GREEN LAKE (NBC 26) — In Green Lake the melt from the blizzard of '26 is on.
For locals getting outside and enjoying warmer weather is on the horizon.
But for Stephanie Prellwitz CEO of the Green Lake Association, the melting of snow could mean elevated levels of phosphorus in the lake.
"When you have this much water melting at once, if it cant go into the ground," Prellwitz said. "And if the ground is frozen, it will cause more and more problems.”
Prellwitz says that while its not uncommon for runoff into lakes and streams.
However, the large amount of snow melting will have more force to carry even more pollutants.
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"If a farmer has spread manure on the snow, that is not going into the ground or into the soil where we want it," Prellwitz said. "Its going into our local streams and rivers."
When it comes to years past, Prellwitz says Green Lake has been lucky in terms of water quality.
"The last few years we have had drought, and that has certainly helped the lake," Prellwitz said." Because if you have less rain you have less run off and the lake is artificially protected for a while.”
Taylor Haag Strauser is the assistant director of the Green Lake Association and says the combination of large snowfall and quick melting has prompted them to take action.
"We went out sampling yesterday to try and get a baseline assessment of what the nutrient levels are in the water ways," Strauser said."
Strauser indicated that if sediment and phosphorus levels are elevated it could become unsafe for people.
Phosphorus is an element that in excesses, can you know cause excessive plant growth, and algae growth."
Prellwitz says that while they will keep an eye on levels of phosphorus, results from their sampling won’t come back for at least a couple of weeks at the earliest.
