WISCONSIN LAKES SEEKS REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 33
Fifty years ago, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted a law creating “inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts,” which would undertake programs of lake protection and rehabilitation.” This became Chapter 33 of the Wisconsin statutes, and now in 2023 over 250 lakes are managed in part by a local lake district. Districts work to control or prevent aquatic invasive species, manage dams, work on water quality issues, and more.
While small changes to lake district law were enacted over the years, no comprehensive set of revisions has occurred since 2003.
Wisconsin Lakes, working with our partner the Extension Lakes Program at UW-Stevens Point, and with help from the UW Madison Division of Extension Local Government Center, asked Wisconsin’s lake districts for suggestions of revisions that could help the law work better. Those suggestions have been reviewed, discussed, and distilled into this proposal. Our hope is that it could see passage in 2024 or early in 2025.