By Sophia Dramm When snow falls in Wisconsin, children may think about the snowmen they’re going to build, students may think of the school cancellations they’re going to enjoy and drivers may think about their safety on the road. So when they hear the rumble of snow plows that clear the streets and scatter salt […]
I embarked out on Wingra on Saturday, January 20th. The sun was shining bright and the temperature was 48 degrees. If we didn’t have 12” of ice I’d be pretty timid to test the waters so to speak (being so warm). Which brings me to a couple ice safety guidelines when ice fishing. First things first,
January Fishing at Lake Wingra Read More »
By Casey Hanson Lake Wingra’s natural setting and calm waters may lead you to believe that erosion is not a large concern there, but it is at Wingra Park. Erosion, a natural process that results in part from wave energy, can occur at slow rates, but human activities can accelerate the process. Wingra
Shoreline Erosion Control Coming to Wingra Park Read More »
By Phil Gabler, City of Madison Engineering An innovative underground screen structure in design for Wingra Park will offer the public a peek at what debris can be kept out of the lake, while providing treatment to an area of the Wingra watershed that is currently receiving almost no treatment. The underground
New Structure Planned to Catch Lake Wingra Runoff Debris Read More »
By David Thompson As the monarchs make their migration to Mexico, we reflect on another exciting year of Monarchs for Kids and eagerly look ahead to the next year. This year we served roughly 124 classes in 36 schools, preschools, day care centers, and nature centers. This is an amazing feat considering we
Monarchs for Kids in 2017 Read More »
By Casey Hanson Have you heard the superstition that spilling salt is bad luck and that if you did, throwing a pinch over your left shoulder should help avert any evil omens you’ve just incurred? Maybe they were talking about road salt application the whole time! Let us explain. For years, a
Worth One’s Salt: Reducing Salt Application to Protect Our Lakes Read More »
By Roger Bannerman The Friends of Lake Wingra (FoLW) have been cooperating with the city of Madison for over four years to determine how selected leaf control efforts in the fall can reduce the amounts of phosphorus reaching Lake Wingra. Results from the fall of 2016 are especially exciting. By increasing the leaf
Fall Leaf Control Study Continues in the Lake Wingra Watershed Read More »
Summer Season Fishing Reflections It was a difficult summer to fish from shore on Wingra because of: High water levels: It caused erosion and sediment from shore, darkening the water. An early hot spell: This caused high weed growth throughout the lake. Overall, it would have been a good year to paddle and fish
Lake Wingra’s End of Summer Fishing Report Read More »
Have you ever explored the UW-Arboretum foot paths on the southwest side of Wingra Boats? If so, you may notice sections of it are dominated by oriental bittersweet, an invasive woody, climbing vine that can choke and kill native trees. A group of forty eleventh graders from Capital High came to the
How Capital High Students Helped Lake Wingra’s Watershed Read More »
Water temperatures continue to drop in the lake. Surface temperatures are now 66 degrees F compared to 72 degrees F three weeks ago. Water transparency remains murky. We had Secchi Disk readings of only 2 feet. Our lake is still very green. But the lake is still relatively clear of plants near
News from Volunteers Monitoring Water Quality in Lake Wingra – Sept. 12 Read More »
Expect a bit of a chill if you go swimming in Lake Wingra today. Surface water temperatures have dropped from about 79 degrees four weeks ago to about 72 degrees today. Children at the Wingra summer camp spent less time in the water today because of the diminished temperatures. How do we measure the water
News from Volunteers Monitoring Water Quality in Lake Wingra – Aug 25 Read More »
Good news! How far you can see into the water of Lake Wingra has improved this week. Our volunteers use a Secchi Disk (see featured image) to measure water transparency, or turbidity, on a weekly basis. Water Clarity: Based on this week’s measurements, the transparency of the water is at least 6 inches greater
Lake Wingra Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Update – Aug 9 Read More »
