State of the Lake Breakfast
& Annual Meeting
2023
ANNUAL MEETING: JUNE 17, 2023
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at the Heidel House Hotel & Conference Center for this year's State of the Lake Breakfast and Annual Meeting, sponsored by Horicon Bank.
With over 250 guests in attendance, the sold-out event was an exciting morning with an outpouring of support from the Green Lake community. GLA Chief Executive Officer, Stephanie Prellwitz, shared insights about Green Lake's water quality and updates on the GLA's efforts to protect it.
To learn more, watch our State of the Lake presentation below, read our key takeaways, or review our program.
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If you'd like to join the GLA or renew your membership, please do so here.
OUR KEY TAKEAWAYS
ONE: PHOSPHORUS IS THE NUMBER ONE CHALLENGE FACING GREEN LAKE
Phosphorus is the main water quality challenge for Green Lake.
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The GLA learned last year that 80% of Green Lake’s phosphorus pollution is entering from two inlets—at County Highway A and County Highway K—and that a 50%-70% reduction in phosphorus is needed to achieve water quality goals and remove the lake’s impairment designation.
The GLA’s latest study revealed that the inlets themselves may also be contributing to the problem. Sediment in the inlets, also known as the Silver Creek Estuary and the County Highway K Marsh, have accumulated decades’ worth of phosphorus. We now know that this phosphorus pollution—called internal loading—is leaking into the lake.
TWO: THE GLA IS ACTIVELY RESEARCHING & TESTING SOLUTIONS
Conservation practices throughout the watershed are one essential tool to reduce phosphorus—but they alone are not enough. The stakes are too high to solely rely on a field-by-field approach to safeguard our amazing lake.
We know the lake is changing quickly. The pace of implementing individual practices can no longer keep up with growing climate pressures. If we want to avoid an ecological tipping point for Green Lake—a future state of rapid degradation when water quality improvement is costly and virtually impossible to reverse—we must broaden our approach.
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From collecting data on what species live in our lake through eDNA, to piloting a novel structure to capture phosphorus before it enters the lake, to launching Green Lake’s first boat wash station at Dodge Memorial County Park, the GLA is actively expanding its efforts to protect our lake.
THREE: THE GLA IS MOTIVATED BY THE COLLECTIVE POWER OF COMMUNITY
Together—with the voices of our community, the strength of our members, and the support of our partners—the GLA has amplified its efforts to protect the watershed and lake. The GLA’s progress demonstrates our singular focus on improving Green Lake’s water quality.
Last year, the collective power of our community empowered the GLA to bring brook trout back to Dakin Creek after 70 years and to stop a mine from threatening sensitive waterways.
The GLA is optimistic about the future of Green Lake—and is equally, fully aware that it will take a significant commitment by each of us to succeed.