White Crow Road Shoreline

Brian,
Attached are two photo's of my shoreline on White Crow Road. They were taken on 9/24 at 12:45 PM. This level is perfect for me!
Northwest Jerry

Lake Level on 9.24.07 = 776.9

Meteorological Satellite Imagery

Just in time for Duck Season Opener on Saturday Morning --

A weblog of meteorological satellite imagery relevant to current weather events -- The intent of this weblog is to showcase examples of some of the meteorological satellite images and products that are available to (or created by) scientists and researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), located at the University of Wisconsin - Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC).
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...meteorological radar signature of bird “roost rings” was observed.

Large numbers of birds dispersed from their nocturnal roost sites during the early morning hours to begin feeding, and as the flock crossed the radar beam, ring-like signatures were seen on the Milwaukee/Sullivan radar composite reflectivity product as the birds spread out across the area.

Tt least two of the roost rings appear to have originated from the general vicinity of some of the larger (warmer) lakes noted on the MODIS and GOES IR imagery above: Beaver Dam Lake (located northeast of Madison), and Lake Koshkonong ...

Water Level Still Too High

Lake level is at 776.72 - 6.24 inches OVER the DNR Summer Target level.

Both wicket gates and all 6 slide gates are 100% open.

Jellystone Camper Question

I am in Jellystone Park in the town of Koshkonong.

Part of the campground pays the lake district assessment and part do not. I do.

What do I get for my money?

Do I have lake rights and use of the lake that people who don't pay get?

If so could you explain my rights?

Thank you,

Jim

Jim -
The Rock County Board established the lake district boundaries in 1999, after a public hearing.

Much like a school district, boundaries are not drawn perfectly - sometimes a boundary is marked by a street, excluding those from attending a school that may indeed be closer to those same residents.

This is the situation with Jellystone.

Since the boundaries were established in 1999, the campground has expanded, and apparently, there is now camp sites beyond the lake district boundaries. You may want to petition your campground board to attach the entire campground to the RKLD boundary. Unfortunately, the RKLD does not have the power to annex new territory like a city can annex.

Your "rights" to use the lake are protected by the WI Public Trust Doctrine - which irritates many WI residents that WI cannot tax IL residents and other out-of-staters at a higher rate. I believe the Public Trust Doctrine should never be reversed.

Be proud that you are one of more than 4000+ lake district residents dedicated to improving the safety, recreation and ecology of WI's 3rd largest inland lake.

Thank you for your great question and your cntinued support.

Photo Contest

Today's lake level is 776.90 - roughly the level that the RKLD is requesting from the DNR.

The lake is STILL 8 1/2 inches ABOVE the DNR summer target level.

We are asking that lake district taxpayers and other users and supporters of this natural resource treasure take photos of your shorelines. And, if you are one who still has a boat in the water, please travel the lake's shoreline and document this water level.

If we are successful in demonstrating to the Rock County Circuit Court that the RKLD's request to change the DNR operating orders is a positive for the ecosystem, then we would be in the process of closing gates at the Indianford Dam.

Instead, all gates are 100% open, and in roughly 3 weeks, the winter drawdown will begin. further draining the lake.

Please help the RKLD demonstrate that the claims of the Wetlands Club and the DNR are incorrect.

DNR rules making waves

From the Milw Journal Sentinel HERE

Lake residents say shoreline changes would be problematic

...The state Department of Natural Resources has proposed changes to NR 115, shoreline protection rules that have been in place for some 40 years. The rule changes, if enacted, would affect current and future property owners along lakes and rivers across the state.

Proponents say the changes are necessary because the rapid growth in shoreland ownership has strained water quality and wildlife.

Opponents say the changes will be costly to enforce and affect property rights.

...Julie Anderson, director of county Planning and Development, sent an eight-page letter to the DNR, giving point-by-point objections to several of the proposed changes.

Anderson said the county does not have the personnel to enforce the changes and can't even guess how many people it would take.

"We don't want to be the lawn police," she said.

...Lori Grant of the River Alliance of Wisconsin says the changes are needed.

"The current rules don't reflect the increase in development that has occurred over the years," she said.
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More on NR 115
HERE

Slow-No-Wake Lifted on Rock River

Press Release
Slow-No-Wake Lifted on Rock River

As a result of the continued drop of water elevations on the Rock River, the City of Janesville, in concert with the Townships of Fulton and Janesville, will open their segments of the Rock River to regular boating without speed control as of Friday, September 21, 2007.

This opens the river to all forms of boating from Janesville north to Lake Koshkonong.

