Greetings!
As the old saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers”. April, and the coming of spring, also brings the Clean Lakes Alliance (CLA) new opportunities to continue protecting and improving our lakes! This Lake-o-Gram highlights upcoming events and programs, as well as recent announcements to share with the community. The CLA thanks all those who support its efforts.
– The CLA Team
Crazy 4 Lakes Run/Walk
Please join us on Thursday, April 10, 2014 in welcoming back Dr. Doug Soldat, associate professor of soil science at UW-Madison, to Yahara Lakes 101 (YL101) for his presentation “Lawn Care, Soils and Water Quality”. Dr. Soldat was our very first YL101 speaker last May, and we are happy to welcome him back to the podium this spring.
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 2014
TIME:
7:30 am – Coffee, pastries & fruit
8:00 am – Presentation
9:00 am – Q & A
LOCATION: Bluephies Café at Verex Building
(150 E. Gilman St.) Located on Level B
PRICING: Admission is $10 at the door or free to Friends of Clean Lakes. Become a Friend today!
Doug will provide information on:
- How green lawns and clean lakes need not be mutually exclusive. In fact, dense vegetation can play an important role in protecting surface waters from nutrient runoff.
- How soil properties and the negative consequences of over-management play a critical but often overlooked role in environmental protection and pollution.
- The primary pathways of nutrient losses from urban environments and discuss some practical and effective strategies for keeping nutrients out of the lake.
About Doug:
Dr. Doug Soldat is a Wisconsin native and a Ph.D. associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Soil Science, specializing in turfgrass and urban soil management. He earned a Ph.D. at Cornell University studying how phosphorus is lost from lawns. At Wisconsin, he advises the students in the turfgrass and grounds maintenance program, and teaches three classes including “Turfgrass Nutrient and Water Management” and “Lawns, Society and the Environment”. His research program focuses on finding ways to maintain turfgrass for optimum function using fewer inputs of nutrients, pesticides and water.
*Please Note*
PARKING: Please park in James Madison Park or in parking ramps listed below. No Parking on East Gilman St. from 8 a.m. to noon and in the Verex Plaza surface lot or underground lot.
The Save Our Lakes event is a community breakfast and the annual meeting of the Clean Lakes Alliance (CLA). Save Our Lakes was created to bring the community together to review our progress towards cleaner, healthier lakes. This event is a time to celebrate and assess the past year and to launch new programs and initiatives for the year ahead. Presentations include the State of the Lakes report– the community report card for water quality in the Yahara lakes – and the CLA Annual Report, presented this year as a combined report.
DATE: Friday, April 25, 2014
TIME: 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
LOCATION:
Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center,
Main Exhibit Hall
PRICING:
$1,000 per table of 10
$100 per seat
$35 per student seat
This year’s theme is “Schooling for Cleaner Lakes”. Just like fish that school together in the same direction, this theme recognizes that many groups and entities are working toward a shared goal of cleaner lakes.
This spring, the CLA and American Family Insurance DreamBank invited the public to participate in the Schooling for Cleaner Lakes community art project. The idea for this initiative, designed to increase understanding of our lake ecosystems, materialized in response to an exhibit at DreamBank that identified “clean lakes” as a top priority for the Madison community. The CLA and DreamBank encourage dreamers of all ages to participate in their hands-on, creative project. For more information, please visit Schooling for Cleaner Lakes.
2014 Breakfast Speakers:
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Clean Lakes Festival, including the nearly 300 riders who looped Lake Monona by bike! The weather was perfect for recreation, relaxation, and exploration of all that our lakes have to offer. The photos speak for themselves: take a look at festival highlights here.
Here at the Clean Lakes Alliance (CLA) office, we are counting down the days (and maybe even the minutes) until summer. Technically, there are still 19 days to go, but you don’t have to wait until 5:52 a.m. on June 21st to enjoy the lakes… just look at all the lake lovers on the Terrace!
