rivers and streams is trending downward. Unfortunately, the amount and intensity of precipitation is increasing. More overall streamflow and phosphorus is being delivered to the lakes, as a result.
