Emergency workers ready for water and ice rescues

From the Beloit Daily News

...Last week Town of Beloit firefighters saw snowmobile tracks on the ice of the Rock River, something they consider deadly.

“It's not like going out on a lake. With the currents, conditions change day to day,” Town of Beloit Assistant Fire Chief Gene Wright said.

Last year Wright heard that a boy dared to ride his bicycle across the ice. He still has concerns that some people may try to venture out on the ice.

Just a little over a week ago on Feb. 19 the Rock County Communications Center received a call that two snowmobilers had gone through the ice on Lake Koshkonong. Fortunately both managed to pull themselves out of the water and onto the ice where they waited for rescuers

Message from DNR

For those of you who do not know me, I am the new DNR Dam Safety Engineer for the Rock River Basin who replaced Sue Josheff. Sue is my supervisor.

As you can imagine with all of the snow on the ground we have been contacted a great deal about the potential for flooding this spring. We have been contacted by individuals, emergency management, as well as legislators.

I have been asked to request that dam owners/operators communicate with one another to try and have the best operation possible at their dam. It is my understanding that generally communication is not an issue when a gate change is made, so please continue this. If you hear from the dam upstream of you that they have changed their gate configuration and it does not require you to change your configuration or if you are already completely open, please pass this information on to the dam downstream of you.

We realize that if conditions are bad and we have rapid melting or heavy rain that there will likely be some flooding, but if everyone is operating their dam the best they can the questions after the flooding will be easier to answer.

I know that some of you are operators, some are owners, some have requested to be the contact for all correspondence regarding the dam, and some are the only contact information that I have for a dam, so if you could please pass this information on to the person or people who should have it I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Rob Davis
P Robert R. Davis, P.E.
Water Management Engineer
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - South Central Region
3911 Fish Hatchery Road
Fitchburg, WI 53711
(() phone: (608) 275-3316
(() fax: (608) 275-3338
(+) e-mail: robert.davis@wisconsin.gov
____________________________________________________

Thank you Rob-

And just an FYI; the 6 slide gates and 2 wicket gates at the Indianford Dam have been 100% open for nearly a full year, with a few exceptions mid-summer 2007.

Brian Christianson
Chairman, Rock-Koshkonong Lake District (www.RKLD.org)
608-884-9444

Flood Potential

Brian;
With the lake levels we have today and the snowmelt that will happen someday, any way of predicting flooding this spring?
Aaron

Lake Level 777.74

The month began at 778.32 - about a 7 inch drop. Lake levels were fairly steady, holding in that range the entire month of February.

The February gate log will be posted shortly on the Dam page, at the bottom.

Response to "Fishin Holes"

Brian -
Too bad the Janesville Gazette doesn't know what the LKWA, DNR and their wildlife/fisheree's/management/employees truly know, but won't admit, and that is; "it would create more wildlife and fish habitat that would not inundate or destroy any wetlands".

Our request to add 7 inches of water would improve the lake and river environment for all recreational activities not just boating enthusiates.

We might be ranked number one if they did too.

Jack

WI Fishing Holes

From the Green Bay Press Gazette

Most popular state fishing destinations

1. Lake Michigan
2. Lake Winnebago
3. Mississippi River
4. Wisconsin River
5. Green Bay
6. Wolf River
7. Fox River
8. Rock River
9. Chippewa Flowage
10. Lake Waubesa

The Rock River, which includes Lake Koshkonong, finished No. 8, even though some disregard it as a carp hole. Don Bush, the DNR's fisheries biologist there, cites three reasons for the Rock's popularity: It's near Milwaukee and Chicago, it's relatively free of toxins and heavy metals, and its panfish and walleyes rival any in the state.

DNR responds to winterkill in Waukesha County

From DNR

..."Shallow lakes such as Big Muskego periodically winterkill because they have dense vegetation and little water between the ice and the lake bed," Beyler stated.
____________________________________

The DNR ordered winter drawdown promotes the same scenario on Lake Koshkonong, and Koshkonong has very little vegetation.

Deadlines approach for ice fishing shelter removal

From DNR

Banquet Reminder

Sunken Snowmobile Retrieved

DNR is perpetrating a fraud upon the public trust

From the Lakeland Times

...So here's the quick recap: The Dead Pike Lake Association members want the marsh restored to its natural state through the removal of the extensive ditch-and-dike system constructed there - because, they say, it pollutes their lake with iron floc - the DNR says all management options, including that alternative, are on the table and public opinion will be solicited, while all the while they have a contract with Ducks Unlimited to keep the ditch-and-dike system in place for the next 20 years, and might have to repay that group thousands of dollars if they default and do not do so.

