November E-news

OCLRA eNews – November 2023
Please share this information and the OCLRA website (www.oclra.org)
with the members of your lake association, district and/or friends
group and with your personal networks.
The next OCLRA Board meeting is Monday, December 11, from 9 to 10:30
a.m., at the ADRC building in Rhinelander, across the parking lot from
Trig’s grocery. You will receive the agenda in advance and there will be an
option to attend via Zoom. All are welcome.
What is your lake group up to? OCLRA want to hear from you.
ALERT: Wakeboat bill advances in State Legislature
Wakeboat discussion dominates legislators’ listening sessions
St. Anthony Falls lab seeks more data on wakeboats’ bottom impacts
Wisconsin Lakes sets Annual Meeting December 5
Richard Nelson, Tom Burrell join OCLRA Board
Squash Lake’s Dan Butkus named president of Wisconsin Lakes
New book examines the benefits of recycling wastewater
What is your lake group up to? OCLRA want to hear from you.
The OCLRA Board wants to know what our member lake associations are
doing – issues you’re facing, successes you’ve had, help you need. We’re
reserving two slots at our January meeting (date to be determined) for lake
association or district leaders to drop by and give updates. It’s first come,
first served. We expect to make these visits a regular feature of our
meetings. If you want to volunteer your group for January’s meeting, email
to trulseh@tjrcommunications.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
ALERT: Wakeboat bill advances in State Legislature
The wakeboat bill proposed by Sen. Mary Felzkowski and Rep. Rob
Swearingen and supported by the boating industry, has been introduced in
both houses and assigned to committees. It is known as SB680 (referred to
the Committee on Financial Institutions and Sporting Heritage) and AB 656
(referred to the Committee on Forestry, Parks and Outdoor Recreation). As
you know likely know, this bill allows enhanced wakes as near as 200 feet
from shore and on any lake large than 50 acres. It also precludes local
ordinances with stricter provisions. Please watch for regular updates on the

progress of this bill and, in the meantime, write to your legislators to give
your opinions about it.
Wakeboat discussion dominates legislators’ listening sessions
A November 18 article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provides a
good summary of the discussion about the wakeboat bill during the
November 13 listening sessions held by Sen. Mary Felzkowski and Rep.
Rob Swearingen in Eagle River, Minocqua and Rhinelander. The sessions
drew a total of more than 400 people, the vast majority opposing the bill. To
view the article, search on Google at “Northern Wisconsin residents seek
stronger regulations on wake surfing.” (You might not be able to access the
article if you are not a subscriber.)
St. Anthony Falls lab seeks more data on wakeboats’ bottom impacts
One of the most definitive, peer-reviewed studies on wakeboat impacts is
being conducted by the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls
Laboratory. The current Phase 2 study looks at the impact or propeller
wash and wakes on lake bottoms, including the potential to re-suspend
phosphorus, contributing to algae blooms and excessive growth of aquatic
plants. The research team intended to publish a peer-reviewed report in fall
of this year but then saw a need for more field work. That work is now
done, and during winter the team will analyze the data and prepare to
publish its findings. The additional data relates to the impact of transverse
waves, which are generated when boats travel below planning speed and
move in the same direction as the boat. The research indicates that there
are measurable effects on lake bottoms from both propeller wash and
transverse waves. You can read the full update from the lab team here.
Click the button below for a short progress update, photos from the field
campaigns, and plans for the next steps:
Wisconsin Lakes sets Annual Meeting December 5
Wisconsin Lakes will hold its Annual Membership Meeting on Tuesday,
December 5, at 4:30 p.m., online via Zoom. Here’s a chance to learn what
our statewide lake conservation organization accomplished in the past
year, and hear about the exciting plans for 2024. All are welcome, including
non-members, but you must register.
Squash Lake’s Dan Butkus named president of Wisconsin Lakes

Earlier this month Dan Butkus was named president of Wisconsin Lakes by
the organization’s board of directors. He replaces Cathie Erickson, who had
served as president for six years and remains on the board. Dan has been
on the Wisconsin Lakes board for five years and recently served as chair of
the policy committee. His family has owned a property on Squash Lake
near Rhinelander for nearly 70 years.  He was instrumental in forming the
Squash Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District in 2017, and he serves
as its treasurer. Before that he was president of the Squash Lake
Association for five years. Dan is a graduate of the Wisconsin Lake
Leaders Institute (Crew 11, 2016). In another development on the
Wisconsin Lakes board, John Richter, a resident of Plum Lake in Vilas
County, was appointed as a director serving the northern region.
Richard Nelson, Tom Burrell join OCLRA Board
The OCLRA Board of Directors has welcomed two new members: Richard
Nelson and Tom Burrell (pronounced “burl”). Richard is a graduate of
Cornell University. He worked 15 years in the food and beverage industry,
and then in 1995 chose higher education as a new career direction. He
worked at colleges in northwest Minnesota and New York’s Adirondack
mountains before joining Nicolet College as president in 2015. Now retired,
Richard and his wife, Susan, live on Lake Mildred in the Town of Newbold,
where they continue to enjoy the natural amenities of Wisconsin’s
Northwoods. Tom graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio and Willamette
University in Oregon. He held numerous jobs in finance and operated
sulfide mines and a flotation mill in New Mexico; he also remodeled and
operated a hotel in Silverton, Colorado, and taught finance and investing
for 27 years at Western Oregon University. He and wife Stephanie are
retired and live at her family’s cabin on Lake Katherine.
New book examines the benefits of recycling wastewater
Wastewater recycling is seen increasingly as part of the solution to drought
and water scarcity in parts of the United States. The issue is not limited to
western states: water supplies are stressed even in some states with
bountiful rainfall. In his new book, Purified: How Recycled Sewage Is
Transforming Our Water, journalist Peter Annin probes deep into the water
reuse movement in five water-strapped states: California, Texas, Virginia,
Nevada, and Florida. He drinks beer made from purified wastewater, visits
communities where recycled wastewater came to the rescue, examines

how one of the nation’s largest treatment plants hopes to recycle 100% of
its wastewater by 2035, and much more. Annin makes the case that
recycled wastewater is sorely needed as part of the water supply in an era
of climate change.