Polluted runoff is Wisconsin's number one water quality problem, degrading or threatening an estimated 90% of inland lakes. Extra phosphorus can wash into our lakes and streams from lawns, farm fields, stormwater and construction sites, roads and other hard surfaces, causing algae blooms, water quality decline, and negative impacts on recreational lake use and lakeshore property values. Phosphorus is the main nutrient that drives eutrophication in most lakes. Reducing phosphorus in household cleaning products
On May 27th, 2009, a bill (AB-281) was introduced that would reduce one of the most common causes of pollution: phosphorus in household products. The best way to protect our state’s water is to avoid putting phosphorus into it to begin with. Reducing our use of phosphorus-based products is an easy step to improve the water quality of our lakes.
Phosphorus is a common ingredient in household detergents. Phosphorus content is listed near the ingredients on dish detergent packaging, where it often described as “phosphate.”When we use household cleaning products to wash dishes or do laundry, significant amounts of phosphorus can end up in our surface waters. Household wastewater from washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, and toilets either makes its way to a municipal wastewater treatment system or your own private septic tank.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants collect wastewater from many homes and phosphorus in one of the pollutants that the treatment plant filters out before releasing the treated water back into the environment (which is often a river or lake). Unfortunately, phosphorus is extremely difficult to take out, and wastewater treatment removes only a small percentage of phosphorus. A considerable amount of phosphorus from households is released to streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries through wastewater effluent.
Washington State estimates that dishwashing detergent accounts for an estimated 10 to 12 percent of the phosphorus entering municipal wastewater plants. In Minnesota, phosphorus in detergent accounts for about 19 percent of the total amount of phosphorus entering municipal wastewater treatment systems each year.
Improperly functioning or maintained septic tanks can be a direct conduit of phosphorus pollution into lakes.
Phosphorus-free dishwashing detergents are as effective at cleaning as soaps that contain phosphorus.
The "Clean Lakes bill" (AB 3) passed in the 2009-2010 legislative session with widespread, bi-partisan support, and is the culmination of several years of advocacy work by the Wisconsin Association of Lakes. Passage of this bill has made Wisconsin a national leader and a model for other states. It was signed into law April 14th, 2009.
Polluted runoff is Wisconsin's number one water quality
problem, negatively impacting an estimated 90% of
Wisconsin's lakes. In 2002, Wisconsin was the first
state in the nation to pass a comprehensive policy
and rules to reduce polluted runoff, with a significant
focus on agricultural runoff. Unfortunately, the promise
of these rules went unfulfilled as the legislature did not fund their implementation. Under current
Wisconsin law, existing farms are not required to
comply with these rules unless offered at least a
70% cost share to cover expenses associated with changing
farm practices that keep soil, nutrients, or manure
out of our lakes and rivers.
DNR's manure management discharge rules (NR 243) affect how Wisconsin’s largest farms (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs) handle, spread, and store their manure. CAFOs make up less than 1% of Wisconsin's farms but produce 10% of the manure. Manure runoff has contaminated drinking water, killed fish, and contributes nutrients to our lakes which can lead to chronic algae blooms and declining water quality. 
The Wisconsin Association of Lakes is currently serving on the Department of Natural Resources phosphorus criteria committee, which will establish the maximum allowable levels of phosphorus for different types of lakes. 