Posted: 10.31.2010

Farmers harvesting crops near Lake Tomah may be too busy to enjoy its now-sparkling waters, but their efforts to prevent nutrients from entering the lake are critical to keeping the restored lake healthy, project officials say.

A new video, Protecting Lake Tomah, shows their efforts and the results that are benefitting lake users and the farmers alike.

"Now that we have the lake pretty much restored, and are starting to put the fish in the lake and starting to raise it back up, we're looking at working on the areas in the watershed that will help protect the lake," says Bryce Richardson, a Monroe County soil and water conservationist.

"The farmers have been very eager to try to maintain the lake and improve the lake."

A year ago state and local partners chemically treated the lake to get rid of the carp, which were destroying fish habitat and stirring up sediments that made the water murky and helped fuel thick mats of algae. The treatment worked, and was followed by efforts to restore fish and wildlife habitat and to improve boat landings and shore fishing opportunities along the park.

The project partners include the Department of Natural Resources, the City of Tomah, its Tomah Lake Committee, the Monroe County Land Conservation Department, and individual citizens and fishing club members.

Monroe County Land Conservation staff have been working with farmers for a generation to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment running off into the lake from cropped fields and barnyards. In the early years, they tapped state and federal funding to help farmers install manure storage structures, barnyard runoff systems, and other structural solutions. That was a big improvement, but not enough, Richardson says.

So the Monroe County Land Conservation Department is focusing on helping farmers develop and update nutrient management plans guiding where and when to apply manure and commercial fertilizer. That way, both go only where they're needed and don't run off into the lake, Richardson says. In the wrong place, the phosphorus in manure and commercial fertilizer, can fuel harmful algae blooms, pollute the water, and kill fish.

A DNR grant helped pay for tests to determine soil phosphorus in crop land and for farmers to attend workshops at which they developed their own nutrient management plans. As a result, now nearly half of the crop land in Lake Tomah's watershed is covered by nutrient management plans, Richardson says. By following them, the farmers can save up to $65 an acre on commercial fertilizer costs.

Some of the farmers in the watershed are also benefitting from using no-till and minimum till cropping methods. The soil is less likely to be carried into the lake by rain run off and the farmer saves time and fuel.

And Lake Tomah gets another jewel in its crown, a reason for locals and visitors to linger a little longer by its beautiful shores, says Tomah Mayor John Rusch. "The lake is back to where it should be."

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