In 2014, the Water, Sustainability and Climate Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published “Yahara 2070” a series of stories about potential futures for the Madison area and the Yahara watershed. Using a combination of …
Lake Monona
How A 30-Year Rain Event Became a 100-Year Flood
In case you’ve somehow missed the news, let’s just say that it’s been wet in Wisconsin over the last week. Really, really wet. Here in Madison we’re still holding our breath, filling up sandbags and …
Is Lake Monona A Sign That Lake Mendota’s Clear Water Phase Is On Its Way?
Earlier this week, Center for Limnology director, Jake Vander Zanden, noted a startling difference in Madison’s two largest lakes, Mendota and Monona. The waters of Lake Monona, near where he lives, were crystal clear, while …
(Cold) Blast from the Past: According to Science, We’re Losing Something Magical.
(This article was originally published January 22, 2018 and has been updated with photos from January 2022) by Adam Hinterthuer – Two weeks ago, I walked down the hill from my house to do something …
Fish Fry Day: Daphnia Update & Perch (H2O) Purifiers?
Lake Monona is crystal clear, while Mendota stays murky and, on Wednesday, we asked you to help us monitor Lake Mendota as we wait to see if the native zooplankton, daphnia pulicaria, can rally and …
Video: State of the Yahara Lakes – 2013
As we enter field season here at the Center for Limnology and people all over Madison are pulling their tackle boxes out of the garage and their boats out of storage, we’d like to showcase …
Thickest Lake Ice in Decades May Last Into Spring
Ted Bier, our senior research specialist for the Long-Term Ecological Research program, was recently photographed on Lake Monona holding this massive chunk of ice in front of the Madison skyline. That picture led to the …
Fish Fry Day: Lake Sturgeon
Forgive the late post here, but your trusty blog author has been out and about in the Rocky Mountain front range for the past few days. But, never fear, it’s still Friday here in the …
“Weird” Ice The Norm for Madison Lakes
Following up on our posts of Lake Mendota freezing while Monona flirted with open water, Ted Bier, the Long-Term Ecological Research team’s senior research specialist, sent in this photo. It shows Ted a few winters …
CSI: Lake Monona Edition – Open Water in Negative Temps?
Over here at the CFL, all the talk has been about the ice covering Lake Mendota. That’s all well and good, but it’s diverted attention from something happening on the other side of the isthmus …