Lake Projects and Newsletters

Aquatic Invasive Species Surveys in Eau Claire, Barron, Rusk, Dunn and Chippewa Counties
In 2007, the Citizen Science Center received grants from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), Xcel Energy and the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board to conduct aquatic invasive species surveys on 130 lakes in five counties in west-central Wisconsin. During the summers of 2007-2009, Citizen Science Center researchers and volunteers conducted surveys for eurasian water-milfoil, curlyleaf pondweed, purple loosestrife, rusty crayfish, zebra mussels and spiny waterflea. A different set of lakes was surveyed each summer and each lake was visited three times during a particular summer. The report Aquatic Invasive Species Survey of Lakes with Public Access in Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, and Rusk Counties is available in five parts that you can download here: Part 1 (report main body), Part 2 (Appendices A-F), Part 3 (Appendix G, lake reports listed alphabetically A-H), Part 4 (Appendix G, lake reports listed alphabetically I-P), Part 5 (Appendix G, lake reports listed alphabetically P-Z).

Lake Altoona Well Monitoring
The Lake Altoona Rehabilitation and Protection District is conducting a dredge project for Lake Altoona. Dredging began in 2007 and is scheduled to be completed in November of 2009. As part of the permiting process for the dredge project, wells located around the dredge water discharge site are monitored by Citizen Science Center staff and volunteers. Water samples from the dredge are also collected twice a month and tested for components like nitrates and ammonia.

Lake Wissota Aquatic Plant Management Plan
In 2008, the Lake Wissota Improvement and Protection Association teamed up with the Citizen Science Center and WDNR to create an aquatic plant management plan for their lake. As part of the plan, the Citizen Science Center created the Lake Wissota Planning Survey to receive feedback from lake users about the lake. Staff also conducted an aquatic plant survey of the lake and hired summer staff to conduct watercraft inspections on boat landings around the lake to educate boaters about aquatic invasive species. Download the Lake Wissota Aquatic Plant Management Plan and have a look! The Lake Wissota Improvement and Protection Association website has additional materials about the lake.

Lake Wissota Aquatic Plant Surveys
Two aquatic plant surveys have been conducted on Lake Wissota by the Citizen Science Center, one in 2005, a few years after late-winter drawdowns were reduced and in 2009, to repeat the 2005 study and document any changes in the lake community. The 2005 study is titled A Comparison of the Distribution and Density of Aquatic Plants in Lake Wissota, Chippewa County, Wisconsin, Between 1989 and 2005. Appendices D and E of the report can be obtained by contacting the Citizen Science Center. The 2009 study report is being compiled and will be posted here when completed.

Lake Wissota Shoreland Restoration Brochure
In 2009, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Writing Intern Jessica Soine worked with the Lake Wissota Improvement and Protection Association to develop a shoreland restoration brochure specific to the habitats found on their lake. View images of the brochure: Inside and Outside.

Lake Wissota Invertebrate Project
The abundance and diversity of invertebrates (insects, mollusks, crustaceans, worms etc.) play a fundamental role in the food web of an aquatic ecosystem. As part of an ongoing relationship with the Lake Wissota Improvement and Protection Association, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Xcel Energy, researchers and volunteers from the Beaver Creek Reserve Citizen Science Center are conducting a survey of the invertebrate community of Lake Wissota. The purpose of the current study is to determine how the reduction of winter drawdowns has affected the invertebrate community of Lake Wissota. This study will provide important information that will add to a growing body of research concerning the Lake Wissota ecosystem.

Lake Eau Claire Planning Survey
The Citizen Science Center worked in conjunction with the Lake Eau Claire Association and the Eau Claire Land Conservation Department to develop the Lake Eau Claire Planning Survey. The Land Conservation Department and the Lake Association are writing an aquatic plant management plan for Lake Eau Claire and the results of the planning survey will serve to guide the planning process. The survey report will be posted on this page when it is completed. The Lake Eau Claire Association website has additional materials about the lake.

Clean Boats, Clean Waters: Watercraft Inspection Program
The Citizen Science Center, as a result of a grant received by the WDNR, is offering training workshops for the statewide Clean Boats, Clean Waters watercraft inspection program in St. Croix, Dunn, Eau Claire, and Chippewa Counties between 2008 and 2010. The Center is also hiring summer staff to conduct watercraft inspections on sixteen lakes and one river (the St. Croix) in the four counties. The waterbodies for this project were selected for inspections because they are popular with boaters and may either be especially susceptible to the introduction of aquatic invasive species or may be potential vectors of spread of aquatic invasive species to uninfested lakes. The Citizen Science Center staff are working closely with volunteers of the lake organizations associated with each of the waterbodies and are working to recruit new volunteers to help protect the each of these important waters.

Lake Holcombe Aquatic Plant Survey
In 2001, the Lower Chippewa River Settlement Agreement was reached in an effort to balance the energy needs of the community and the health of the Chippewa River biological and economic resources. In 2006, the Citizen Science Center conducted A comparison of the distribution of aquatic plants in Holcombe Flowage, Chippewa County, Wisconsin, between 1994/95 and 2006 to determine if the aquatic plant community had changed since the reduction of the late-winter drawdowns on Lake Holcombe. To obtain maps indicated in the Appendices of the report, please contact the Citizen Science Center.

Lake Monitoring Newsletters
Over the years, the number of lake projects and the geographic spread of the projects coordinated by the Citizen Science Center has grown immensely. In 2009, staff developed a short, 1-page e-newsletter to help keep lake organizations and volunteers up to date with what we are doing for their and other Wisconsin lakes. The newsletter is published approximately every two weeks during the summer field season, mid-May through mid-August. To receive this letter via email, contact the Citizen Science Center.