The Raymer's Cove Restoration Project, completed in the summer of 2004, has made a dramatic difference in an old, unsafe parking lot once known as “The Daisy Field.”  The Cove is located on Lake Mendota across from the Eagle Heights Apartments.  The project is designed to reduce erosion in the area, provide safer access to the lake, and to improve the looks of what was once an unsightly area.  A Department of Natural Resources Urban Nonpoint Source Storm Water Program Grant and a $10,000 Friends of the  Preserve donation funded this project.  Bill McKinley and Tom Ellefson, owners of the Land Resource Company, developed and completed the Anglers’ Cove project.

This was part of the larger UW-Madison Runoff Management Project, which included extensive planning for the UW Campus.  Planning was begun by a Water Resources Management workshop of students taught by Professors Ken Potter and Fred Madison which began long-range planning for the area around Anglers’ Cove and the entire UW Campus.

The project addressed several factors that contributed to the problems in this area:

1.  Problem: The Eagle Heights Apartment complex has a large amount of impenetrable area that is paved or covered by buildings. The areas covered by buildings and parking lots do not absorb water. Furthermore, the water is concentrated (by gutter systems) and accelerated (by smooth pavement) in these areas. As a result, instead of being absorbed by the land, the water runs rapidly off. The faster the water moves the more sediment it carries and the more erosion damage it can cause. Thus a fast rain brings more dirt and nutrients and causes more erosion than a slow rain of the same size.
   Solution: A dissipater of boulders and riprap was built in the main gully to deal with the water from the Apartments (see photograph). The dissipater slows down the water so that it has less force and thus does not create large erosion gullies and will not carry as much sediments into the lake. At the same time a plan was developed to decrease the amount of water coming into the Cove area, using upsteam rain gardens and other methods to infiltrate and slow the water.

1. Future Needs: Additional money is still needed to implement the upstream plan to decrease the amount of water entering the Anglers’ Cove area from the Apartments.
    

2. Problem: In parts of Eagle Heights Woods and Tent Colony Woods, invasive alien plants such as honeysuckle and buckthorn have killed the native woodland ground layer. Normally native herbs protect the ground and slow the water, allowing the water to be absorbed by the ground rather than running off into the lake. With the loss of a ground layer, water moves faster and picks up more sediment and other pollutants. The steep slopes in Tent Colony Woods and on the bluff of Eagle Heights Woods make the water move faster and increase erosion problems.
   Solution: The Class of 1955 has agreed to raise funds to restore Tent Colony Woods. This money will enable invasive species to be removed and the ground layer to be restored, decreasing runoff.
   Future Needs: Money and personnel will be needed to restore damaged portions of the Eagle Heights Woods ground layer.
    

3. Problem: The creation of a parking lot in Tent Colony Woods further aggravated an already serious situation. This paved area did not absorb water. Instead, the water was accelerated and funneled into a relatively small area. This water eroded and created a cut into the shoreline of Lake Mendota (see 'before' photos). This collapsing shoreline carries dirt and nutrients directly into the Lake.