Lake Wingra
| Lake Wingra | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Dane County, near Madison, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 43°3′13″N 89°25′11″W / 43.05361°N 89.41972°WCoordinates: 43°3′13″N 89°25′11″W / 43.05361°N 89.41972°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 1.3 km2 (1 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 2.7 m (9 ft) |
| Max. depth | 4.3 metres (14 ft) |
| Water volume | 6,000,000 m3 (210,000,000 cu ft) |
| Shore length1 | 5.9 km (4 mi) |
| Frozen | about 120 days a year |
| References | |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Lake Wingra is a small lake located inside the city limits of the U.S. city of Madison, Wisconsin. The smallest of the five major lakes drained by the Yahara River in Dane County, Lake Wingra is bordered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum on the south and west and the City of Madison on the remaining shoreline. The lake is considered an important fishery and is known for spring runs of large muskellunge. Henry Vilas Zoo, Wingra Boats, Wingra Park, and Edgewood College are located on the Lake's northern shoreline. The majority of the shoreline is publicly owned.
Historically, Native Americans made extensive use of the lands surrounding Lake Wingra, which takes its name from the word for "duck" in the language of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
In the past, Lake Wingra was a very productive lake ecosystem with significant groundwater inputs. These inputs primarily took the form of surface springs and subsurface seepage, with drainage running through Wingra Creek to Lake Monona and the Yahara River, which is part of the Upper Rock River drainage, a tributary to the Mississippi River.
Over the past two hundred years, human use of the lake and its watershed have changed significantly. Only a fraction of the historical springs feeding the lake still remain and a much greater percentage of the lake's water budget comprises chemically, biologically and thermally polluted surface runoff. Lake Wingra, like other lakes in the Yahara chain (Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa), is severely stressed by a combination of toxic pollutants, such as mercury and PCBs, thermal pollution, sedimentation, exotic species (plant, animal and microbial), intense human recreational use and hyper-nutrification with nitrogen and phosphorus.
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