Dirty Water Hurts Wisconsin Business

Our new governor keeps saying Wisconsin is open for business - - but in suspending years of work to control (through reducing phosphorus runoff) algae growth that is choking rivers, lakes and streams - - he will make it easy for lovers of the outdoors to take their recreational and investment dollars to cleaner waters elsewhere.

Follow an excellent series on this important issue at the website of the River Alliance of Wisconsin.

Here's a sample, with video, among the many true stories business owners are telling:

Jason Davis’ Waterfront Bar & Grill in Menomonie sits high above Lake Menomin and affords patrons a lovely view of the water.  During the summer, however, the water is so polluted with blue-green algae—and the stink that comes with it—that nobody wants to be anywhere near it.  Other establishments in Menomonie—the public library, downtown shops and restaurants, and the public beach—are negatively impacted by algae blooms, but Davis’ close proximity to the green water makes him especially vulnerable to losing customers.

“I’ve lost some business—two days last year due to the smell, people couldn’t sit outside…  Luckily for me, it was on a Tuesday night where I do roughly $1,000 worth of sales. Whereas if it would’ve been a Friday night or a Wednesday night, I would’ve lost three or four thousand dollars worth of sales.”