      
2008 Beach Coliform Bacteria Counts The primary tool used at present to evaluate beach water quality is the measurement of "indicator" organisms that estimate the level of fecal contamination of the water. The indicator organisms most commonly used are fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and enterococci. These coliform bacteria are microorganisms that usually occur in the intestinal tract of animals, including humans. High levels of these organisms in recreational water are indicative of fecal contamination and the possible presence of intestinal-disease-causing organisms (http://www.great-lakes.net/humanhealth/other/bacteria.html). Federal and State recreational water quality guidelines recommend bacterial levels below which the risk of human illness is considered to be minimal. For public beaches, the regional Health Departments generally monitor beach water quality. [The Green Lake Sanitary District monitors local Green Lake beach waters.] When contaminant indicator levels in the bathing beach water reach levels that are considered to pose a risk to health, public beaches may be posted with a sign warning bathers of these potential health risks (http://www.great-lakes.net/humanhealth/other/bacteria.html). The Wisconsin Beach Monitoring Program was developed in accordance with EPA performance criteria. Therefore, this document sets forth performance criteria for the following (http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/wm/wqs/beaches/BeachMonitoringRequirements.pdf): 1) Sampling and monitoring, 2) promptly notifying the public of exceedances of the water quality standard for E. coli, and 3) reporting.
Recent sewer news involves the addition of approximately 250 homes along Oakwood Avenue, Tuleta Hills Road, Spring Grove Road and Forest Glen Beach Road. Sewer became available to these homes during the Summer of 2002. All of these homes will be connected by the Summer of 2003. Of the estimated 1,400 homes in the Sanitary District, approximately 900 or 65% are sewered with the remaining homes being served by private on-site wastewater treatment systems. Private On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems As mentioned above, approximately 500 of the GLSD’s 1,400 homes are served by private on-site wastewater treatment systems. These systems are comprised of conventional septic systems, mound systems and holding tanks. The GLSD has a State approved management plan for pumping and inspecting all District private on-site wastewater treatment systems. In general, septic systems need to be pumped and inspected at least once every 3 years and holding tanks require pumping and inspection every two years. There is also funding available for replacement of on-site systems within the GLSD, interested parties should contact the GLSD office. Recent (Spring 2002) Aqweed news includes a number of new rules associated with harvesting lake vegetation. The main intent of the new rules involves coordinating lakes that have mechanical harvesting programs such as Big Green Lake. Our staff has met with DNR Representatives to design a Big Green Lake Harvesting Plan that provides harvesting; while also laying out specific plans for cutting sensitive areas (i.e. Dartford Bay, City Millpond, Beyers Cove, etc). Other key changes prohibit cutting widths of greater than 30 feet for individual riparian properties. If property owners want more than 30 feet cut, they are required to obtain special permitting from the DNR.
According to DNR officials, our lake is in
the early stages of ZM infestation. We will continue to monitor for
veligers (early life stage of ZM) as well as adult ZMs (samplers located
in various locations around the lake). The monitoring will help the
GLSD to track the progress of ZMs and keep the public and DNR informed on
their progress. Not only does the ZM monitoring help us to
track the progress of the infestation, it also helps us to prepare for
byproducts of the invasion, such as: more vulnerable to other
infestations (i.e. Quagga Mussels), increased water clarity (each adult ZM
has the ability to filter over 2 liters of water per day), negative
impacts on recreational uses (i.e. ZM can be sharp and can cut feet, they
can cover water structures like rafts and piers). An adult female ZM has the ability to produce
3,000,000 veligers annually with the possibility of 1 percent (30,000)
growing to adult mussels. Consequently, the onslaught can be very
dramatic to a lake. The GLSD is currently working with other lake
organizations and State officials to prepare for the “next steps”
(more monitoring, education and information) that may be coming shortly,
we will continue to provide property owners information as it becomes
