Comment RE: Current Water Level

dear brian,
im sorry to say that i have not been able to attend any mettings. i would however like to let you know how i feel about the whole water level issue.

It seems that you are spending a lot of our money on lawyers to fight the dnr over 7 inches of water. i think now would be a good time to take a walk down to the river and take a look. do we need another 7 inches. i dont think so.

UPDATE:

Some have suggested that the RKLD has wasted time and money on challenging the DNR and their supporting parties, the wetlands and hunting clubs. I would respond to those folks by saying that we met each and every DNR request for further study, more information and deeper research. To invest our tax dollars in such a massive book of knowledge, only to leave it on a bookshelf collecting dust, would have been the real waste of time and money.
2007 Annual Newsletter

As far as the current high water brought on by heavy precipitation, the EIR's Hydological research has proven the lake is not a storage facility for today's water levels -

*275-foot overflow spillway. This is a big issue – high flow water goes here and is not stored (therefore no flood storage)

* Drawdown does not have any effect on flood storage. Even if the lake is drawn down to very low levels, the flood peaks will still be the same.
Environmental Impact Report

i think maybe its time to start spending this money on other things that will improve our lake. how about some shoreline clean up. there is crap all over out there. we could use some lights on the bridges too. just ask jim schmeling.

UPDATE:

Shoreline clean-up of garbage, dead fish, or fallen trees is the responsibility of private landowners. Stepping on someone else's dry land is trespassing, in most cases.

Bridges are property of the state, the federal government and/or the railroads.

While I agree that for safety reasons, lights would provide safer
navigation, when we have used solar lights atop buoys, vandals have shattered
them.

And Jim Schmeling is a neighbor and a great American.

lots of other things im sure we can come up with. the other thing i dont like is the fact that we have to flip the whole bill. what about all the non residents that use the lake. are we getting any money from them?

UPDATE:

The use of the water is protected under the WI Constitution
Public Trust Doctrine

...navigable waters should be free to all for commerce, for travel, for recreation, and also for hunting and fishing, which are now mainly certain forms of recreation.

If the non-residents own property within the boundaries of the lake district, then yes, they receive the special charge on their properly tax bill just like the resident residents.

For powers of a Lake District, read this WI Statutes Chapter 33

write back when you have time. you should consider having the next meeting in newville. culvers has a lot of room.

Since I live in Newville, I would love holding the annual meeting here,
however, I doubt Culver's can accommodate our usual attendance of 200, much less
2005's record attendance of 600+.

thanks for your time.
doug sherman

Thank you Doug and please attend our next annual meeting, or even our monthly board meetings for more information.

We are a community that respects the rights of everyone to enjoy the beauty of Lake Koshkonong. Let us use this victory as motivation to carry us on to the next effort; amending DNR operating orders that roughly 20 years ago, artificially dropped Lake Koshkonong‘s water levels.
2005 Annual Newsletter