Lake Waubesa Shoreland Habitat Monitoring

In partnership with the Lake Waubesa Conservation Association (LWCA), CARPC is creating a comprehensive Lake Management Plan (LMP) for Lake Waubesa. This planning process will bring stakeholders together based on their common interest in improving and protecting their lake.

One of the five main goals for the Lake Waubesa LMP is to restore and protect the habitat along the lake shorelines and Waubesa wetlands. To inventory nearshore habitat on the lake, Melissa Breyer (Environmental Resources Planner) and Carolyn Betz (Project Manager) spent several days out on the water this July conducting a lakeshore habitat assessment.

Following the WDNR Lake Shoreland & Shallows Habitat Monitoring Field Protocol, Melissa and Carolyn examined the riparian, bank, and littoral habitat of each shoreland parcel. Data was collected on percent canopy cover, percent cover of ground layers, human structures in the 35-foot riparian buffer zone, runoff concerns, bank modifications and erosion, and human structures and aquatic plants in the littoral zone.

The results of this assessment will aid in the development of protection and habitat restoration targets and identify priority areas and actions for each. It will also guide future Healthy Lakes Grant applications to implement restoration practices. The shoreland habitat data collected during this process will also be submitted to WDNR for display on the Lakes and AIS Viewer.

Later this fall, the team will go back out to Lake Waubesa to conduct a coarse woody habitat inventory. Stay tuned for more updates, and in the meantime, please remember to take the Lake Waubesa Lake User Survey by August 31!