The annual banquet of the Manitowoc County Lakes Association took place on Friday, October the 13th, hosted by Dan Dufek and the Larrabee Sportsman’s Club, who provided a delicious broasted chicken dinner and great company. MCLA members stepped up to provide an abundance of door prizes.
The Annual Lake Stewardship awards were presented at the meeting. Read more
Planned agenda
1) Presentation by David Wetenkamp
2) 5-10 minute social break
3) MCLA general membership meeting
a) Secretary’s report
b) Treasurer’s report
c) Carsten’s Lake project status update, sedimentation basin permit from DNR
d) Upcoming meetings: 10/13/23 annual meeting/banquet
e) Voluntary Lake reports (if time permits)
f) Open time for any questions/discussion (if time permits)
g) Adjourn
Meeting Minutes now available here
Updated July 4, 2023
Planned agenda
1) Presentation by Jake Divine, Invasive Species Coordinator for Glacierland RC&D.
Glacierland RC&D is a nonprofit, grass-roots organization that is committed to wise use and conservation of our natural resources. Glacierland’s projects address sustainable agriculture, multiple use forestry, clean water, and invasive species. As the Invasive Species Coordinator, Jake acts as the point of contact regarding invasive species issues in Manitowoc & Kewaunee county, administers the Lakeshore Invasive Species Management Area (LISMA), provides training and education on invasive species monitoring, prevention, and management, and helps implement restoration and management projects.
2) 5 to 10 minute social break
3) MCLA general membership meeting
a) Secretary’s report
b) Treasurer’s report
c) Any status updates of the Carsten’s Lake project since the 4/27 meeting
d) Upcoming meetings – 8/24/23 meeting and 10/13/23 annual meeting/banquet
e) Voluntary Lake reports (if time permits)
f) Open time for any questions/discussion (if time permits)
g) Adjourn
This meeting took place Sept. 1, 2022 at 6:30 PM
Location: Autumn Ridge Golf Course Banquet Hall
1 Straight Drive, Valders, WI 54245
The meeting will begin with a presentation on Manitowoc County Shoreland regulations by Pete Tarnowski – County Planning and Park Manager and Reed Gaedtke – County Code Administrator.
Pete and Reed will review Shoreland regulations which will cover some history of shoreland regulation, setback requirements, impervious surface and filling and grading regulations. They are hoping to provide the audience with some clarity and information on what’s required for permitting. They will entertain some general questions but they will not be taking site specific questions pertaining to any individual’s projects. Individuals are encouraged contact their office with specifics about any projects they are thinking about.
MCLA business will follow the presentation portion of the meeting. Public and MCLA members are encouraged to attend.
For a quick review and a great handout about Shoreland Zoning in Manitowoc County, please visit the County’s website.
https://manitowoccountywi.gov/departments/planning-and-zoning/shoreland/
UPDATED Jan 29, 2026
presented at the Nov 20, 2025 MCLA meeting.
Sarah Majerus, Stantec – introduced Prof. Kyle Herrman and graduate student Grace Hiley, both from UW-Stevens Point.
Grace Hiley – Described the wetland scape along with phosphorus sorption materials.
Prof. Kyle Herrman – Additional details of the project.
Slide Presentation
An update on Carstens Lake project by Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership (LNRP) and Stantec from the April 25, 2025 MCLA Meeting.
view April 25, 2024 presentation
October 2024 Project Update
Hello Everyone!
Exciting news, we are beginning construction this week on the Sedimentation Basin for Carstens Lake. The entire process is expected to take about a month. At that point, we will begin working with UW-Stevens Point to incorporate the phosflow sorption medium. This is the second element to this project, following up on the wetland scrapes completed last fall.
I’m very much looking forward to how this turns out! In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Amy Lentz
Director of Projects
Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership
April 2024 Project Update
At the MCLA meeting on April 25, 2024, Sara Majerus of Stantec discussed changes to plan as the project has progressed, the project schedule, and present research updates. Regarding the slag filter system, a change from slag media to Phosflow from Australia may occur. Phosflow is more expensive but is lighter and has shown better results. Disposal of the product is strictly to a landfill site at this time. They are looking at July or August for construction of the device/apparatus for the Phosflow bags. In 2027, results will be reviewed, along with options for proceeding. View a detailed design and project schedule in this presentation.
November 2023 Project Update
On 11/20/23, Stantec and LNRP met with the DNR and Army Core of Engineers regarding future permits needed. The scrape is done and planted. Due to the soft soils, the excavator has done some of the work with a long-reach hoe and pads. The final cost of the project is appearing to be in the $500,000 range and paid for with grants. Slag filter system is being designed.
October 2023 Project Update
The wetland scrap portion of the water quality improvement project was started in late September 2023.
April 27, 2023 Project Update
Grants for the project now total approximately $450,000. A sediment scrape east of Pine Creek and in the basin west of pine creek is planned to increase both retention time and watershed capacity. This will be good for habitat and animals. Since Pine Creek high water events are currently diverted into the basin, the outlet structure is planned to have slag filters to capture and store phosphorous with the goal of reducing incoming phosphorous by 20%. This project, if successful, will help other lakes in the future. Six interns are being hired to collect samples on Pine Creek this summer, testing for E. coli and phosphorous, among other things.
Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) and partners at Stantec and the UW–Stevens Point are working on a design for water quality treatment along Pine Creek, a direct tributary to Carstens Lake. The project was initiated as a result of a 3-year study by MCLA (2012-2014), which identified high levels of phosphorus (>40 ppb) in Carstens Lake. The subsequent 2018 Carstens Lake Comprehensive Management Plan recommends offline structures adjacent to Pine Creek for water quality treatment to mitigate phosphorus loading in Carstens Lake, and was the catalyst for this project.
