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News

June 13, 2012
Public Health – Madison & Dane County
For Immediate Release Contact:
Jeff Golden 608 243 0302

Summer is Blue-Green Algae Season
Avoiding Contact is Best Way to Avoid Problems

MADISON, Wis. — Based on recent news reports and Public Health beach closing notices, this year´s blue-green algae season has clearly begun. The safest response when you see a bloom is to keep yourself, your children, and your pets out of the water and avoid all contact.

While blue-green algae often occurs intermittently throughout the summer season, the dry, hot, and sunny weather forecasted for the next seven to ten days may create favorable conditions for increased blue-green algae blooms on area waterways.

Blue-green algae are actually not algae, but photosynthetic bacteria (sunlight-loving) known as cyanobacteria.  Some of these bacteria are capable of producing toxins. Exposure to these toxins can produce a range of reactions, from rashes and lip blistering to negative effects on the liver and nervous system.  It can include sore throats, headaches, muscular and joint pain and asthmatic and gastro-intestinal symptoms.  Dogs swimming in or drinking water covered with a bloom can suffer near fatal or fatal consequences.

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And….we’re back!

Greetings Lake Fans! Hope everyone had a great summer. We sure did – lots of activities and even more meetings! Our momentum is almost breathtaking. So much to share…so little room. We’ll have more summer fun updates next month.

Sincere thanks for your continued support.

Dane County Water Champion Awards

In early June, the Clean Lakes Alliance hosted an awards reception at the Edgewater Hotel. This is the second year we have hosted the event, and we were happy to be part of the special awards going to Kathleen Falk and Dave Cieslewicz for their support and love of our lakes. Great lake friends, and fun fare – culminating in a sweet thunderstorm rolling across Lake Mendota.

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Science Forum yields Big Ideas

The first Yahara Lakes Science Forum, sponsored by Thermo Fisher was very successful… and enlightening. Many of the participants were among the initial authors of the Yahara CLEAN report and have significant knowledge about our watershed. Add to that a new mix of private sector minds and it made for great atmosphere for everyone. Thanks to the following people for their participation:

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First Community Board Meeting

The first Clean Lakes Alliance Community Board meeting took place on January 18 in the boardroom at Spectrum Brands, thanks to Dave Lumley, CEO. The time was spent getting the group up to speed on our developments to date. A clear direction came from the board – to focus on funding a “project manager” position that will create a master plan for implementation of the 70 recommendations of the Yahara CLEAN report – compiled by government agencies over the past several years. We have entitled this first phase “The Yahara Watershed Initiative.” Next meeting date is March 15.

Spectrum Brands has really stepped up as an organization in this effort with strong financial support, employee engagement … and they are bringing the Spectrum company picnic to the Clean Lakes Festival!

Click here to see who is on the Community Board

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