Wisconsin Water News

People searching online for control options related to unwanted plants that grow in lakes and rivers use many different terms. Some call them “lake weeds,” other call them “freshwater seaweed,” still others “cabbage.” Rarely do people search with the same terms that natural resource managers and scientists use, such as the plants’ Latin names or the more formal, “submerged aquatic vegetation.”These are findings of a study on internet keyword search terms conducted by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers that was recently published in the “Journal of Aquatic Plant Management.”Wisconsin Sea Grant Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Cambell explains that how people search for information about aquatic plants is critical for guiding professionals on best practices for educational programming and outreach. Such education could also steer people away from the ineffective and potentially harmful use of herbicides in lakes and toward more ecologically sound solutions.

We all know that oil spills pollute water. But what might be news is that they can also trigger the release of natural pollutants when the spills reach groundwater. This pollution domino effect is the topic of a current Water Resources Institute-funded study by Matt Ginder-Vogel at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He’s working with investigators Beth Parker from the University of Guelph and Jessica Meyer from the University of Iowa.The team found the perfect real-world location for their two-year experiment in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, which is about 12 miles east of Madison. This is the site of multiple past organic hydrocarbon (or oil) spills from an organic solvent recycling plant.

Wisconsin ski hills face multiple challenges due to changing snow conditions from climate disruption, plus changes in skier behavior. However, Wisconsin researchers Austin Holland and Natalie Chin found that the state’s ski operators are adapting to meet these challenges. Their study was published in the journal, “Environmental Research Communications.”

On a sunny morning in mid-June 2024, the Phoenix, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s research vessel, headed out onto the bay. Aboard were Sea Grant researchers Emily Tyner and Bill Sallak and a small mound of recording equipment. It was piloted by Chris Houghton, assistant professor and fish ecologist, who was assisted by first mate, undergraduate student Jacob Hoffman.The bay tour was only supposed to last for three hours but like in the theme song for the “Gilligan’s Island” television show, a mishap was involved.Tyner and Sallak’s project is associated with the development of a national estuarine research reserve on the bay. It will be the third reserve on the Great Lakes after Old Woman Creek in Ohio on Lake Erie and the Lake Superior Reserve in Superior, Wisconsin.They planned to record natural noises from the bay, particularly bird sounds. Their target: the Cat Island Chain, restored barrier islands in the bay that have created new habitat for migrating and nesting shorebirds.Tyner and Sallak plan to make the sounds of the bay available in a presentation and online. They hope it will connect the community to the bay, which has been shunned in the past due to environmental issues.

In a new study, natural foams and water surface microlayers of 43 Wisconsin rivers and lakes were found to contain 36 compounds in a group of chemicals known as PFAS. While PFAS were detected in both the foam and the water surface, it’s the foams that the researcher said were orders of magnitude higher in PFAS concentration compared to water, and they urge people and their pets to avoid them. The study also revealed that foams, generally off-white and found along shorelines on windy days, are not an indicator of elevated contamination levels in the entire water body.Leading the project is Christy Remucal with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and interim director of the University of Wisconsin Aquatic Sciences Center.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have detected a suite of new viruses in five species of Wisconsin sport fish. Although none pose a threat to human health, one is a type of coronavirus that’s usually associated with birds. It was found in healthy walleyes from Wisconsin lakes. The finding is part of a Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded study by Tony Goldberg, a professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, of the natural diversity of viruses of fish in Wisconsin and is the first project of its kind in North America.

Leaders in several northern Wisconsin counties and cities were chosen to participate in a Lake Superior Climate Champions Program organized by Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in 2023. The program provided funding and guidance to two teams to work on goals of their choosing that addressed climate change. Hear what they worked on and other outcomes of this unique program.

What is marine debris, what are its impacts and what can we do about it? These are the central messages of a play written on behalf of Wisconsin Sea Grant by David Daniel with American Players Theatre of Wisconsin.“Me and Debry,” is a half-hour, whimsical, audience-participation play about litter (or marine debris) in the Great Lakes. It had its “world premiere” in Wisconsin’s Door County in October 2022 and it was performed three times at the Gilmore Fine Arts School in Racine, Wisconsin, for fifth- and sixth-grade students in May 2023.The play’s script has been fine-tuned through these performances and is now available for others to use for free, complete with props.Ginny Carlton, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s education outreach specialist, discussed the play with the Wisconsin Water News host and also why schools or other educational institutions might be interested in performing it.

A new report published by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that Wisconsin’s rural residents perceived significant risks to water quality from pesticides, PFAS (which are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and excess nutrients. They also ranked water as very or extremely important for supporting wildlife and for hunting and fishing, in addition to home uses such as drinking and cleaning.These findings regarding groundwater and surface water are based on a study by UW-Madison professors, including Michael Cardiff via a research project funded by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute. The report, entitled, “Rural Resident Perceptions of Wisconsin’s Waters” is available for free download from the Water Resources Institute website.

