Yahara pact aims to keep farm pollution out of lakes

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - In a water cleanup effort more complex than any other in the nation, virtually every community in the 360-square-mile watershed around Madison has agreed to pool resources with farmers to eliminate nutrient-driven weed and algae growths that limit use of lakes and streams.

The agreement signed by about 60 local governments will pool more than $2 million annually for 20 years starting Jan. 1 to pay for measures that keep soil and other material laden with the nutrient phosphorus from being carried into surface water by snow melt and rain.