WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and SportsAlgae advisory on Wisconsin lakes and rivers

Algae advisory on Wisconsin lakes and rivers

MADISON (WKOW) -- From a distance, water like Lake Monona can seem calm, even pristine.  Up close, and especially on the shore, the image gets murky or downright dirty.

"Sometimes it smells kind of bad," said Amy Fitz of Madison. "On hot days it's not the best."

Amy Fitz and her friend Nikki Hansen took their kids for a day of fishing at Madison's Morrison Park Tuesday morning. As a rule, they generally won't get closer to the water than the pier.

"This is pretty much what you see is what you get," said Hansen, who swam in the lake closer to Olbrich Park earlier in the year. "You see the algae, that's what you're going to swim in."

Algae is a common problem. The blue-green variety that floats like paint or pea soup even caused the recent closure of Madison's Hudson Beach.

"Just a little can cause irritation to the throat," said Chuck Warzecha, an environmental health specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

His agency yesterday cautioned people not to swallow lake or river water in Wisconsin (and make sure to wash off after swimming) as we head into the 4th of July weekend.

If people do get sick with symptoms like skin irritation, nauseau, and respiratory problems, the state will now start to keep track. For years, no one in the state has kept a hard count of lake-related illnesses.

So far this year, DHS has already received a rash of phone calls from people as far east as Pewaukee and as far northwest as Menominee. The Centers for Disease Control will help, said Warzecha.

"Trying to get an idea if there's changes being made in the area lakes that can improve conditions and hopefully see a reduced number of cases reporting."

To help clean up the water in the long-run, the legislature and Governor approved a statewide ban on phosphorus lawn fertilizer that will begin next spring. That phosphorus helps feed the algae through storm water runoff. It's based on the one that took effect in Madison and Dane County in 2005.

Last week the Assembly passed a ban restricting phophates in dishwashing detergent. The bill (AB 281) is now in the Senate.

"Currently with the bans in place we'll see things not getting a lot worse, and then combined with other actions that are being taken by the DNR and local agencies, we should see improvement over the course of years, rather then tens of years," said Warzecha.

Of course, the water is by no means off limits. Plenty of people will boat or waterski this weekend... just not Hansen.

"My kids are used to swimming in the ocean, so they didn't want to go in the dirty water compared to the ocean," she said.

For people like her, they'll enjoy the views of Wisconsin's lakes and rivers from a distance.

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