Lots 'O Rain

I read the total rainfall over the past week was roughly 5.76 inches. As you can imagine, gate operations were numerous. The month of August gate log will be posted later this week.

Ethanol may leave boaters high and dry

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Report says fuel blends could lead to engine damage

...As a fuel additive, ethanol "loves water and willingly sucks up moisture" from the air, said Charles Plueddeman, editor at large of Boating Magazine and a boating enthusiast from Oshkosh.

DNR walks out of swan meeting with angry residents

From the Milw Journal Sentinel (click here)

...The state is trying to reintroduce native trumpeter swans to Wisconsin, Ryan said, and mute swans, known for their occasionally aggressive nature, can bully the trumpeters.

"They are an introduced bird. They're not native and having them in the wild upsets the balance and creates the unnatural interaction," Ryan explained.

All Slide Gates Open

Lake levels passed the DNR summer max of 776.33 - to 776.37 and rising.

At 3:45pm today, all 6 slide gates are wide open.

RRKA/RKLD Summary Brief

We now have it on the site at
HERE

Big Rainfall

3 slide gates reopened this AM as overnight rainfall raised lake levels 3.24 inches. Today's lake level is 776.34 - above DNR summer target of 776.20

All Gates Closed

Lake Levels dropped from 776.17 to 776.11 to 775.05 today - since Saturday.

Gates Open

With the rain yesterday, lake levels increased from 776.1 to 776.17 - .84 of an inch.

DNR mandates 3 of the 6 slide gates be open.

This Sat Aug 19th

Correction

The RRKA Corn Boil has changed locations, from the VFW to the Sunset. RRKA corrected their flyer - the corn is not free but the parking at Sunset is.

Also, the Speedboat Run is happening - fast-tivities are Noon to 6pm.

The new Sunset owners attended and testified on behalf of the RKLD during Public Testimony this past March. Let them know we appreciate their support at the Contested Case Hearing.

Amended Scheduling Order

Monday, August 14th was the amended deadline for RKLD and the two other Parties to submit their post-hearing summary briefs. We will have the summary posted on the Contested Case Hearing Page shortly.

The next deadline is Thursday, September 7th for the DNR to submit their rebuttal to our summary brief submitted yesterday.

Entire fish population in lake dies in Stanley

From the Janesville Gazette

The fish population in a man-made lake died in one day earlier this month when they lacked oxygen as temperatures soared past 100 degrees.

The lack of rain helped essentially suffocate thousands of bluegills, largemouth bass, northern pike and other fish at Chapman Lake the first week of August, said Joe Kurz, fisheries biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

"It seems to have occurred over a one-day period," he said, adding in his more than 20 years with the DNR he had never seen such a large fish kill.

Volunteers and inmates from the Chippewa Valley Correctional Institution in Chippewa Falls helped to clean up the dead fish.

Kurz said the kill might in time prove beneficial to the lake, which is man-made thanks to a dam of the Wolf River.

The city is considering rebuilding the dam next year. Kurz said with the fish gone, the city could dredge the lake bottom, something not done since the 1980s. Dredging can improve fish habitat, he said.

Kurz said the earliest he foresees the lake being restocked is 2008.

Saturday AUGUST 19th

RRKA Free Corn Boil
At the VFW
Fort Atkinson
Noon - 6pm
Live Music

RRKA has been a valuable partner to the RKLD during the our battle with the DNR over lake water levels and the Contested Case Hearing.

Please give them your best support.

And tell Fort Atkinson they should lobby their city council to join the boundary of the RKLD. Fort benefits from nominally higher lake levels too.

From the Wetlands Club Website

IBA Dedication!
We are having a public event September 16, 2006 to celebrate the dedication of the Lake Koshkonong area as an Important Bird Area (IBA). This is an event for our members and the public. There will be representatives from the DNR and hopefully the governor's office.

More details will be coming...
_________________________________________________

RKLD looks forward to working with the Wetlands Club following the resolution of the Contested Case Hearing in constructing islands in the lake.

Islands would provide valuable nesting areas for migratory birds such as the pelicans that have become common on Lake Koshkonong

Read More here

Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week.
But I'm darned if I know how the helican.

ALL GATES CLOSED

Today's lake levels are at 776.09.

