The science is unequivocal about how to reduce the algae levels in the Yahara lakes: Stop spreading vast amounts of manure, Richard Lathrop, a research limnologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told an audience Tuesday night in a lecture hall in the UW-Madison Mechanical Engineering Building.
“How do we tackle this King Kong gorilla? This isn’t the 800-pound gorilla you hear about. This is a huge one,” he said.
Lathrop, who is also a part of the UW-Madison Center for Limnology, kicked off the spring 2009 Community Environmental Forum with the lecture, “Controlling Eutrophication in the Yahara Lakes: Challenges and Opportunities.” About 100 people, equal parts students and community members, were in the audience.