The Yahara River watershed and Dane County’s other lakes create the lifeblood for farmers, residents and Wisconsinites. With increasing threats such as runoff and pollution amplified by climate change, local partners have taken steps to keep Dane County’s lakes clean, preserving the valuable resource they offer.
On Sept. 9, organizers from local environmental nonprofits, UW researchers and Madison officials spoke during the Capital Times Idea Fest virtual panel to explore challenges to Dane County’s lakes such as nutrient pollution and salinization and discuss potential solutions.
“Here in Dane County our lakes are really strongly shaped by the water and the land that drain into them,” Hilary Dugan, an associate professor at the UW-Madison Center for Limnology, said. “Over the last 150 years, we’ve seen them transform from these clear water, sandy bottom lakes to what we refer to as eutrophic lakes, lakes that have basically too much algal biomass.”…