Read the LNRP Project Update May 2023.
Partners are proposing to construct an offline sedimentation basin, which will attenuate high stream flows and allow particulate solids and nutrients to settle in the basin. Secondary treatment will be provided by implementing sorption technology in the outlet berm that will capture reactive phosphorus prior to discharge back into Pine Creek and eventually Carstens Lake. The sorption technology, developed by Professor Kyle Herrman at UWSP, uses steel furnace slag to remove dissolved phosphorus from the water stream.
UW-SP and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources environmental toxicologists are in the process of reviewing the slag material for field application. UW-SP is waiting on conditional approval from WDNR. Pending WDNR approval and additional grant funding, construction is anticipated to move forward in late 2022 or early 2023, and sorption technology will be installed in Spring 2023.
A meeting outlining this project took place 6/30/22 at the Newton Town Hall, 6524 Carstens Lake Road, Manitowoc • 6:30pm
Read The Valders Journal Coverage of this Meeting
published July 7, 2022 • Your hometown news! Subscribe for $32/year! 920-775-4431
Jim Kettler, Director of Projects, Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership
As an ecologist with special interests in restoration ecology, agroecology, and ecosystem management, Jim received a PhD in ecology from the University of Georgia and a BS in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 1985-1995, he worked at the interface of land management issues examining potential improvements of traditional agricultural systems and restoration of degraded pastures in Costa Rica, working with traditional farmers on inland fisheries development in West Africa, serving as an ecologist for the Nooksack Indian Tribe in western Washington State, and conducting training workshops on sustainable agriculture for agricultural extension agents in the state of Georgia.
James also taught at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Bard College. From 1996-2006, he was involved with the International Honors Program, as Traveling Faculty, as Academic Director, and Executive Director. Jim and his family live in an environmentally designed home using geothermal, passive solar, and a wood stove in the Town of Centerville in southern Manitowoc County.
Sarah Majerus, Environmental Scientist, Stantec
Sarah is a wetland ecologist and enjoys working with local non-profits, businesses, and municipalities to provide integrated solutions that protect and conserve water resources. Her goal is to educate clients and help them design projects that minimize impacts to natural resources and provide ecological function for the future.
With project experience including wetland determination and delineation, botanical surveys, and habitat restoration planning and design, Sarah also has expertise in naturalized stormwater management, watershed planning, native landscape planning, and site planning for recreational development. She is a professional wetland scientist (PWS) with the Society of Wetland Scientists and a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Assured Wetland Delineator.
Outside of work, Sarah enjoys exploring and traveling with her family—she’s typically in search of opportunities to recreate in, on, or near water.
At the April 28, 2022 MCLA meeting, Jerry Halverson, Department Director of Manitowoc County Soil & Water Conservation, presented an update on the Gass and English Lake runoff/phosphorus reduction projects.
Jason Breeggemann is the new fisheries biologist with the WDNR based out of Green Bay. His current duties will include management of the fisheries in Brown and Manitowoc counties as well as the Green Bay walleye and musky fisheries.
He was previously the WDNR fisheries biologist for Shawano, Menominee, and Waupaca counties and worked as a biologist in that position since March of 2017. Jason has a B.S. from the University of Minnesota, M.S. from UW Stevens Point, and PhD from South Dakota State University.
In his free time, he enjoys hunting, fishing, and gardening.
Welcome, Jason! We look forward to working with you.
Related post: Comprehensive Fishery Survey of Manitowoc County Lakes
Originally published May 2, 2022
Jan 22, 2022
Reprinted with permission. Please subscribe to the Valders Journal and follow the Valders Journal on facebook.
Treatment aimed to kill invasive Eurasian milfoil in Pigeon Lake had an unusual result–it worked.
Gus Gospodarek, president of the Pigeon Lake Association, said a recent consultant’s report shows improvement in the rural Valders lake because of treatment for the invasive aquatic plant a few years ago. “We are weed free so far,” he said.
The report produced by Onterra Lake Management Planning noted treatment took place in 2017. “We are thrilled about it,” Gospodarek said. “That will be five years without the finding of Eurasian milfoil.”
5:00pm – Social & Cash Bar
6:00pm – Buffet Style Dinner
7:00pm – Program followed by door prizes and 50/50 raffle
Speaker: Sarah Majerus from Stantec will provide an update on the possible Carstens Lake filtration project
Organized and hosted by the Carstens Lake Association and Hartlaub Lake Association in coordination with the Manitowoc County Lakes Association.
Cost: $20 per person – pay at the door
Marcia Salm at marciasalm@gmail.com or phone/text (920) 562-3836
Gene Weyer at gweyer45@gmail.com or phone/text (920) 973-9900
We understand there are still concerns with COVID-19 so we will be following CDC and Manitowoc County guidelines at the time with respect to social distancing and masks. Dinner tables will be spaced accordingly.
Knox’s Silver Valley Banquet Hall
1222 S. Alverno Rd, Manitowoc
PUBLIC AND GUESTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND!
This will be the first meeting for MCLA since 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions were in place and we have a lot of catching up to do! We’ll have an update on Lake Projects from this past year, and the MCLA business meeting will follow. If you wish to come early at 5:00 pm there may be pontoon rides available to tour Cedar Lake.
Kayak Demonstration:
Thomas Koeppen a Kayak instructor and his team with the “Kayak Connection Program” will discuss the different types of Kayaks their purpose, types of paddles, strokes and equipment and demonstrate safety and paddle techniques. If you are considering purchasing a Kayak or want to improve your skills this program is for you.
Aquatic Invasive Species Program 2021:
Jake Divine from Glacierland RC&D, the new AIS coordinator will update us on this year’s boat inspection program and AIS activities.
This MCLA Meeting took place on June 24, 2021. Meeting Minutes Available:
