Tuesday, January 17, 2006

FITCHBURG -- But when the lake brimmed to overflowing, the biological productivity of the 17-acre lake plummeted. About three years ago, Sheets said he belatedly realized that a neighbor, an expert in wildlife ecology, was right when he warned about the long-term negative implications of flooding.

Until they attended a recent meeting of the Plan Commission, none of the residents who lived near the lake thought to complain to city officials in Fitchburg.

?We knew they knew because the department of public works had to close off Fitchrona Road and the parking lot (of Quarry Ridge Natural Area),? he said.

Paul Woodard, Fitchburg?s director of public works, said he had been unaware of these concerns. The city will hire a consultant to examine drainage in the area and propose long-term solutions to the problem, perhaps with assistance from an advisory committee.

Residents of the area met with Mayor Tom Clauder and city officials Jan. 10 to discuss the issue.

Residents around the lake had heard rumors of development to the northwest. Only when someone told Sheets that a Target store was planned for the Wingra stone quarry did he ask for a copy of the comprehensive development plan for the area, known as Fitchburg Commons.

About 70 percent of the land surrounding the lake is a Dane County park. Under the guidance of the park department, several residents have removed noxious weeds and invasive bushes, assisted in the controlled burn of the prairie, collected seeds of prairie plants and began restoring an oak savanna.

Residents also tried to reestablish desirable aquatic plants but it appears that few survived the flooding of May 2004 and last year?s drought.

Sheets said the original storm water plans had been based on the premise that there would be no development in the Wingra stone quarry and in the former Kapec orchard, the area behind the Pancake Café.

The group that completed an environmental study of the lake in 1986 warned that ?no additional runoff should reach Goose Lake if at all possible,? and noted that ?Uncontrolled storm sewer runoff would cause drastic water level fluctuations and greater sedimentation.?

Sue Jones with the county Land and Water Resources Department said staff members will participate in the advisory committee, if it?s formed. She said forming the committee is ?an appropriate next step.? The department has also offered to apply for a lake planning grant from the Department of Natural Resources to fund a study of the long-term trends that affect the ponds.

Russ Hefty lived near the lake for more than 30 years and is a volunteer for the county parks department, and helps residents restore vegetation in and around the lake. ?Goose Lake used to be a very high quality glacial kettle pond? with a variety of aquatic plants, including emergents (such as reeds and cattails) and submergents (such as coontail, elodea, and sago pond plants),

Since the pond has no natural outlet and had flat bottom and steep sides, any additional water meant a dramatic increase in water levels, which killed emergent plants, which usually grow in water no deeper than three feet. Runoff also kills submergents at a vulnerable point in their development when they grow above the water surface and begin aerobic respiration.

The additional runoff from Fitchburg was also associated with a dramatic decline in water quality, resulting in what Hefty said was a ?pea soup pond? capable of supporting only the growth of alga.

?The lake will never be what it was because water isn?t removed quickly enough for aquatic plants,? Hefty said.

Addressing the problem now may avoid the need for much more expensive solutions later.

Hefty cites a pond in Middleton that received so much runoff that it flooded a nearby road, necessitating an expensive system of pipes and pumps to avoid creating a traffic hazard. Even with those measures, the pond is little more than a detention basin.

Runoff from Fitchburg dramatically altered the lake?s natural water budget, Hefty said.

It won?t recover until the current sources of storm water are eliminated.

?Any additional water would add insult to injury,? Hefty said.

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