Lake Management Plan

In early Spring of 2011, the Green Lake Association approached our local and state lake partners, listed to the right, about the possibility of working together to develop a lake management plan for Big Green Lake. Together these organizations formed Big Green's Planning Team.

What is a lake management plan?

A lake management plan brings all of the previous research and monitoring information, new research and monitoring, and input from the lake residents, lake users, and community members together in one comprehensive plan. The final plan, once adopted, will help guide strategic, future management efforts for all of the local and state organizations, including the GLA, that are working to conserve, protect, and or preserve Big Green Lake.

Why a lake management plan now?

Green Lake has been studied extensively over the years, with vast amounts of data collected. During the 1970s, the quality of water in Big Green Lake was declining. Through research and analyzing trends over a period of time, our lake state and local partners implemented extensive strategies to improve water quality. Since then, our state and local partners, including the GLA, have worked together to help reverse that trend and maintain water quality. However, there's still more to be done and a lake management plan is the tool to make our goals achievable.

View a framework flowchart used as a guide during the planning process.

What's happening now?

Winter 2012 - Public Advisory Group (PAG)

As an additional component to citizen participation in Big Green Lake's Management Plan, the Planning Team developed a public advisory group that consists of 10-14 individuals representing lake stakeholder groups within Fond du Lac and Green Lake Counties. The LMP Public Advisory Group (PAG) will meet once a month for about four months beginning February 2012. Learn more about the public advisory group.

Fall 2011 - Citizen Survey

Throughout the Fall of 2011, the GLA (on behalf of the planning team) has been working closely with a WIDNR social scientist and UW-Stevens Point Water Research staff to develop a statistically significant citizen survey for Big Green Lake. The survey’s objectives will be to better understand and prioritize people’s concerns and their vision for Big Green Lake and to help identify potential educational opportunities. On behalf of the lake management planning team, the GLA recently submitted and was awarded a WIDNR grant to help fund 65% of the survey costs with the GLA, the Green Lake Sanitary District and the Green Lake Conservancy funding the remaining 35%. Survey development is near completion and will be mailed to a random selection of 1,000 people living on the lake and in our watershed in January of 2012. In the Spring or early Summer of 2012, the planning team will be sharing the results of the survey along with the summarized concerns brought to light during the open houses and workshops.

Summer 2011 - Public Workshops

In July 2011, the public was invited to a public participation workshop, which was the first in a series of workshops regarding the lake management planning process. During the workshop, attendees learned about the project, its objectives, the basic components of a lake management plan, and its importance to Green Lake.

Below is a slide show presentation prepared by Ted Johnson, WI DNR Water Resources Biologist. View the slide show to gain a better understanding of what a lake management plan is, why its important, and what is involved in the planning process.

If you were unable to attend our first workshop, the video below is the first of seven videos from the public meeting held Thursday, July 14, 2011. Watch all seven videos for a complete viewing of the meeting. Learn more about our YouTube videos.

Following the public workshop, a public open house was held at the end of July, 2011 where attendees were able to use stars to mark their prioritized concerns and write their specific suggestions on large posters listing specific topics. A sample of those topics included: water quality, aquatic habitat, land preservation, aesthetics, shorelines and shore land, management, planning, and integration.

Stay Involved

As mentioned earlier, public participation is an important part of the lake management planning process. We encourage you to contact any of the sponsors and partners with your questions or comments. In addition, you can sign up for our e-blast, "like" us on Facebook, and read local newspapers stay to up-to-date during the planning process.

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