Madison Department of Public Health
Link: Contact Us Link: Contents Link: Events Link: Home Link: Search Link: What's Hot
MPH Logo
Link: Administration
 Link: Coalitions & Collaborations
 Link: Community Health Improvement Plan
 Link: Environmental Health and Lab
 Link: Our Locations
 Link: Public Health Nursing
 Link: Publications, Reports & Videos
Environmental Health and Lab
Mood Photos Mood Photos

Air Quality / Animal Control / Awards & Recognitions / Beaches / Clean Sweep / External Links / Food Protection Program / Hazardous Waste / Laboratory Testing Services / Lead Hazards /  Licensing Application & Fee Schedule / Lodging / Smoking Regulations / Swimming Pools/Whirlpools / Tattoo & Body Piercing / Water Quality / West Nile Virus

Image: blue bar

EMPACT Beach Study

The Madison Department of Public Health (MDPH) with partners from the City of Madison Information Services, State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Wisconsin Health Services, and the community, including the Friends of Lake Wingra, are working on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) grant-funded comprehensive water quality monitoring program at three Madison lakes. 

The two-year project is extensively studying water quality on one beach on each of the three City of Madison recreational lakes for physical, nutrient, microbial and weather-related parameters.  During the swimming season, automated, remote-monitoring instruments collect real-time data on rainfall, wind speed and direction, air and water temperature, turbidity, nutrients, and chlorophyll contents.  Water samples are collected for a battery of fecal indicators (fecal coliform, E.coli, enterococci). WSLH conducts pathogen testing (E. coli 0157:H, Salmonella, Cryptosporidium and Giardia) using cutting-edge technologies. The project will also genotype coliphage samples to determine the source of fecal contamination. The correlations between microbial indicator data, occurrence of pathogens, and meteorological, physical and water quality data will be established to create a predictive model for real-time assessment of the risk of pathogen occurrence and beach closure decisions. The collected data will provide information on current beach conditions to the recreational users of the lakes. The results are communicated to the public through beach signs, the internet, radio and television and a telephone hotline.

EMPACT Sites Monitoring

The U.S.Geological Survey (USGS) webpage contains the continuous monitoring data from the EMPACT sites. Click here to access this site. Select Wisconsin "Water Quality" in the data category field, then hit Go. A page with a map pops up with a number of USGS sites. Click on the Madison location on the map and the EMPACT sites are at the bottom of the list. 

Below are the direct web sites for the USGS monitoring sites in Madison:

Click here for Olbrich Beach on Lake Monona

Click here for Vilas Beach on Lake Wingra

Click here for Spring Harbor Beach on Lake Mendota

For more information, contact Rob Waschbusch, USGS, at 608-821-3868.

back to top
       
    Administration / Coalitions & Collaborations / Community Health Improvement Plan / Contact Us / Contents / Environmental Health & Lab / Events / Home / Our Locations / Public Health Nursing / Publications, Reports and Videos / Search / What's Hot