The 6th slide gate was closed this morning. All gates, wicket and slide, are closed.

Water Levels Dropping

Each of the past 2 days a slide gate has been closed. Currently, both wicket gates and 5 of 6 slide gates are closed.

Today's lake level is 776.10, or an inch and a quarter below DNR summer target level.

See DNR operating orders

Study seeks to chart Geneva Lake's economic power

From the Janesville Gazette

...The survey is intended to identify groups who live in the area, measure patterns of consumption and examine how changes in Geneva Lake water quality and quality of life might change those patterns, said Russell Kashian, assistant professor of economics at UW-Whitewater.

..."We want to give policy makers an idea of the economic impact of Geneva Lake, and indirectly, give them a way to market the lake," Kashian said.

____________________________________________________

Dr. Kashian was among the RKLD's team of expert witnesses during the Contested Case Hearing.

Read his testimony HERE

Sound Familiar?

From the Lakeland Times:

DNR may lower Manitowish Chain levels

After spending three years at the negotiating table with Manitowish Chain stakeholders, the state Department of Natural Resources has proposed changes to the operation of Rest Lake Dam, which the agency claims will rejuvenate the lake sturgeon population and reduce flooding of residential property on the Manitowish River.

The proposal, presented by DNR water resource specialist Jim Kreitlow at the Manitowish Waters Lakes Association annual meeting in July, would increase instream flows (water released from the dam into the Manitowish River) during sturgeon spawning in May and June to create more suitable habitat for successful spawning and fingerling survival.

DNR research has shown that sturgeon are not naturally spawning on the lower Manitowish River – a situation Kreitlow attributes to low river flows in past years, and which the agency was mandated in the state’s sturgeon management plan of 2000 to rectify.

Changes reasonable

Kreitlow’s proposal specifies that instead of the current minimum instream flow allowed during the sturgeon spawn, of 50 cubic feet per second (cfs), the minimum flow should be raised to 75 cfs between May 1 and June 8, dates chosen because water temperatures are usually ideal during that time for spawning activity.

“I feel sufficient field data has been collected and that the proposed changes are reasonable,” Kreitlow said at the meeting.

Another change included in the proposal involves extending the fall “draw down” period to eight weeks instead of five or six, which according to Kreitlow should reduce flooding of residential properties along the Manitowish.

The third major change, and most controversial for lakes association members, is the proposal to adjust the optimum summer chain levels.

The current dam operation contract requires chain levels of at least 7.3 - 8.6 feet, but Kreitlow said the chain in recent years has in reality been kept between 8.4 - 8.6 feet as a way to keep lake homeowners happy.

The impact, he said, has reduced river flows to inadequate levels for successful spawning to occur.

“To maintain high levels in the chain, water flow over the dam was reduced even below the minimum of 50 cfs down to 15 cfs,” Kreitlow said. “That is a problem with us.”

Instead, Kreitlow proposed, the lake levels, in dry years, should be kept at a minimum of 7.6 feet and a maximum of 8.6, a change that would allow adequate flows for the sturgeon while still filling the chain to what the DNR determined would be a high enough level for recreational boaters.

If the year is so dry that the minimum of 7.6 feet cannot be reached by July 1 in conjunction with the 75 cfs instream flow, the DNR and dam owner Xcel Energy would consult to determine a temporary lower instream flow until the chain could be filled.

Economic impacts unknown

Though Kreitlow had been invited to the lakes association’s meeting to present his proposal, members of the audience expressed doubt that the changes, especially the focus on a minimum fill of 7.6 feet, would not harm homeowners on the chain of lakes.

“If the lake levels even get close to 7.6, a lot of people are in trouble because they can’t get their boats off their lifts,” said lakes association president Jack King. “Last year was a really low year, what were the elevations last year?”

Water levels on the chain last summer were between 7.6 and 7.8 feet, Kreitlow responded, emphasizing that the current contract states the lake levels can legally drop to 7.3, so this change would actually benefit lake homeowners during dry years.

“We are trying to evaluate the options and try them out,” Kreitlow said, adding that the proposal would be utilized on a five-year trial basis and then re-evaluated.

Other association members expressed concern that the increased instream flows during May and June will prevent the chain from filling by Memorial Day, which has been the typical fill date in the past.

