County Executive, Madison Mayor Unveil Warner Park Clean Beach Corridor
June 01, 2022
Ariana Vruwink
County Executive
Dane County, City of Madison Partner on Technology Investment to Provide Safe Swimming Area for Kids and Families
Warner Park Beach now has a designated safe, clean swimming area thanks to a partnership between Dane County and the City of Madison, County Executive Joe Parisi and Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway announced today.
The pair held a news conference today (Wednesday, June 1) to officially unveil the new “Clean Beach Corridor” at Warner Park. The corridor walls off a section of Lake Mendota. Water within that area is continuously filtered keeping blue green algae out, reducing beach closures, and giving families confidence they can head out for a day of fun at the beach with less worries of what they will find when they arrive.
“The County has had great success with these Clean Beach Corridors at Lake Mendota County Park and Goodland County Park,” County Executive Joe Parisi said. “Teaming with the City of Madison on this and other lake clean-up efforts will help get more families outside this summer to enjoy these waters.”
“Today we’re unveiling the results of a collaboration between the City and the County to make Warner Beach more family-friendly and safer for swimming. While this exclosure is only a solution for this beach, it will increase access for the Northside community to Lake Mendota,” said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “Both the City and the County remain committed to cleaning up all our lakes in the long term. I’m also delighted that our Green Power Team has installed solar as part of this project.”
Each “Clean Beach Corridor” costs around $90,000. Dane County spent roughly $67,000 on filtration equipment, $18,000 on the barrier curtain, and $5,000 on pipes, chains, buoys, etc. The City invested $700,000 to build the new shelter and site improvements and will pay the operational costs going forward.
A similar project is slated at Tenney Park in 2024. Staff are reviewing the feasibility of building similar systems at additional beaches in the coming years.
All of the water within the new “Clean Beach Corridor” regularly cycles through a large pump and is filtered naturally with no chemicals. The technology was created by Dane County staff. The sand filter draws water from the half acre sized safe swimming corridor created by a “curtain” in the lake, filtering 100 gallons per minute.
“We know the multiple benefits of getting kids and families outside for safe, fun recreation,” Parisi added. “Coming together we can get more of these systems installed and create opportunity for young people,” he concluded.