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Image 3 - Offshore monitor training

LakeForecast water quality monitoring in 2023

Clean Lakes Alliance’s LakeForecast water quality monitoring program completed its 11th season in 2023. This program is entirely volunteer implemented, with 90 trained monitors assessing water quality conditions from nearshore and offshore locations across all five Yahara lakes (Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa, and Kegonsa). From Memorial Day through Labor Day, volunteers recorded water clarity, air and water temperature, waterfowl presence, extent of floating plant debris, and the severity of green algae and cyanobacteria at public beaches, lakeside parks, and private piers. Submitted data can be seen in real-time on lakeforecast.org or our free app allowing the general public to stay up to date on current lake conditions.

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May 3, 2023 @ 7:00 am 9:30 am

2023 Clean Lakes Community Breakfast

“Our Past Can Shape Our Future”

Date: Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023
Time: 7 – 8 a.m. coffee and conversation, 8 – 9:30 a.m. breakfast and program
Location: Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center (1 John Nolen Dr., Madison)

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About the event

Please join us for our Clean Lakes Community Breakfast on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023! We will continue the tradition of bringing together our watershed’s premier scientists, business and organizational leaders, heads of government, and officials from the Ho-Chunk Nation to learn more about the lakes (originally known as Teejop) and new opportunities for continued collaboration and progress. 

Clean Lakes Alliance and its fellow Yahara CLEAN Compact members will highlight the latest science and Renew the Blue stakeholder guidance that will direct future cleanup actions.

About our keynote speaker

Samantha Skenandore is a Federal Indian and Tribal Law-experienced attorney for Quarles, and an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She previously served as an elected Associate Justice for the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court. As a rights-of-nature proponent, she supports advocating for laws that protect land and water.

Thank you sponsors!

Presented by: Foley and Lardner LLP
Major sponsors: Alliant Energy, CG Schmidt, Lands’ End, Hovde Properties, Johnson Financial Group, Madison Gas and Electric, UW Health, WKOW 27 News

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2018 Annual State of the Lakes Report

2018 takeaways

  • Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms appeared in our lakes at an alarming scale, highlighting continued challenges with water quality.
    • 72% of beach closures from Memorial Day to August 20th were due to cyanobacteria blooms
    • June continues to be the biggest month for cyanobacteria blooms for the fourth year
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2016 State of the Lakes Annual Report

Luck from “Mother Nature”

MADISON, Wis. — Today at the sixth annual Save Our Lakes community breakfast, Clean Lakes Alliance released the 2016 State of the Lakes Annual Report. The report looks at phosphorus reduction efforts through the 2016 calendar year. It shows as a community, progress is being made. Phosphorus is the root cause of algae – just one pound of the nutrient is capable of producing 500 pounds of algae.

“2016 was a great year. The water was as clear as it’s been in a long time in our lakes, but we got lucky,” said Clean Lakes Alliance Executive Director James Tye. “A slow spring melt and fewer intense rain events meant phosphorus-rich runoff to our lakes was down, but it shows us if we control runoff regularly, we can impact our lake clarity.”

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