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John Frederick, the Village founder, constructed
a dam in the Sugar River for powering a sawmill
in 1845. Not far from that location, another dam
was constructed in 1920 forming the present Lake
Belle View. In 1926, the Village developed a 12-acre
park on a peninsula extending toward the center
of the lake. Since that time the Village has grown
around the lake, as have the communities of Montrose
to the north and Exeter to the south.
Currently the lake has the typical water quality
and fishery problems associated with aging artificial
impoundments including sedimentation, turbidity,
and lack of aquatic plant diversity, excessive
nutrients, algal blooms, and rough fish. The Sugar
River supports both cold and warm water fisheries,
with several miles of cold-water fisheries upstream
of Lake Belle View. Common carp populations in
the lake are high and have increased upstream
into the Sugar River. Carp populations are not
only a result of, but contribute to, the water
quality problems in the lake through re-suspension
of bottom sediments when scavenging. The river
was once known for its smallmouth bass population,
which seems to have been diminished. The Wisconsin
DNR states that the Belleville dam impedes fish
passage. Therefore the dam is potentially an impediment
to maintaining the fishery downstream and contributing
to reduced populations of smallmouth bass and
other species upstream.
The view of the Village of Belleville can be
seen in their commitment to find a solution to
the problems that have been identified within
Lake Belle View. In the early 1980's the Village
of Belleville recognized the need to find solutions
to problems in Lake Belle View. The Village formed
a Lake Restoration Committee, which completed
structural restoration efforts including dam repair
and riprap placement. They also authorized the
University of Wisconsin Water Resources Management
Workshop that completed a comprehensive report
in 1995. In addition, the Village has passed a
property tax exclusively for lake restoration
and the town of Montrose has pledged funds to
lake restoration efforts.
The goals proposed for this project:
- Improve water quality in both Lake Belle View
and the Sugar River.
- Increase lake depths.
- Increase diversity of aquatic habitat.
- Improve diversity and quality of wetland habitat
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