By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
Local lake lovers are driving forward with efforts to form a countywide lakes association.
About 50 lakeshore property owners and other members of the public interested in lake issues attended a kick-off meeting exploring the formation of a Portage County lake association Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Jensen Center in Amherst.
"Generally, they seemed pretty supportive of the concept," University of Wisconsin-Extension Community Resource Development Agent Mark Hilliker, who moderated the meeting, told The Gazette.
About a half dozen people stepped forward to say they'd be interested in moving the idea forward, Hilliker said. The group intends to focus on providing public information. Key issues for lake users will first be identified. Then educational events will be held. A county lakes association may develop further as a result of the public information process.
Speakers at Saturday's forum stressed the value of forming a collective voice for lake issues, which would help in getting lake planning and management grants and affecting other changes.
"The larger the association, the larger the networking," said Sherry Zei of Friends of Wolf Lake at the meeting.
Friends of Wolf Lake formed last year after developers proposed a 64-home project next to Wolf Lake, one of the few undeveloped lakes in the state. No Wolf Lake property owners belong to the group, Zei said. The county Parks Department, the developers and one other person are the only property owners on Wolf Lake.
Zei said forming Friends of Wolf Lake was reactive, not proactive.
"If you like your lake the way it is now, definitely, start an association now," Zei said.
A Portage County highway map lists more than 60 lakes. Eight of those lakes have associations or districts that are members of the Wisconsin Association of Lakes (WAL). Districts are a special purpose unit of government with some limited powers, including taxing district members and making contracts.
WAL encourages the formation of countywide lake associations, said Jo Seiser of WAL.
Lake associations and districts are eligible for lake planning and protection grants. The grants offer a 75 percent state cost share.
One lakes management strategy that Portage County is missing the boat on is classifying lakes and tailoring building and recreational ordinances for those categories. Lake classification projects are eligible for state lake planning and protection grants.
According to the DNR's Bureau of Watershed Management's 2000 water quality assessment report to Congress, 29 of Wisconsin's 72 counties have worked to improve shoreland zoning and management. The typical classification categories generally follow the three-tier Minnesota system that sets more restrictive building restrictions (deeper setbacks and larger lots) for lakes more sensitive to shoreland development.
The generalized lake classifications are general development lakes, transitional or intermediate lakes, and natural environment lakes or wild lakes.
General development lakes are those lakes "with a high to moderate existing development density. They are more tolerant of development and use impacts or are already so fully developed that changes to shoreline zoning will have minimal effects. These lakes are assigned the least restrictive set of standards, but not less than current state law. Management strategies for these lakes may include programs for restoring shoreland buffers and other ecosystem functions that have been lost."
Transitional or intermediate lake "classification is a protection or conservation category for lakes with moderate shoreland and waterbody use. It is intended to prevent transition to higher development densities and uses that may be allowed under current state minimums. Recreationally, whole lake use restrictions may apply but more typically are best suited for categorical time of day, or area use specific zoning."
Natural environment lakes or wild lakes "classification category is intended to preserve and protect lakes from inappropriate or overly dense development and recreational use that can occur under current state standards. Shoreland management strategies include the most restrictive development standards and are good candidates for permanent protection measures such as purchasing easements or acquisition. Potential recreational strategies may include no wake or no motor restrictions."
Lakes of all sizes are equally susceptible to development, said Tamara Dudiak, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point lake management specialist. Vacant lots are being developed. Smaller cottages are being razed and replaced by larger, year-round homes. The increasing density of shoreline development reduces the near shore and shoreline habitat used by several species, including frogs, songbirds and fish.
"With increasing development, you ultimately can threaten the balance of that system," said Dudiak.
Five times as many species are found in the narrow strip of shoreland and near shore areas than surrounding habitats, said Seiser.
Tools to protect shoreland habitat include zoning regulations restricting the density of development and requiring a buffer strip of native vegetation along the shore, Dudiak said. Lake associations and districts don't have the authority to control land use, but they can influence it. They can distribute information "into the hands of people who will use it."
Byron Shaw, a professor emeritus of water resources at UW-SP, said there has been "no dramatic degradation" of water quality to Portage County lakes, but "there's that potential out there."
"I think we're fortunate, to some extent, many of our lakes in Portage County are still in pretty good shape," Shaw said.
UW-SP's Environmental Task Force collected water samples from area lakes 20 to 25 years ago, but stopped the sampling after running out of funds, Shaw said.
Shaw recommended, at a minimum, lake associations conduct self-monitoring programs looking at water quality so changes can be tracked over time.
Presenting data, instead of people's perceptions, will have a greater influence on decision-making bodies if corrective action is needed. He also suggested lake associations learn where the water feeding their lakes come from so they can find "who out in the watershed might be impacting your water quality."
Excess nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, have the greatest impact on water quality and can cause algae blooms, he said. Nitrogen readily leaches from septic tanks. Phosphorus will bind to the soil, but as homes and septic systems get older, soil will get bound up and phosphorus will get into the water.
"The real polluting things that happen from homes to lakes is what you do with your lawn, your pets and your septic waste," Shaw said.
Other negative impacts to lakes include conflicts between residential users, removing shoreline vegetation and downed timber, and the introduction of exotic species, like Zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil, Dudiak said.