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Lake Wingra Water Protection and Bike Ride 

10/14/2022 10:36:40 AM

Oct14

On Sunday, July 24, twenty TBE members met for a sunny summer bike ride around Lake Wingra. Before the ride, we heard from Phil Gaebler, water resources engineer for the City of Madison, who talked about how the Lake Wingra watershed is impacted by runoff from different sources and what we can do to promote the health of the watershed. 

Mr. Gaebler gave us a great hands-on demonstration of how rainwater filters through various surfaces, by pouring water through small samples of turf grass, mulch, permeable and impermeable pavement, and native plants. He was ably assisted in this task by a small frog from the Lake Wingra area. The demonstration showed that we can greatly improve the health of the lakes by reducing turf grass, installing rain gardens, adding compost to the soil or covering it with mulch, and diverting downspouts so the water doesn’t run onto sidewalks and driveways. It’s also important to keep leaves out of the street so the added nutrients don’t end up in our lakes, increasing phosphorous content and algae growth.

Mr. Gaebler noted that a lot of good things are happening locally with lake management. Lake Wingra is heavily managed and is doing pretty well. The county is making progress in addressing agricultural runoff. Residents can also help the lakes in winter by reducing the amount of salt used on driveways and sidewalks, using shovels and push brooms more than salt. For more information about reducing residential salt use, see Saltwise. https://www.wisaltwise.com
 

March 28, 2024 18 Adar II 5784