Why Do Those Who Oppose RKLD Always Mention Lake Geneva??

To Brian C
From XX

I must tell you as a life long area resident, (born in Janesville-Milton Union HS 1957-XXX since 1994) I have no problem with the water level as it is now. I have boated on the lake since 1959 and went over the dam on the lift in the early 60's.

Deeper water means more boats, bigger boats, faster boats, and noiser boats. There are enough boats on the waterway now. More boats and deeper water means more shoreline erosion and when it's gone, it's done forever.

Everyone is blowing their own whistle so I'm blowing mine. I once heard XXXX at a meeting saying we need higher water levels because some people were having trouble getting their big boats off the trailer. I say leave well enough alone. This isn't Geneva Lake.

Nice web site and I won't appear to tell the judge my thoughts.
Sincerely, XX

Dear XX;

Thanks for your candid reply, and your opinions are always welcome. However, you are deeply misguided if you believe the fight over water levels is ONLY about boating.

More than $500,000 has been invested in on-site research, conducted by PhDs from UW-Madison. Their data is posted all over our WEBSITE. The experts tell us low water levels are harming the entire ecosystem – the fish habitat, the wetlands, shorelines, bird nesting, frog reproduction, native plants, emergent/submergent vegetation, etc, etc.

Navigation is indeed what most recreational lake-users focus on, after all, boaters wait a long time to get-out and enjoy the weather, so when the weather turns nice, it sure would be special to have some water in the lake for reasonable navigation.

Assume boat traffic begins May 15 and ends roughly September 15 – that’s 4 months, or 16 weeks out of 52 weeks – 31% of the year for boating.

Then, consider 3 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) of “intense” boat traffic within each of those 16 weeks – that equates to 48 days of boat traffic out of 365 days – 13% of the year for “heavy” boat traffic.

Then, if we were to review the Farmer’s Almanac to determine, over the last 5 years, just how many of those 48 days were indeed “boatable” weather – i.e. not storming, or high-water/no wake, or low water/drought conditions, or unseasonably cool weather, or an early frost, etc, etc – my guess is the Lake Koshkonong/Rock River hosts “busy” boating – fast, slow, and in-between – less than 10% of the calendar year.

While science indicates boat wakes do indeed contribute to shoreline erosion, it is a miniscule amount compared to the erosion caused by Mother Nature.

Furthermore, since boating/navigation is a 10% issue, then what else is the RKLD trying to accomplish for the ecosystem?

Since you raised your age and year of residency (1994), I would refer you to hundreds of fishermen - many who will testify later this month – that in their experienced opinion, the fish habitat was mortally damaged when the DNR changed the operating orders and artificially lowered water levels in 1991.

I could go on and on, but I would rather not regurgitate thousands of pages of data posted on our website.

If you are one of those shoreline homeowners who have grown tired of boats disturbing your backyard tranquility, then please keep it in perspective. Boat traffic is at its worst just 10% of the year.

But, the damage being done to the entire ecosystem by the DNR’s current water level orders is a year-round, every day, activity.

Respectfully,
Brian Christianson