Lake Wingra Watershed Photos

The picture on the left shows one of Wingra's largest springs, near Monroe Street. The picture on the right is taken just downstream from the spring. The bright green water cress indicates the cool, clean quality of the water. Some reports indicate that dozens of springs have disappeared from around Lake Wingra because groundwater levels have dropped. Beautiful springs like this are some of the unique aspects of the Lake Wingra watershed that careful management may be able to sustain or recover.

These two pictures show sedimentation at the mouth of sewer outfalls. In the lefthand picture, the U-shaped island on the left is directly opposite a sewer outfall on the right. In the righthand picture, which shows the Monroe Street Detention Pond, the sedimentation is represented by the light colored grass in the center-left part of the picture. Sedimentation in the lake is a problem resulting from the urbanization of the Wingra watershed. The watershed has been "urbanized" for decades, of course, but stormwater running off streets and rooftops continues to carry sediments to the lake. These sediments not only fill in the already-shallow lake, but also carry potentially harmful chemicals, such as phophorus and zinc. Increased phosphorus levels lead to noxious algae blooms and metals such as zinc are harmful to fish and other animals.