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Anne Moser has learned enough about wastewater treatment to create “Plastic Panic,” a grab-and-go kit that formal and nonformal educators can use to teach about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, specifically, microplastics. The colorful artwork in the “grab-and-go” kit both educates and enthralls it audiences.

Michael Notaro with the University of Wisconsin-Madison is teaching Wisconsin school children the similarities in snowflakes to share the wonder of nature and information about the Great Lakes climate, but also to expand an international environmental database.

How do you make a park in the middle of Lake Superior accessible to people with disabilities? Natalie Chin and Marie Zhuikov from Wisconsin Sea Grant had the chance to travel to Stockton Island in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to see first-hand what the park is doing to make it more accessible.

A report published recently by Wisconsin Sea Grant cites a lack of housing as a major barrier to development of nature-based jobs in Wisconsin’s northern tier. This includes Douglas, Ashland, Bayfield and Iron counties. This episode features interviews with the report authors and panel members from a webinar about the report, “Workforce Needs for Nature-Based Solutions in Wisconsin’s Northern Tier.”

Sea Grant-funded researchers Sandra McLellan and Gyaneshwar Prasad, both with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, are building on previous research to find ways to decomplicate beach managers’ lives by determining what factors could limit long-term survival of E. coli on beaches. They are also in the process of developing a scorecard for the potential of long-term E. coli reservoirs for each of the six Lake Michigan beaches they are studying.

High water levels in Lake Michigan since 2013 have caused erosion rates that are faster than usual, especially in 2020, when lake levels set records. This has created an urgent need to know more about erosion processes along and in the lake.Lucas Zoet with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Geoscience and his research team are looking at bluff erosion and sediment movement at two Wisconsin sites along Lake Michigan. They’re doing the project in a holistic way to better understand erosion rates and where the eroding sediment goes. This information will help guide shore protection and bluff stabilization processes and preserve beaches for recreation.

The three-year tribally driven project called, “Quantifying PFAS bioaccumulation and health impacts on economically important plants and animals associated with aquatic ecosystems in Ceded Territories,” was recently funded. The project has three goals: One is to assess aquatic environments for PFAS contamination in the Ceded Territories, two is to determine the accumulation of PFAS in different plants and animals and three is to understand the health impacts from PFAS exposure.The project involves Gavin Dehner with Wisconsin Sea Grant, Jonathan Gilbert with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Emily Cornelius Ruhs with the University of Chicago, Sean Strom with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Christine Custer and Robert Flynn with the U.S. Geological Survey.

A Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded research and outreach project is designed to explore how the Anishinaabe people connected to and homesteaded the lands of Wisconsin and Minnesota points and how they used fire to manage the landscape. The project name, “Nimaawanji’idimin Giiwitaashkodeng,” translates into “We are all gathering around the fire.” It is being led by Evan Larson with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and Melonee Montano, a Red Cliff tribal member and a University of Minnesota graduate student.

What empowers people to help the environment and rhymes at the same time? Answer: “Me and Debry,” a half-hour, whimsical, audience-participation play about litter (or marine debris) in the Great Lakes.The play had its “world premiere” in Wisconsin’s Door County in October 2022 before a full house at the town library in Egg Harbor. Starring in it were two local actors: Cassandra Bissell and Neil Brookshire. The play is part of a project designed to harnesses the power of storytelling to engage, educate and inspire performing artists and community members to be committed stewards of their Great Lakes watershed.

Barker’s Island in the Duluth-Superior Harbor was the site of a free, bird-focused morning during the fall of 2022. People of all ages and ability levels attended an accessible birding outing led by experts from the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve.This free event was made possible through the University of Wisconsin–Madison Dean’s Innovation Grant to collaborators from Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, the Reserve, Wisconsin Sea Grant, University of Wisconsin Extension, and Bayfield and Ashland counties.

The Wisconsin Idea is one of the longest and deepest traditions surrounding the University of Wisconsin. It promotes the principle that education and the influence of the university need to reach beyond the boundaries of the classroom across the state.Associate Professor of Geoscience Michael Cardiff and his research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are applying the Wisconsin Idea to groundwater issues. They received two years of funding from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute to survey rural residents about their perceptions regarding groundwater quality and quantity. This first-of-its kind water survey will be sent by mail in early 2023 to people who live in rural Wisconsin communities.

A Wisconsin Water Resources Institute project is exploring how bacteria and other water contaminants flow through soil by applying a medical technology usually used for cancer imaging. Chris Zahasky, assistant professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received two years of funding to study soil types in the two most vulnerable geologic settings in Wisconsin for groundwater pollution.

Teachers with a passion for the Great Lakes are sharing their expertise across the region with other teachers in a program that benefits the educators and their students. The mentor program, organized by the Center for Great Lakes Literacy (or CGLL), is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Gavin Dehnert with Wisconsin Sea Grant is part of a research team that found the use of the herbicide fluridone in lakes to control Eurasian watermilfoil is a good news, bad news story.

