Construction site erosion due to improperly installed/maintained erosion-control measures is a serious problem. Soil that is transported off a construction site as sediment-laden runoff can eventually reach storm sewers which discharge into Lake Wingra, causing a host of water quality impairments.
On a per-unit-area comparative basis, residential and commercial construction is shown to cause more erosion and sediment delivery than farmland. This is based on a study of lakebed sediment cores spanning the last 150 years from four Wisconsin lakes. In Wisconsin, the soil erosion rate during construction is 10 to 100 times greater than the rate of erosion from agriculture. For every acre under construction, an amount of soil equivalent to 1.5 dump truck loads washes into a nearby lake or stream unless the builder uses effective erosion controls.
Construction sites in the Lake Wingra watershed that fail to maintain proper erosion controls should be reported to City of Madison officials. The easiest way to notify authorities is to go to: Report A Problem