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Abstract
Vilas beach is the most heavily used beach in Madison and is utilized for many recreational activities throughout the year. In the past, Vilas Park beach has been closed many times due to high coliform bacteria and E. coli levels in the lake’s water. Coliform bacteria can come from many sources including: birds, household pets, leaking sewers, stormwater runoff or nearby farms. In recent years, there has been an increased number of geese in the Vilas Park area. The feces of the geese contain coliform bacteria, including E. coli, and are most likely the cause for coliform bacteria in the lake. We sampled total coliform bacteria as well as E. coli during the winter months (November to February) from four testing sites: Vilas beach, Vilas lagoon bridge, the Edgewood pier, and Wingra Park. We compared our results from the winter months with results from the summer as well as results from previous studies done during the winter months. We found that levels of both total coliform and E. coli significantly decreased in the winter months, particularly when the lake was frozen over. In addition, the bridge site contained the highest bacteria levels, possibly because of the high populations of geese and goose feces contaminating the water. Our results led us to the conclusion that the goose population around Lake Wingra needs to be controlled in order to create a safer lake environment by reducing the total coliform and E. coli bacteria entering the lake from the geese. We also recommend that the Madison Department of Public health should test the lake water for bacteria whenever lake activities are taking place, not only during the summer months.
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