The annual Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention begins Wednesday in Stevens Point.
The annual gathering brings together the public, researchers, politicians, lakes groups and others interested in the quality of Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes.
The 38th annual convention will be held in conjunction with the 7th Wisconsin Citizen-based Monitoring Conference and the Water Action Volunteers Annual Symposium.
Eric Olson is Director of UW-Extension Lakes he says the four-day event is a time for those interested in preserving the watershed can network and learn...
".....Wisconsin has thousands of lakes and we rely on citizens to be a big part of managing and protecting these lakes. This convention is basically a place and time where everybody across the state can get together. This year we're celebrating the anniversary of the citizen lake monitoring network. This program allows citizen volunteers on lakes to participate formally by collecting data about lakes. They measure water clarity. Many of them measure water chemistry and this gives us more information about what is happening with these lakes....."
One keynote speaker is Kris Stepenuck who did extensive research on the effects of citizen lake monitors. A second speaker is Alyssum Pohl who boated the length of the Mississippi River taking samples to test the water quality along the nation's largest river.
Olson says workshops and presentations will happen each day. The meeting is open to all, but registration is required.
The meeting is at the the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Stevens Point. More information is available on this websiteor Wisconsinlakes.org including the full agenda for the convention.
