Tag Archives: Dane County

Dane County Launches Innovative Pilot Project to “Clean the Green”

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Lake Waubesa

Today, Dane County launched a pilot project designed to help reduce phosphorus pollution entering the county’s Yahara chain of lakes. This project uses the innovative phosphorus rules that Clean Wisconsin helped pass in 2010 and upon successful completion, will serve as a model for cleaning waters across the state.

Following is a video explaining phosphorus pollution and the pilot project, as well as our press release on today’s announcement.

Dane County Announces Project to Clean Up Lakes     

Pilot project is first to use innovative phosphorus rules, could become model for nation

 

MADISON – Dane County leaders announced the creation of a pilot project today that will use tools provided in Wisconsin’s recently passed phosphorus rules to clean up the county’s lakes.

“By allowing farmers and municipalities to work together to clean up phosphorus pollution, Wisconsin’s phosphorus rules offer an entirely new approach that holds great promise to fix Dane County’s decades-old water quality problems,” said Melissa Malott, water program director at Clean Wisconsin and chair of the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission.

The smelly and unsightly algae blooms that plague many Wisconsin waters every summer are primarily the result of phosphorus pollution. Phosphorus pollution comes from two main sources: farm fields and point sources such as municipal sewerage districts and food processing factories. Previous laws have treated these sources as separate entities, requiring point sources to install expensive technologies. The adaptive management program of the phosphorus rules allows point sources to instead work with farmers to achieve even larger pollution reductions at a lower cost.

“Everyone wins under Wisconsin’s adaptive management program,” said Malott. “Point sources avoid installing expensive technologies, farmers receive financial assistance to make improvements that reduce pollution running off their farm fields, and residents get to look forward to a future of cleaner lakes.”

Wisconsin’s adaptive management program is a first-of-its-kind in the nation. Dane County leaders are optimistic that this pilot project will become a model for cleaning up waters throughout the state and across the nation.

“Through this project, we hope to clean up Dane County’s lakes, and show other communities across the state that the phosphorus rules provide a cost-effective way to clean up our lakes, rivers and streams,” said Malott. “If successful, Wisconsin’s innovative phosphorus rules could become a model for states struggling with water quality issues across the nation.”

Low-Tech Green

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Aren't these kids cute?

Here’s proof that you don’t have to go high-tech to go green.

UW-Madison has always had a strong history of agriculture and livestock research, but recently the UW Campus has looked a bit more like a farm than usual. J.P. Cullen contractors had the help of some living lawnmowers, 32 goats to be exact, to help clear a steep hillside on Linden Drive as part of their renovation of the School of Human Ecology. Shane Swart, a J.P. Cullen site engineer said the goats were “more economical by far” than construction workers and gas-powered machinery.

More economical and more environmental, since the herd had an extremely low-carbon hoofprint, if you will, as they chomped and cleared bush and weeds, even clearing invasive species such as black locust, honeysuckle and buckthorn from the slope. These hardworking kids came from The Green Goats, of Burlington, Wisconsin, and performed quite well for their first job in an urban setting.

In other Madison news, a pilot residential composting program saved 14.4 tons from local landfills. Around 400 households participated in the program to test out a city organics collection service. For now, the compost is taken to a compost facility near Portage, but the long-term goal of the project is to set up an anaerobic digester in Dane County. This digester would produce methane gas, which could be used to generate electricity or even power vehicles.

Madison has always been on the lookout for the environment, and we applaud these creative approaches to using nature’s power for a greener future.

–By Ella Schwierske, Clean Wisconsin Communications Intern

The summer of blue-green algae

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While reading an article about toxic blue-green algae blooms exploding in lakes across Wisconsin this morning, one line captivated and saddened me:

“So far, no fatalities have been reported because of toxic algae this year.”

It is an unspeakable travesty that many of our lakes have become so filled with toxic algae that entering them can be life threatening. While no fatalities have been reported this year, many people have become ill as a result of the algae blooms. The numbers are not yet available for this summer, but we can only anticipate that the intensity of this year’s blooms will result in even larger numbers of people becoming ill than the previous two years, when dozens were sickened:

“A total of 57 algae-related illnesses were reported on state waters in 2009 and 2010, including 22 in Dunn County, 17 in Adams County and eight in Dane County.”

Like so many people across the state, I grew up fishing, swimming, and skiing on Wisconsin’s beautiful lakes. Our lakes are essential to our way of life and our economy here in Wisconsin.

Luckily, we have the solutions to clean up our waters — by keeping nutrients like phosphorus out of the water, we can prevent the worst of these toxic algae blooms. At Clean Wisconsin we work year-round with municipalities, farmers, legislators and residents to find cost-effective ways of keeping phosphorus out of our waters.

Our waters should not make us sick, and until they are clean and safe, we will continue the fight for clean, healthy water. Do you want to join the fight for clean water in Wisconsin? Make sure to join our Action Network, or become a member of Clean Wisconsin today!

-contributed by Sam Weis, communications director.

 

Tuesday Trivia Answer: Algae Blooms Attack!

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Yesterday we asked a Tuesday Trivia question that utterly stumped our thousands of Facebook fans: “What do Madison, Wisconsin; Northern France; and Eastern China all have in common?”

The answer is an unfortunate one… All three are experiencing algae blooms that interfere with summer plans and generate headlines.

In China, a massive algae bloom is covering nearly 200 square miles of the Yellow sea in the Eastern part of the country. A recent article and blog post from CNN shows children playing in water covered in a mat of neon-green algae.

Boy and Father swim in mat of algae

A boy and his father swim in a mat of thick, green algae. credit: cnn.com

Luckily, this algae is not toxic, however, it is expected to cause environmental harm and hurt marine wildlife as it sucks oxygen out of the water.

In Northern France, the situation is even worse. “Lethal algae take over beaches in northern France,” read a recent headline in The Guardian. A noxious algae bloom on the beaches of Northern Brittany is keeping the normally bustling popular vacation beaches empty. Those who do venture onto the beach face grave consequences as is demonstrated by this clip:

“A man has also taken legal action after he was left seriously ill from breathing in fumes from the decomposing algae. Vincent Petit, a 27-year-old vet, had to be dragged unconscious from a patch of rotting algae a metre deep this month after the horse he was riding collapsed and died from fumes given off by the sludge on the beach. The horse died within minutes.”

No horses are collapsing and dying in Madison, but blue green algae blooms are closing beaches, threatening the health of our families, and disappointing those who are seeking relief from the heat in or by the water. As of this morning, three Madison beaches were closed as a result of blue-green algae, and one due to high bacteria levels. Clean Wisconsin’s own Melissa Malott explained how algae blooms occur and what is being done to address the problem in this recent WKOW story:

These severe examples of algae blooms demonstrate the dangerous path we’re currently on. Unless we work in Wisconsin and around the world to curb pollution, especially phosphorus pollution, we can expect problems like these not only to continue, but also to get worse.

A big thanks to all of those who ventured guesses on this week’s challenging Tuesday Trivia. Want to participate in the weekly fun? Make sure to follow us on Facebook!

Contributed by Sam Weis, communications director.

Blue green algae closes Madison Beaches

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The Madison and Dane County Public Health Department closed two Madison beaches last week as the result of blue-green algae pollution. Blue-green algae is a toxic algae that threatens the health of our families and our pets.

Clean Wisconsin’s Melissa Malott explains what causes blue-green algae blooms, and what action is being taken to try to prevent them from happening in a recent story on WKOW:

 

Unfortunately, with extreme high temperatures in the forecast, the algae problems on Madison’s lakes are expected to become more intense in the coming days.

-contributed by Sam Weis, communications director.