The smell of Lake Mendota on some hot, humid summer afternoons is not something you are likely to read about in Madison tourism pamphlets.
The rank smell of weed and algae-choked shorelines belies the beauty of the blue lake as seen from a distance.
And now, a study from a UW-Madison limnologist shows that without aggressive steps to stem the flow of pollutants, especially phosphorus from fertilizers, into the lake, our legacy to future generations is probably going to be a lake as polluted or even dirtier and more weed-choked than it is today.