Public boat launch speed restriction signs which have been in place since August 21 will be removed by the Rock County Sheriff’s Department on Friday.

All public boat ramps at Riverside and Traxler Parks are open for public use.

Island building aids Mississippi habitat

BROWNSVILLE, Minn. - On the Mississippi River below the verdant bluffs that mark the far southern Minnesota-Wisconsin line, the federal government is waging a multi-million dollar campaign against the elements.



For the last few weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed a 3-mile stretch of river into a floating construction zone, restoring and creating new river islands.


The goal: restore wildlife habitat lost to a half-century of erosion and, in turn, bolstering fishing, waterfowl migration and the overall health of the river's northern stretches.


No one has tried a restoration program of this size on such a large river, said Marvin Hubbell, regional manager for the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.


So far it's gotten favorable reviews from the engineering community and river lovers. Officials are considering it as a model for restoration on the Rio Grande as well as the Parana River in Brazil and the Yangtze River in China, Hubbell said.


The work on the Mississippi is part of a larger effort to create dozens of islands between Cairo, Ill., and the Twin Cities that's been going on for nearly two decades.


Gary Dillabar, 63, said he remembers when the Mississippi River near Stoddard, Wis., was an open expanse of brown water. Last year, the corps added three islands, and now the water is clearer and fish are spawning there.


"It's one of the few places today where government money is being used and shows a good, positive result," Dillabar said. "Those projects are going to be the savior of the river."


Problems on the upper Mississippi began in the mid-1930s, when the corps installed dams that transformed it into a chain of shallow lakes. For a quarter-century the dams were a boon because they expanded fish habitat, corps biologist Randall Devendorf said.


But no one realized the wind whipped across much larger bodies of water, creating intense waves that eroded islands like never before.


A 5-mile portion of river between Brownsville and Genoa, Wis., lost 495 of its 625 island acres between 1939 and 1989, said Jim Nissen, a manager with the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.


With island loss came more wind and suspended sediment, blocking sunlight aquatic plants need. As plants died, fish and waterfowl lost food and cover.


A number of Mississippi River states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois, joined with the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the corps in the late 1980s to revitalize the river's ecosystem.


They developed a strategy for about 1,200 miles of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers that called for reducing water levels to expose more land, monitor the river's health and use sediment to reinforce existing islands and build new ones.


The hope was the islands would block the wind and serve as a base for re-introducing vegetation, the first step toward enticing wildlife.


"It helps ensure we have a resource here we can pass on to our kids," Devendorf said as he watched three young bald eagles perch on a corps-built sand island near Brownsville.


The federal government has spent about $320 million on the monitoring and habitat restoration program since 1986, with about $35 million of that covering 19 island-building projects on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, Hubbell said. In 1999, Congress re-authorized $33.5 million annually for the management program, with no end date.


The corps also is building islands in Chesapeake Bay and off Louisiana and Mississippi. Most of

the new Mississippi River islands are rock and sand bars, but their designs have evolved.


At first, the corps built the islands high to withstand floods and reinforced them to combat erosion. Now they sit lower, making them more stable and natural-looking. Some are meant to erode in patterns to form pockets of wildlife-friendly water and sand flats.


There's no definite measure of whether the program is making a difference. But Nissen said aerial surveys show vegetation returning.


Bluegill samples taken from Onalaska to Genoa — where island building and depth reductions have occurred — increased from about 20 fish taken per 15 minutes in the late 1990s to about 60 fish per 15 minutes from 2002 to 2004, said Barry Johnson, chief of the aquatic sciences branch at the USGS' Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in La Crosse, Wis.


It's not known for sure if the islands play a role, Johnson said, but other, untouched parts of river haven't seen such increases.


"It's worth it," said Marquette University associate engineering professor Charles Melching.

Dredging the Mississippi III

Rocks, shown near Stoddard, Wis., on the Mississippi River Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007, comprise one of the starter islands on the river created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dredging The Mississippi II

A bulldozer driver moves sand during the building of an island on the Mississippi River near Stoddard, Wis., Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007.
4:08 a.m. ET, 9/15/07

Dredging the Mississippi I

A boater passes dredged sand on the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007. The sand is being used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create islands on the upper Mississippi River.
4:09 a.m. ET, 9/15/07

What's In a Name?

--Before settling on the current spelling, pioneers spelled Lake Koshkonong – Algonquian for “where there is a heavy fog” – about a dozen different ways, including Goosh-ke-Hawn, Kishkanon and Kus-kou-o-nog.


