Wisconsin Lake Algae - Lake Menomin

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Lake Menomin

Picture retrieved 06/15/2011 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:2009-0620-LakeMenomin-pan.JPG

On a recent visit to Dunn County, both my wife and I were taken aback by the beauty of Lake Menomin. The city of Menomonie engulfs the lake’s shoreline from three sides - North, West, and South - with its majestic splendor visible from many lookouts about the city. However, a quick observation was the lack of pleasure-craft on the water. Growing up and living along the Mississippi River, my wife and I are accustomed to seeing moderate pressure on river usage from the local water-recreation enthusiasts. Just a hint of warmth in the spring air fills the boat ramps and sandbars along the Mississippi with fishermen, pleasure-craft cruisers, and the like, and this activity lasts throughout the entire summer. But something was very different here on Lake Menomin, and I needed to know the answer.

On the first day, we were in town the weather was simply grand, with the temperature reaching about 80 degrees with a light breeze. Regrettably, gazing out onto the lake, I was able to locate only two boats, and the view, from my vantage point, was at least a mile long! Furthermore, passing a local bait shop many times during our three-day stay, I was unable to catch a single patron purchasing bait or tackle at this very accessible vendor. The peculiar nature of this simply got the best of me, so while my wife was attending a conference on our third and final day of our stay (with the rain coming down hard most of the day), I went to the city’s equally beautiful library and started my research on this stunning body of water. From the library’s East side, I was able to both research and take in the grand splendor the lake offers through the facility’s lake-side picture windows. In a short time, I had a general understanding of the problem plaguing this gorgeous body of water.

It seems the lake gets overgrown with algae each summer from the runoff of phosphate from the area’s farming community.

Phosphate sources include both livestock manure and chemical fertilizer, both of which flow downstream, concentrating in the watershed reservoir known as Lake Menomin. With this unnatural level of the vegetation’s “growth hormone,” the lake’s algae simply takes over, reproducing at an astonishing rate. Looking at the photo on the left (taken at the algae level peak), one has to wonder if the power plant is an out-board motor or a lawn mowing device.

Fortunately, a concerned non-profit community group has formed, with plans to curtail the problems the increased phosphate levels have had on the lake and the surrounding people. The Tainter/Menomin Lake Improvement Association (The Tainter Menomin Lake Improvement Association, Inc.) even has plans to make an algae eating machine to harvest the excessive levels of this unwanted foliage. After seeing this gorgeous body of water first-hand, I wish this group the best at solving the problem. Quoting Mayor Randy Knaack from a WQOW television interview, “"I'm quite positive that anything we do in that direction of cleaning our lake is a positive, so if we fail with our first attempt, we'll make a second and third until we get this resolved," says Knaack (WQOW 18 News). With this can-do attitude, there is little doubt in my mind a solution is close at hand.


Works Cited

The Tainter Menomin Lake Improvement Association, Inc. 15 June 2011

http://www.tmlia.org/index.cfm.
WQOW 18 News. UPDATE: New efforts to clean up Lake Menomin discussed. 2011. 15 June 2011 http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12609342.