June has been a busy month for us around the Wingra Watershed! We started off the month by participating in the Annual Wingra Creek Cleanup. Thanks to our advisor David Liebl for organizing that event for us and to Strand Associates for helping out too. The above picture shows most of the group at the […]
Busy month for Friends of Lake Wingra! Read More »
Last Saturday was the 24th annual Jazz in the Park event at Wingra Park. Friends of Lake Wingra participated by setting up a tent where curious attendees could check out samples of water from Lake Wingra using dissecting scopes provided by Edgewood. The lake water has an amazing amount of biodiversity to view. Samples included
Rainy but Fun Jazz in the Park Read More »
One of our watershed residents, Liz McBride, recently took up the cause of promoting the installation of rain gardens during a recent street reconstruction process. Liz learned that the City of Madison had received a grant which lowered the cost of a terrace rain garden for eligible property owners to $100 for a limited time.
Successful Rain Garden Promotion Effort! Read More »
There are some great opportunities to help out throughout the Lake Wingra Watershed for Earthweek! Wednesday April 22 5-7 pm Cleanup of Odana Rain Garden and surrounding woods. This location is located at the south end of the parking lot of the Odana Golf Course at 4635 Odana Road, Madison and is adjacent to the
Earth Week Events in the Lake Wingra Watershed Read More »
The students from Sam Dennis & Kate Braun’s Landscape Architecture 451 “Open Space Planning and Design” class have created some really interesting designs for redesigning Monroe Street as a Green Design Corridor. They provided a sampling of some of these designs for the 13th District Alder forum that was held last week at Edgewood College.
LA 451 Open Space Planning & Design Projects Read More »
Last week Friends of Lake Wingra and the Edgewood College Sustainability Leadership Program co-hosted an interactive forum where attendees got to meet and interact with the candidates (Sara Eskrich & Zach Madden) running for the alder position in the 13th District. The topic of the meeting was the upcoming reconstruction of Monroe Street. The discussion
13th District Alder Forum Workshop – Monroe Street Reconstruction Read More »
Hi! My name is Susan and I am the new Volunteer Coordinator for Friends of Lake Wingra. I am also a graduate student in the new Environmental Conservation Professional Master’s Program from the Nelson Institute at UW. I have a strong interest in native plants, urban natural areas and stormwater mitigation techniques. I hope
New Volunteer Coordinator Read More »
Among the cuts proposed in the recently revealed budget for the next two years in Wisconsin is a complete repeal of the state’s “Complete Streets” law. This law currently works by requiring that roadways be designed and operated in ways that allow all users access for safe and convenient travel. This includes bicycles, pedestrians, public
Protect the Complete Streets Law Read More »
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
SW Bike Path Stewardship Read More »
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. On a per-unit-area comparative basis, residential and commercial construction is shown to cause more
Construction Site Monitoring Read More »
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
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
EMPACT Beach Water Quality Study Read More »