A Dane County blog

Today = 777.98

Previous Post

With the unusual fall flood cresting on August 31st, below is a simple comparison how fast the lake levels increase, vs. the speed of discharge.

RISING = 12 days = 51.58 inches OR, 4.3 FEET of water

Sunday 8/19 = 6.48 inches
Monday 8/20 = 5.88 inches >>>>>>>> Monday, 9/3 = 1.08 inches
Tuesday 8/21 = 3.1 inches >>>>>>>>> Tuesday, 9/4 = 0.60
Wednesday 8/22 = 4.2 inches >>>>>> Wednesday, 9/5 = 2.16
Thursday, 8/23 = 5.52 inches >>>>>> Thursday, 9/6 = 2.88
Friday, 8/24 = 6 inches >>>>>>>>>> Friday, 9/7 = 0.84
Saturday, 8/25 = 5.76 >>>>>>>>>>> Saturday, 9/8 = 0.96
Sunday, 8/26 = 5.16 >>>>>>>>>>>> Sunday, 9/9 = 2.88
Monday, 8/27 = 3.48 >>>>>>>>>>> Monday, 9/10 = 2.28
Tuesday, 8/28 = 3.12 >>>>>>>>>>> Tuesday, 9/11 = 0.84
Wednesday, 8/29 = 1.56 >>>>>>>>>Wednesday, 9/12 = 2.64
Thursday, 8/30 = 1.32 inches >>>>> Thursday, 9/13 = 2.64
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Friday, 9/14 = 2.04 inches

FALLING = 12 days = 22.84 inches OR, roughly 2 feet since the flood crested

Go ahead, ban phosphorous in lawn fertilizer

From the Janesville Gazette

...Madison's lakes are part of what make Dane County special, and that county enacted a ban in 2004 that an appeals court wisely upheld last year.

...In the meantime, residents can do their part by making sure fertilizers they buy do not contain phosphorous, which isn't needed to keep your lawn looking green.

...In a column the Gazette published in March, Janesville's Brian Swingle, executive director of the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation, even argued that a ban on phosphorous in fertilizer applied around Geneva Lake would have "a negligible, if any, effect on reducing the amount of phosphorous" in the lake.

...Do not mow your lawn shorter than 3 inches so it can absorb heavy rains. Sweep or blow fertilizers, grass clippings and leaves off sidewalks, driveways and streets. Swingle even suggests that a well-maintained lawn provides a natural, protective blanket that reduces runoff.

Caution; Slippery When Wet

SOMETHING’S FISHY — Torrential rains the weekend of Aug. 18 and 19 and in subsequent weeks rose water levels throughout the Rock River Basin.

Now that lakes and rivers are receding, some fish are being left behind in isolated pockets of marsh waters. As the water levels dropped, fish that journeyed across roadways, such as Blackhawk Island Road in the Town of Sumner, were left stranded.

Don Bush, regional fisheries supervisor with state Department of Natural Resources, said the scenario plays it self out along more than 100 miles of river from the Horicon Marsh and beyond.

Nets were cast Monday to determine whether a significant number of game fish needed rescuing. The catch primarily was carp by a 10-to-1 margin over bluegills, minnows, bass and crappies. More than 200 game fish were returned to the river, while the carp were left along the shoreline for scavengers to eat.

Shown above: Bush and DNR fish management representative Doug Lubke empty the nets this morning in the marshy area located between Blackhawk Island Road and Mud Lake.

Daily Union photo by Ryan Whisner.

DNR leaders need more science

From the Vilas County News Review

NEVER IN THE history of Wisconsin conservation has state government been so undermanned and ill-advised to lead one of the finest natural resource management programs in the country.

For a couple of weeks now, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been run by politically appointed personnel who, on average, have less than two years of experience in natural resource management.

Lake Levels Dropping Slowly

779.23 today. And Raining.

Just 9.24 inches BELOW formal Flood Stage.

34.8 inches OVER DNR summer max level.

Is this a good thing for Blackhawk Isl and Upstream?

From the Janesville Gazette, Saturday, 9.8.07;

Koshkonong lake level on Saturday was 779.42

See previous post HERE

Boats on Geneva Lake

From the Janesville Gazette

Numbers are the same, but boats have changed on Geneva Lake

Since 1998, the number of boats using Geneva Lake has remained roughly the same year-to-year. It's the types of boats that have continued to change.

...All told, Geneva Lake has one boat for every 22.2 feet of shoreline. That average has changed little over the past 10 years, he said.

By far, the highest concentration of boats remains in Fontana. Part of that is due to the Abbey Harbor, but also because of village policy.