available. During 2005, the GLSD continued its efforts to remove carp from our lake. We continued our work with our lake’s commercial fishing group. The commercial fishing group removed over 100,000 pounds of carp in 2005. The vast majority were removed from the Silver Creek and County K Flowages. For the past several years, the GLSD has averaged 100,000 pounds of carp removal per year. The carp barriers at the County A (Inlet Road) and County K bridges continue to operate and help to control carp reproduction. The County A carp barrier has an automatic gate that has been in operation for 3 Summers. We are continuing to modify the County A barrier to improve its efficiency and reliability. The improved results (i.e. water quality, fish spawning, etc) from the carp barriers are very apparent in the last few years. The GLSD also maintains the carp trap on County K and removes carp from the trap periodically. The GLSD expects to continue to provide the carp control efforts outlined above for many years. Carp will never be eliminated from Green Lake; however, we can continue to work on reducing their numbers in our lake. We appreciate the patience and inconveniences that lake users may need to incur. If left unchecked, carp can become a major problem for our lake, we need to continue to be proactive in our control methods. Revitalizing of Shoreland Vegetation The GLSD and GLA are continuing the sponsorship of RSVP with funds available to lake property owners interested in restoring their shoreline properties. Changes in 2003 include allowing property owners to obtain funding for design work as well as project installations. Prior to 2003, RSVP had a specialist available for free consultation; however, the GLSD and GLA believe that enough area businesses have now been certified (educated on required shoreland restoration practices) to eliminate the need for a subsidized specialist. For questions and/or help, please contact the GLSD office. The conservancy partnership held its first tour of the Mitchell Glen conservancy property on Saturday, October 1, 2005. The first tour was sponsored by the Green Lake Sanitary District and the Green Lake Conservancy Foundation. Over 60 people attended the first tour which was broken down into 2 groups. The first group of 30 plus people rode a bus from Sunset County Park to Mitchell Glen and enjoyed a tour and presentation from 8am until 10am. The second group of over 30 people were bused and toured the Glen from 10:15am until noon. An extended tour of additional conservancy properties was given during the afternoon of 10/1/05. We believe that the semiannual tours will give conservancy donors and the public the opportunity to see the properties that their donations made possible. It was a great day for our conservancy partnership and we are sure that the tour’s first participants will always remember. Our conservancy group (GLSD and Green Lake Conservancy Foundation) cannot emphasize enough the importance of ongoing fund raising for these land acquisition projects. In almost all cases, State grant funding only covers a portion of the land costs. We need donations from property owners who have an agenda to acquire lands that will provide “green space” around our lake as well as provide protection to our lake. As most of you can see, our time for acquiring conservancy lands in and around the lake is running out. If you are interested in contributing to these valuable conservancy efforts, please feel free to contact our office (920)-295-4488
for more information. The Green Lake, Markesan, Princeton and Ripon Public Schools continue an active roll in the health and protection of Big Green Lake and its Watershed. Green Lake is active in lake and watershed water quality monitoring, shoreland restoration, purple loosestrife, zebra mussel monitoring and studies relating to native plants. Markesan is active in lake and watershed water quality monitoring and purple loosestrife projects. Ripon is active in lake and watershed water quality monitoring, lake habitat monitoring and shoreland restoration. Princeton is active in lake watershed water quality monitoring. The Green Lake Sanitary
District is currently working with Green Lake County to implement a
phosphorus ban for all residential lawn fertilizers used in Green Lake
County. One pound of phosphorus can produce up to 500 pounds of
weeds upon entering the lake. We expect this effort to take some time and your support is helpful. Big Green Lake needs to reduce the amount of phosphorus entering the lake each year. Phosphorus binds naturally with the soil and is one of the lake’s biggest enemies. As this effort unfolds, we will provide more information; however, in the short term, please do not use fertilizers on your lawn that contain any phosphorus. |
The
Green Lake Sanitary District (GLSD) is currently applying for 2 lake
protection grants in 2006. Both grants are under the Aquatic
Invasive Species (AIS) area of lake protection. These grants involve
approximately $50,000 worth of lake activities work. The AIS program
provides a 50% grant so one half of the $50,000 would be paid for with
State funds. Specific activities include: zebra mussel
monitoring and research, surveys/monitoring/field work for other lake
exotics (carp, purple loosestrife and eurasion water milfoil), repairs to
lake carp barriers, and a multitude of activities associated with an
Education & Information Program.
Unfortunately,
we can now officially inform our property owners that zebra mussels (ZM)
have been documented in Big Green Lake. After four years of
monitoring for ZMs, the GLSD has observed and documented adult ZMs on our
monitoring samplers during the Fall of 2005. Others around the lake
have also notified us that ZMs have been found on piers and other hard
structures.
