This story ran 8/23/2010 on Dane101.com
A coalition of Madison non-profits hope to use the pollutant-filtering power of fungi to make the waters of Lake Wingra near Vilas Beach less hospitable for e. coli and other associated waterborne bacteria in the coming year.
The beach just re-opened last week after high levels of algae closed it on July 20. The month-long closing was, Friends of Lake Wingra chair Jim Lorman said, “unacceptably long,” and many chose to swim despite the risk.
Last year was a better year for the beach, following an experimental kill of invasive carp, but most years the beach closes an average of seven times per year due to e. coli and blue-green algae, thanks largely, Lorman said, to runoff from grassy areas where hundreds of Canada geese congregate and leave their droppings…
Christie Taylor 