Projects
Projects
Friends of Lake Wingra is currently engaged in a variety of projects aimed at improving the health of Lake Wingra. Our projects include both outreach to the watershed community and on-the-ground restoration and stewardship efforts. To get involved with one of our projects, contact the Friends at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 608-663-2838.
Shoreline Restoration
FOLW and partners have proposed shoreline habitat restoration practices that will lead to improvement of water quality in Lake Wingra. Proposed practices are the result of comprehensive and inclusive planning among numerous partners (including the public), and are aimed at the restoration of native species and natural habitats, the control of exotic and/or invasive species (purple loosestrife, buckthorn, carp, Eurasian milfoil, and giant Canada geese) that threaten native species and habitats, and the reduction of the impacts of stormwater runoff on lake water quality. Specific objectives are to control purple loosestrife and buckthorn, create a shoreline natural vegetation buffer, and conduct an aquatic plant restoration pilot study.
Lake Wingra: A Vision for the Future
Friends of Lake Wingra is proud to present the culminating document of a three year process of developing a vision for the future of Lake Wingra. You can download a pdf of the document now. Hard copies have been sent to our mailing list. You can also pick up a copy at upcoming FOLW events.
Windows on Wingra
Windows on Wingra (WOW) is an ongoing series of seasonal events that provides opportunities for members of the watershed community to learn about and contribute to the health of Lake Wingra.
Intensive Street Sweeping Project
FOLW volunteers met with Roger Goodwin, Director of the City of Madison Streets Department, twice to discuss the possibility of extending the City’s intensive street sweeping program to one or more neighborhoods in the Wingra Watershed (specifically the Vilas and Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhoods). The goal of the intensive street sweeping is to improve Lake Wingra’s water quality by removing more debris from the gutters, thus preventing the debris from entering the storm sewers and lake.
EMPACT Beach Water Quality Study
FOLW, with partners from the Madison Department of Public Health (MDPH), Madison Information Services, State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH), US Geological Survey (USGS), and the University of Wisconsin Extension, are working on a US Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) grant-funded comprehensive water quality monitoring program at three Madison beaches. The goal of the study is to develop better and faster ways of identifying unsafe swimming conditions and therefore reduce the risk of swimmers being exposed to pathogens. FOLW’s role is to implement outreach strategies to educate Vilas Beach swimmers and the community about what causes poor water quality and how to help protect our beaches.
Rain Gardens
Homeowners in many parts of the country are catching on to rain gardens – landscaped areas planted to wild flowers and other native vegetation that soak up rain water, mainly from the roof of a house or other building. The rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a storm and the water slowly filters into the ground rather than running off to a storm drain. Compared to a conventional patch of lawn, a rain garden allows about 30% more water to soak into the ground.
Construction Site Monitoring
Construction site erosion due to improperly installed/maintained erosion-control measures is a serious problem. Soil that is transported off a construction site as sediment-laden runoff can eventually reach storm sewers which discharge into Lake Wingra, causing a host of water quality impairments.
SW Bike Path Stewardship
Lake Wingra water quality is severely degraded by nutrient-containing soils and sediment that enter the Lake via the City of Madison storm water drains. Three storm drains discharge into Lake Wingra at the Ho-Nee-Um Pond and near the Wingra Park boat house (aerial photo: Ho-Nee-Um Pond Storm Sewers). Storm water entering the lake at these outfalls is untreated; consequently, deposition of street sand and large particles has created “islands” in Lake Wingra and Ho-Nee-Um Pond and is causing the Wingra Park Marina to fill with sediment. The nutrients associated with storm water discharge have led to increased aquatic weed growth and algal blooms.
Fall Leaf Cleanup Campaign
Have you noticed the Love Your Lakes, Don’t Leaf Them yard signs on the terraces of commuter streets in the Wingra Watershed in the month of October? Fall 2007 marks the fourth year of our fall leaf cleanup campaign where we remind everyone to keep leaves out of the streets and storm drains and out of Lake Wingra.