UW-Milwaukee researcher Charles Paradis and his team are studying the year-round impact that road salt has on Wisconsin rivers and the groundwater that feeds them.

Joe Sanford with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has spent his academic career getting his hands dirty. The assistant professor of soil and crop science has been studying uses for biochar, a form of charcoal that’s made by burning wood and plant byproducts (such as pine chips or dried corn plants) under low oxygen conditions.

Matt Ginder-Vogel and Amy Plechacek with the University of Wisconsin-Madison are studying how interactions between water and rock in Fond du Lac County might result in natural contamination of public and private drinking water wells.

A two-year project by three Sea Grant programs seeks to address complex erosion issues on Lake Michigan through an integrated physical, social and community approach. It’s led by Chin Wu with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sea Grant’s Deidre Peroff and Jumana Tanner are part of a program designed to keep beachgoers in Milwaukee safe even though there are no lifeguards on beaches there this summer.

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Anne Moser and Adam Bechle are beginning a project designed to connect middle-school students in Racine to their watershed by exploring coastal engineering concepts.

Richard Stewart and Daniel Rust at the University of Wisconsin-Superior are undertaking a study that looks at the impacts of reduced ice cover on Great Lakes marine transportation.

Kevin Masarik with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is working to reduce fertilizer pollution in the Central Sands area, a popular place to grow potatoes.

Deidre Peroff and Belle Pappalardo are working with Milwaukee Riverkeeper on a project designed to educate school children about microplastics and reduce the amount of plastics entering Lake Michigan.

People still tracking the mysterious accelerated corrosion of steel in Lake Superior have discovered the issue is occurring on inland lakes and in a river, as well.

Sea Grant researcher Christina Remucal is looking into the fate of harmful PFAS chemicals in the water and sediments of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. She describes her preliminary results.

This new learning kit focuses on trash found in waterways. Sea Grant educators Ginny Carlton and Anne Moser describe what’s in it, who can use it and how to request it.

The Friends of Lincoln Park successfully fought the closing of an aquatic center in their neighborhood on Milwaukee’s north side thanks to data from a mapping project by Sea Grant’s Deidre Peroff and Reflo.

Toben Lafrancois helps lead a unique underwater photography program in northern Wisconsin that uses the healing value and inspiration of spending time in water to aid youths facing significant mental health challenges, and to educate middle and high school students.

Sarah Vitale and other researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are investigating the possibility that phosphorous deep in the aquifer is the driver behind elevated levels of phosphorous in both surface water and groundwater in western Wisconsin.

Caitlin Zant with the Wisconsin Historical Society describes how they are developing online educational resources about Lake Michigan shipwrecks, along with a field school for budding maritime archaeologists – all with funding from Wisconsin Sea Grant.

A new Lake Michigan project addresses the need for skilled water workers and will enhance an online resource hub to promote cohesive stormwater messaging along the Wisconsin coast. Deidre Peroff, Rebecca Abler and Jacob Fincher describe how they will cooperate

Changes are coming to Barker’s Island in Superior in 2020 and 2021, all designed to reduce stormwater runoff. Julia Noordyk, Todd Breiby and Andrea Crouse describe what’s up and where the money’s coming from for the improvements.

Educators from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan learned more about Ojibwe culture, treaty rights and water ecology recently thanks to a Sea Grant-sponsored workshop.

Tim Campbell with Wisconsin Sea Grant describes results from a 2018 survey of boaters in Wisconsin regarding their knowledge of aquatic invasive species.

Christine Remucal with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Kristine Wammer with the University of St. Thomas found that various amounts and types of dissolved organic matter combined with sunlight can break down different pollutants in the St. Louis River.

Deanna Erickson with the Lake Superior Reserve runs a program designed to connect teachers and students to the Lake Superior Watershed.

John Berges and Erica Young with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are investigating a drastic rise in dissolved silica in Lake Michigan, which plays an important role in the base of the food web.

Sarah Dance, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was recently awarded a Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment grant to fund research into wild rice in Wisconsin. Her advisor, Matthew Ginder-Vogel, was pretty psyched that she was awarded the grant.

Three Wisconsin teachers joined a dozen others from around the Great Lakes on a week-long research cruise on Lake Erie with scientists. Hear how the teachers built on knowledge they gained during a previous Sea Grant cruise and how their students will benefit from the teachers’ new insights into large lakes. Jody Henseler and Brian Henrickson are interviewed.

A workshop about dangerous currents on Lake Superior’s South Shore drew community members to Ashland recently. Hear how Chin Wu, Todd Brieby and Deidre Peroff are doing to help with safety measures for swimmers and hear why excursion boat captain Shelly Holland attended the event.

Kenosha Dunes is a scenic natural area along Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, the dunes are eroding at an alarming rate. A team of specialists, including Chin Wu, Adam Bechle and Titus Seilheimer, are looking for new solutions to the old problem of erosion in order to save the dunes.