“Has anyone considered the economic impacts this could have on local businesses, if people aren’t coming up here until July?” a member asked Kreitlow. “I have to wonder, who is being favored, the sturgeon or getting the lake levels up?”

Kreitlow answered that while the economic impacts had not been studied, if the DNR and the stakeholders cannot come to a mutual agreement and the agency has to order XCEL to make the changes, an environmental assessment would be required by law and would include an economic analysis.

“It’s in everyone’s best interest not to go to court on this,” Kreitlow said. “But the DNR has the authority to make an order on the dam, which would be available for public review and subject to a public hearing.”

Expensive fish

Staying with the topic of the proposal’s economic impacts, a lakes association member asked Kreitlow how much state money has been spent to formulate this proposal over the past three years.

“What is the worthwhileness of this?” asked someone from the audience. “Why is so much tax money going into this project?”

Kreitlow said he wasn’t sure exactly how much had been spent, but said there are three DNR employees, including himself, dedicated to the project.

“I know a lot of folks here think this is a wasted effort, but a lot of people at the agency think this is an important effort,” Kreitlow said. “We have been mandated by the state to re-establish the sturgeon population.”

When asked by another lakes association member if restoring the local sturgeon population costs the DNR more than $10,000 per fish, Kreitlow responded that he “would guess it’s under that.”

“I really can’t answer that,” he said. “I don’t want to put a price on it.”

Comments Re: the Channel

The website received several emails responding to this post

__________________________________________


Brian -
I lived on the channel when that happened and it was a completely screwed up job. Lois and Gwen tried but failed with the project.

They used an old drag line that was worthless and basically removed nothing. A large backhoe could have done a wonderful job but one of those and an operator were not hired.

I do know that the mouth of the channel needs regular maintenance to keep it dug out because Linn Duesterbeck's dad stuck a rock point out past it (Illegally) when he lived on the corner lot. And after that was done the sand washes around it and fills the mouth of the channel in!!

Another problem is they never re-dug open the other end of the channel to keep flow going through it so it doesn't become so stagnant. Just a little history on the channel for you.

______________

Brian:
I was told by the fine folks at the DNR that the permit won't be a big deal. The cost is the problem. Can you (RKLD) help us out?

______________

Dear Brian
Tell them to do the same thing I had to do when I lived there, START taking up a collection from all the property owners on the channel.

_______________

Brian;
What a joke, why don’t they go around their own neighborhood and collect money like they did when it was done before?

Apparently they are the only ones interested in doing the project because anyone who has lived there for any length of time knows no one is going to help fund dredging.

King Chicken Rules the Roost

From the Town of Fulton "alternative" website.

Great little historical article on the former Tibbies Restaurant, located at the Dam in Indianford, once owned by my uncle.

Greed in control of lake district

From the Janesville Gazette Letters to the Editor

Excerpt:
Editor, the Gazette:
According to the article on the Rock Koshkonong Lake District meeting (Page 2B, July 23), there was little dissent to double the yearly assessment from $50 to $100. The reason why is because dissenters don't bother showing up anymore since the board and district are rigged to favor the Rock River Recreation Association.

_____________________________

See Matthew Dewar's previous letter-to-the-editor here

Bingham's Point Channel Question

Dear Sir,
I am a homeowner near Bingham's Point on the channel. With the low water levels, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to get in and out of the channel. I talked to the folks at the DNR, but they won't help with any dredging costs due to the fact that there isn't a public access in the channel. Can you be of any help to us? I await your answer.
Bill Chlebik

Bill;
Thanks for your note.

Unfortunately, the DNR operating orders indicate that we are not experiencing low water levels. Today’s lake level is 776.24, above the DNR Summer target of 776.20 by about 1/2 of an inch. We have 3 of 6 slide gates closed and both wicket gates closed.

Water Level Orders

I am told that some time ago, landowners paid for dredging after getting a DNR permit. It was a long and tedious process obtaining permits and almost all of the spoils had to be hauled away from the area. There were no funds from any government agency available at the time. I am also told that Lois Zimmerman & Gwen Mortensen were the people who did the leg work on securing the permit.

If so, perhaps they could forward more information to both of us. And maybe, having gone through the permitting process once before, it might be less tedious a second time.

Good Luck.