"Fontana has had an attitude that residents should be able to have a boat on the lake if they want to," he said.

Previous Posts on NR 115

2005

Reworking NR 115

Public Hearings

Public Hearings II

Vilas Co. Urges NO

Grassroots Opposed to NR 115

Public Boat Launch Repair Update

A pontoon boat slides by the Newville public boat launch Tuesday.

The ramp was scheduled to be closed for repairs, but the water level is too high, Rock River fisheries manager Don Bush said.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will watch the water level daily until it drops, Bush said, but there is no magic number.

'It's a little unpredictable as far as how fast the water will drop,' he said. 'As of (Tuesday) we were essentially above flood stage on the Rock River.'

Aside from high waters, debris and floating piers make this a dangerous time for boating, Bush said.

Canoes on Koshkonong

Paddlers Blog Lake Koshkonong HERE

...Great weekend of paddling... though we didn't see the Lake Koshkonong Monster, we did encounter the undesirable weekend warrior in his too large out of control motor boat. We had the lake to ourselves up until noon. Then it got crazy.
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Nice photos of the Anchor Inn

When will we return to summer levels?

Another popular question -

Spring flood crested on Aril 8th at 780.55;

Summer max levels returned on May 26th; roughly 7 weeks

Fall flood crested on August 31st at 780.44 @ 7 weeks = roughly Oct 19th.

(I'll predict earlier though)

However, DNR water level orders for the winter drawdown begin Oct 15th - so it will be a long, long time before any gates at Indianford are closed again.

October will be a good boating month with fall colors in full display.

Top 5 - Historical Crests

2 in the same year:

Historical Crests
(1) 12.23 ft on 04/25/1993
(2) 11.49 ft on 06/05/2004
(3) 11.02 ft on 06/07/2000

(4) 10.58 ft on 04- 07- 2007
(5) 10.46 ft on 8-31-2007

(6) 9.77 ft on 04/23/1998

Back Below Flood Stage on Thursday

Lake levels dropped 2.16 inches last night -- 780.05

Inflow from Jefferson is dropping rapidly - 4600 cfs,
while outflow at Indianford is maintaining 6180 cfs

Rain forecast for Thursday and Friday.

DNR Rest Lake dam open house

From the Lakeland Times

...When I asked a DNR manager when the results of this session would be processed and reported on, he said "sometime next summer." After five or more years of study already, why is this input going to take a full year to study and report back on?

...And if the DNR is keeping its stated promise to not take any action before all studies and reports are finished and approved, why has the DNR ordered that the dam be opened, resulting in a current chain level of just over six feet? This while the legal operation of the dam, as I understand it, requires a minimum chain depth of 7.3 feet from July 1 through Sept. 1. The "normal" level, since 1936 when the dam's operations were drawn up, is about 8.5 feet during the summer

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Previous Posts

HERE

HERE

and,

HERE

Lake Still at Flood Stage

Lake Levels have dropped 2.4 inches since Saturday, September 1st.

Jefferson's big development plans center around rivers, downtown

From the Milw Journal Sentinel

...The city with 7,787 residents sits along the Rock and Crawfish rivers, about midway between Milwaukee and Madison.

...The city is determined to open up its waterfront, to turn it into a residential and recreational front door instead of a back door of industry

...Several sites on or near Rock River are targeted for revitalization. Development plans include apartments for seniors, condos, townhouses, single-family homes, parking, an arts incubator and a riverwalk that would also embrace the Crawfish River.

Boaters are asked to exercise caution

Dallman's Landing

From the Janesville Gazette

...In the 13 years Haugom has led the emergency management office in Jefferson County, she said a slow, and no-wake order has never been issued for Lake Koshkonong.

...The Koshkonong Lake District's Web site, rkld.org, has been placing a half-dozen postings a day telling residents along the lake to remove anything the high water could capture and put in the stream and carry out, said Brian Christianson, chairman of the district.

"We've been removing debris from the Indianford trash racks daily the last two weeks," he said.

"It's really the individual's responsibility," Christianson added, "to protect piers, their boats, picnic tables, storage boxes or anything high water could capture."

Residents May Report Your Boat Numbers...

From WCLO

...Deputies will also be doing boat patrols on Lake Koshkonong and the Rock River during the Labor Day weekend

Remember, NO WAKE!

From the Beloit Daily News

...Also doing extra patrolling this weekend is the Rock County Sheriff's Department's boat patrol, who will be on Lake Koshkonong and the Rock River. The “Slow No Wake” zone will be “stringently” enforced.