...The difference is, in those other plans, management authority is almost always conveyed to the DNR, whereas in this agreement the DNR is the cooperator and Ducks Unlimited is calling all the shots.

That's the critical point: A private group has been given absolute authority over public property.

....The DNR does not intend to change its current management of the marsh, no matter what the public or scientists say, and they have powerful financial and patronage motives not to do so

Minocqua landmark to disappear

Lakeland Times

...It raised the water level throughout the Minocqua chain, making more lakes accessible to larger boats.

It was built at the outlet of Kawaguesaga Lake, the source of the Tomahawk River. The flow of water to be controlled worked this way:

Big and Little Arbor Vitae lakes, Carroll Lake, Madeline Lake, Mid Lake, Tomahawk and Little Tomahawk, plus Lake Katherine, all flow into Lake Minocqua. Lake Minocqua flows into Lake Kawaguesaga, which is above the dam, and the Tomahawk River, which is below the dam. They flow into the Wisconsin River which begins in Lac Vieux Desert, near Land O' Lakes. It was the flow in both the Tomahawk River and the Wisconsin River that the Minocqua Dam controlled.

...The dam raised Minocqua Lake by about 5 feet, flooding some low ground, thereby creating "The Island City.

More changes announced for Rest Lake dam operation

Lakeland Times

Record finally falls with Monday snow

From the Janesville Gazette

Record rains in August and record snowfall this winter. I would expect record lake levels this Spring.

From WI Sportsman Magazine

From WI Sportsman

FEBRUARY

Koshkonong Walleyes This vast basin lake straddling the Jefferson-Rock county line is home to six adult year-classes of walleyes eager to jump on a rosy red or fathead minnow set 6 inches off the bottom under a tip-up.

Key on water at least 5 feet deep and set the tip-ups in a triangle pattern about 50 feet apart. Fishing with buddies increases success geometrically with more lines in the water.

Try to stay away from the crowd. Tap many holes, and then put the drill away, leapfrogging your boards to stay over fish in this amorphous basin lake.

For more information, call Patten’s Marine at (920) 563-5350.

Snowmobilers rescued from Lake Koshkonong

Another "Dog Bites Man" story about snowmobiles on Lake Koshkonong.
_____________________________________

From Janesville Gazette

...The men told rescuers they had been following marked snowmobile trails to Charlie Bluff and intended on locating the trail again on the north side of the lake.

They were unable to find a trail on the lake and inadvertently drove onto thin ice near the mouth of the Rock River, according to a sheriff’s department news release.

Both men managed to pull themselves out of the water and onto the ice where they waited for rescuers.

Public, private interests collide in Koshkonong case

Janesville Gazette

This article will be posted on the News Page as well.
...Duesterbeck, a board member of the Lake Koshkonong Wetland Association, disagrees. One has only to see the booming tourism industry and active boating community around the lake to see that property values and recreational opportunities have not been destroyed, he said.
Raising the water levels would be a disaster for the wetlands, Duesterbeck said.

“It’s a tremendous resource for fish and bird habitats,” he said. “We’ve had a continued loss of wetlands in the last 100 years since the dam was put in.”

O’Connor argued that the DNR put too much weight on wetland interests, placing them in the broad category of “public rights” even though most of the wetlands around the lake are privately owned.

Snowmobiles break through ice on Lake Koshkonong

Janesville Gazette

An UPDATE with less info than the first posting.

Lake Koshkonong levels in court again

From the Janesville Gazette

They must be adding to the article for the print edition, right?

Past Posts on NR 115

"We don't want to be the lawn police,"
Julie Anderson
Director of Planning and Development
Milwaukee County

Past Posts:
HERE

HERE

NR 115

From the Lakeland Times

Vilas zoning to investigate legal rights on proposed shoreland changes
Standards are impossible to enforce, zoning administrator says

"...to look procedurally where we go if this becomes an administrative rule in April. What avenues do we have in joining with other counties in class litigation against the DNR - if it's even possible? We've been pleading with the Legislature for months and months and months not to absolve our rights and duties under state law. Now is the time to start looking into this and knowing what our rights are, because we've got an administrative rule that's giving us hemorrhoids."

...The proposed rule includes changes to vegetation management in primary shoreland buffers and changes to the regulation of nonconforming structures.

There are also new requirements for minimum lot size and density for multi-unit residential developments, mobile home parks and campgrounds, new formulas to calculate the reduced shoreland setbacks, an impervious surface standard and mitigation standards (restoring natural functions to balance those lost through development and human actions).

