“Chapter 33 Golden Jubilee: 50 Years of Partnering for Our Waters”

2024 marks the 50^th anniversary of Wisconsin’s unique lake law, Chapter 33: Public Inland Waters. The legislature and governor worked together in the early 1970s to establish a collaborative research and management framework that lives on today as the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Partnership. The law also created the pathway for landowners around lakes to form Public Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Districts. Today, over 250 lake districts exist in the state, and they all operate under the same policies and rules laid out in Chapter 33. As we gather in Stevens Point for our annual Convention, we’ll look back at the progress made over 50 years of partnering to protect and restore waters, and we will collectively look ahead to the next 50 years to ensure that the next generations of water lovers will continue our legacy of proactive lake, river, and watershed management.