Outdoor Wisconsin host Dan Small welcomes you to his special on-line sanctuary. This week, Dan notes the excessive algae bloom on Wisconsin's lakes last summer, and talks about what's being done about it.

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Cow pies + nice lawns = algae!

by Dan Small

Wisconsin has historically been a leader in the area of clean water, but many observers say we've got a long way to go to clean up the state's waterways. If you spent any time on Lake Winnebago or Little Lake Butte des Morts this summer, you might agree. Thick mats of rotting algae piled up on the shore of these lakes, clogged access channels and made life miserable for a few weeks for lakeshore residents and anyone who tried to use the lake.

Winnebago suffers an algae bloom nearly every summer, but nothing like what happened this year. Long-term residents say it was the worst they've ever seen. Summer storms washed nitrogen and phosphorus into the lake and stirred up bottom sediments. Hot, still days followed, creating perfect conditions for an algae superbloom. Onshore winds piled the stuff up, where it died and decayed. Ducks and gulls walked on the solid crust and the stench drove people from their homes for blocks inland when the wind was right.

Unusual weather conditions conspired to create the mess this year, but the potential is there for a repeat performance because of a number of factors that affect water quality in the Fox and Wolf River basins that cover 6,400 square miles. Rain and snowmelt runoff carry nutrients into the water from livestock manure, topsoil from gardens and farm fields, construction sites and even lawn fertilizer. Wetlands that historically filtered such runoff have declined as Lake Winnebago's level has been raised to improve boating and access. Many industries are still permitted to dump significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Fox and Wolf system. And even if all nutrient sources were eliminated today, nutrients accumulated in lake sediment are still available to feed algae blooms.

The DNR's Priority Watershed and Non-point Pollution Control programs have made gains in the battle to control these sources of water pollution, but the last biennial budget drained much-needed funds from both programs. Republican legislators cut $4.6 million from the $6.4-million non-point program and reduced bonding authority for Priority Watershed Projects from $24 million to $20 million. (These projects provide comprehensive planning and cost sharing for voluntary clean-up of serious runoff sources, such as livestock manure piles.) The resulting shortfall of $5 to $7 million has dramatically hurt several projects aimed at cleaning up Lake Winnebago, among others.

The new biennial budget, which Gov. Thompson may have signed by the time you read this, proposes to restore $3 million to the Priority Watershed Program. However, the new budget also eliminates non-point pollution motorist user fees, which had helped fund non-point programs for the past few years, and shifts authority for non-point pollution control from the DNR to individual counties and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). DNR and DATCP have squabbled for years over the authority - and money - to oversee the non-point program. Gov. Thompson can veto these provisions, if he sees fit. If he leaves them in the new budget, they will dilute available funds, divert money from Priority Watersheds to less-vital, cleaner areas, increase administrative costs and confusion and delegate authority to agencies that have dragged their feet over enforcement of controls in the agricultural and local sectors. Let your legislators and the governor know water-pollution control programs belong under the DNR.

September 16, '97: WCSFO taking a shot in the dark?
September 16, '97: More Online Fun!
September 1, '97: Hunt, Fish, Shoot, Scoot Online!
March '97: Sports Show!
February '97: Urban Wildlife Encounters
January '97: Award Seeks Good Nominees

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