New technology to re-route birds to prevent E. coli at Pewaukee Lake

PEWAUKEE -- E. coli has been a nuisance to those who enjoy Pewaukee Lake during recent summers, and now, the Pewaukee Lake Water Ski Club has donated $5,000 for purchase of technology designed to reroute birds' flight patterns away from the Lakefront Park Beach, in hopes of keeping E. coli out of the lake.

The money was raised through the ski club`s organization of the first Lake Country Clean Water Festival held in conjunction with the Pewaukee Kiwanis Beach Party last summer.

A dedication ceremony was held on Memorial Day (May 28th) at Lakefront Park, after which the ski club performed its first show of the 2012 season.

"In 2009, we missed 40 percent of our shows because the beach was closed due to E. coli. It`s a ghost town when the beach is closed. We asked ourselves, `How can we be part of the solution?'" Jeff Friess, trustee of the Pewaukee Lake Water Ski Club and founder of the event said.

The technology designed to fight E. coli is a bird deterrent system called the 'Eagle Eye'. The system involves a reflective pyramid that rotates to send light beams out in a menacing pattern. The light spectrum causes birds to deviate in flight to locate an alternative destination.