Lake Wingra is one of the four lakes located near Madison, WI.  Carp in the lake are thought to be a major cause in sediment resuspension creating murky water. The carp stir sediment as they feed off of the lake bottom, making it difficult for vegetation to receive sunlight. The lack of vegetation then allows for the sediment to be more easily resuspended, leading to a further worsening of water quality. In order to justify the removal of the carp, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources installed an exclosure on the northern shore of Lake Wingra to simulate lake conditions without carp.

Figure 1. Lake Wingra with the location of the exclosure indicated by the red box. (www.google.com)

The exclosure is 2.5 acres in area with side lengths of roughly 100m. The exclosure extends from the shore line to a maximum depth of 2.7 m. The exclosure is also surrounded by a wave barrier to protect the exclosure from large wave impacts.

Figure 2. Aerial photo of the exclosure location with the exclosure wall and wave barrier indicated. (From class notes)

The objective of our project was to determine the effectiveness of the exclosure in reducing sediment resuspension. In order to do this we compared lake sediment characteristics, wave climates, and sediment transport processes both inside and outside of the exclosure.