RLIA Presidents Report 2002

8/24/2002

Board members: Johanna Chworowsky (president), Pete Ebbott (secretary), Hope Oostdik, Stanley Smoniewski, Ken Steffan, Milton Strauss (vp), Katie Travers (treasurer), Karl Vonderhoe, Russell Wagner.

Many thanks to Hope Oostdik, outgoing board member. A special thank-you, also, to Patricia Cicero, who regularly attends the monthly board meetings.

RLIA continues to advise and support the Joint Rock Lake Committee, especially in its efforts to get pier ordinances enacted and its addressing of lake traffic issues. Regulations in neighboring counties are being monitored.

The annual spring Mill Pond Cleanup Day was again sponsored by RLIA.

A shoreline owners’ packet has been prepared, outlining environmentally friendly practices for landscaping, regulations regarding lake property landscaping, lake regulations, etc.--everything a new homeowner might want to know about being a good neighbor to Rock Lake. These were mailed to all shoreline owners in July and will be distributed to new owners when property changes hands.

The brochure inviting people to become members of RLIA was sent to all addresses in the Rock Lake watershed, about 3000. The membership drive also included a paid advertisement in the Festival Weekend issue of the Leader in June. About 5000 newspapers are distributed that week.

RLIA continues to encourage good lake stewardship through its Making Waves column in the Lake Mills Leader and its website: www.rocklake.org.

Five board members spent three days growing in knowledge about lake matters by attending the annual Wisconsin Association of Lakes (WAL) Convention in March.

RLIA partnered with the Madison Audubon Society to sponsor a presentation on the Faville Prairie.

Ways in which to prevent invasion of zebra mussels were explored. Besides educating the public, the committee has looked into installing washing stations at the two main launch areas. The state now has a law, with a possible $200 fine, that prohibits boats entering a lake without being cleaned of flora and fauna.

Educating boaters through more extensive signage, especially regarding distances, was explored but tabled.

A donation was made to the Lake Mills Fire Department for the purchase of an air-boat in memory of Ed Heimstreet.

The Fish Hatchery keeps RLIA informed about the stocking activity in Rock Lake.

In June RLIA coordinated a count of the resident Canada geese. There must have been a mole within our operation, because none were observed on the lake at the time of the count, which was at 10:00 A.M. on June 27th. However, there were 40 at Mud Lake (estimate), 10 at Tyranena Golf Course, 94 on the Marsh, and 203 at the Fish Hatchery. By the afternoon, many of these were on Rock Lake. In 1994 there were no resident geese in the Rock Lake area. (The population in the state has gone from approximately 1,600 in 1966 to 100,000 in 2000.) These geese are not the same as the migratory ones. A count will again be done next year.

Despite progress in controlling run-off from the watershed, available data shows a decline in the water quality of Rock Lake. Perhaps the data would show even more deterioration if the efforts in recent years to protect the lake had not been undertaken, e.g., the transfer of Korth farm to Korth Park and the cooperation of many land owners with the Rock Lake Priority Project in controlling manure run-off.

Some of the data which we have comes from the Self-Help Lake Monitoring Program, again done by Bob and Laurie White, who take readings approximately fifteen times during the summer. Chlorophyll readings did not change significantly, phosphorus readings indicate an increase from the year before, and water clarity, as measured by the secchi disk, was 6.2 feet, about four feet worse than the previous year, two feet less than any other reading since 1988, and nine feet less than the best-ever year,1991, when the secchi disk could be seen fifteen feet from the surface of the water.

The board members have identified some of the possible causes:

All the causes can and should be addressed, since all are known to be contributing factors in deterioration of water quality.

A DNR report in 1996 identified some of these pollution sources in Rock Lake, but the board is discussing applying for a grant that would update and expand on that data.

The Rock Lake Improvement Association is dedicated to preserving the quality of Rock Lake so that it can be enjoyed by all, now and in the future. While shoreline owners have an extra measure of responsibility (and an increased measure of enjoyment), RLIA is a lake association that focuses on the responsibility (and pleasure) of all citizens of its community. That community is comprised of the entire Rock Lake watershed, plus the many people who spend a season, a day, or even an hour enjoying Rock Lake.