Madison is a city that prides itself on its natural beauty. Most of this beauty comes from the five lakes surrounding the isthmus. Unfortunately, these lakes, which are locales of summertime activities and provide majestic vistas, also have foul odors and murky water unfit for swimming in.
The Capital Times reported Madison lost over 70,000 swimmers over the last 15 years due to declining water conditions. The cause of the water pollution is runoff from farms in the watersheds of the lakes. Manure that seeps into the water causes algal blooms and the consequent foul water quality, appearance and smell. Although this problem is state wide, local action can have an effect on our city's lakes and perhaps make them more palatable to those who want to enjoy Madison's natural features.
As a start, in January 2005 Dane County executives mandated all phosphorus, a main contributor to water pollution, be banned from lawn fertilizers with few exceptions. However, manure runoff still poses a substantial threat to the lakes.
There is more than one solution to the problem, but in order for anything to be set in motion, there must be more support behind the effort.
Minneapolis encountered a similar situation with lake-water pollution but spent $12.4 million and more than 12 years to clean the water and create a popular recreation spot. Although Minneapolis' particular situation was not identical to Madison's, their example proves willpower and a long-term plan (and funding) can provide success.
Currently, there is little activism for this issue on the UW-Madison campus. Hoofers, one of the largest campus student organizations, only has one Lake Mendota cleanup annually through its SCUBA branch. Hoofers depends on the lakes to be hospitable to its sailors and divers, but has not taken any steps to initiate activism among UW-Madison's nature lovers to clean up the water.
Even those who are not boating buffs have something to gain: The nauseating lake smell during the summer can ruin an otherwise nice experience on the Terrace.
The process of cleaning up the lakes would likely be long and expensive but still worthwhile. Students and alumni alike should be more active to ensure the campus and city does not lose its aesthetic and to ensure the abundance of water does not go to waste because of preventable and treatable pollution.