...Ahlborn added that he could not understand why the DNR had continued on this course in the face of such huge opposition.

"It's unfortunate that taxpayers have funded this nonsense," he said, "in the face of 72 counties saying no. Even without the wetland determination, how much land is there in Vilas County that's not 1,000 feet from navigable water? It's got to be 95 percent and, if you add in wetlands, it's 100 percent."

Glenn Schiffmann of Cornerstone Custom Builders Inc., who used to sit on the NR 115 advisory committee, said that the proposed rule amounted to a taking.

"It's a taking of people's property," he said. "There's no solid science to support this. Vilas County zoning has always been at the forefront of protecting its waters, and this does nothing but create additional hardship and non-conformity of existing properties. It's ridiculous, and the county needs to be flat-out opposed to it. This is hand-me-down legislation that will disrupt everything."

Today's snow could break record

From the WI State Journal

...Today's predicted snowfall won 't simply be the 41st day of measurable snow accumulation this winter.

If, as the National Weather Service is forecasting, another 3 to 5 inches of snow falls on southern Wisconsin by the time the storm blows through Tuesday morning, it will put the winter of 2007-08 into the record books as Madison 's snowiest.

On the ice, a bite is still a bite

From the Janesville Gazette

Lake Leota's future on docket for city

From the Janesville Gazette

...Residents will get that chance Tuesday at a formal presentation by Vierbicher Associates of a plan to restore the lake, drained in 2006, to a recreational destination.

Friday, Vierbicher and the city released a summary of the restoration plan, which could cost between $1.7 million and $2.6 million.

The cost hinges on where the city deposits about 200,000 cubic yards of lakebed material. If local landowners allow the material to be deposited on their property, the cost will be much lower than if the city has to transport the material to distant quarries, the plan states.

Dredging Revisited

Check out previous posts from February 2007 and September 2007 by clicking the corresponding months at the links to the right. If you still have questions regarding the cost of dredging and using the spoils to form man made islands, then either email me, or conduct your own Google search. Please email me your links if you find anything noteworthy.

lets-talk-islands

dredging-by-cubic-yard

restoration-accomplishments

dredging-contractors

Bald Eagles are Back on the Rock River

I wish my telephoto lens was stronger, but here is a Bald Eagle feeding on a fish on the Rock River, southwest of Newville. Photo taken 2.5.08

Ice Depth on the Lake

Ice Fishing Safety

HERE

Bounty Hunt Returns to Ice Fishing

RRKA Bounty Hunt
Saturday, February 9th

Weight Station is at Norm's
from 6am to 4pm
Cash rewards for tagged fish =
2 at $10,000.00
1 Northern sponsored by Miller Brewing,
1 Walleye sponsored by RRKA.
18 other tagged walleye, northern, crappie and perch worth an additional $2,400 in cash rewards.

The Fisheree features cash prizes for the top three fish by weight , $50, $30 & $20 respectively.

We will have cash raffles and prizes all day at Norm's and the first cash drawing on the raffle calendar, $500.

RRKA profits rely on raffle calendar sales which are $5 each.

They are available at Waters Edge Bait and Tackle and Wiggy's in Janesville.

Around the lake they are available at:
Norm' Hideaway,
O'Bergs
Edgerton Piggly Wiggly
Rock River Marine
Harbor Recreation
Lakeview Bar
DJ's Short Stop
Snuffy's Still
Buckhorn Supper Club
Whispering Pines Marina
Sentry Foods
Goyer Ace Hardware
Kempler's Lamp
Patten's Marine
VFW Post 1879
Sunset Bar & Grill.

Contact Frank Micale at
920-563-8518

Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Brace yourself for more wintry weather.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Saturday, leading the groundhog to forecast six more weeks of winter.

The rodent was pulled from his stump by members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, top-hat- and tuxedo-wearing businessmen who carry out the tradition.

Each Feb. 2, thousands of people descend on Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,100 people some 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, to celebrate what had essentially been a German superstition.

The tradition is that if a hibernating animal sees a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.

That was the forecast from Gen. Beauregard Lee, Punxsutawney Phil's counterpart in Lilburn, Ga. Beau did not see his shadow Saturday morning at the Yellow River Game Ranch.

It was the third year in a row the two groundhogs' predictions differed.
_______________________________

For more info click HERE

Pushing for change at DNR

From the Milw Journal Sentinel

Since 1995, the power to appoint the Department of Natural Resources secretary has been in the hands of the governor. And environmentalists have complained about it ever since.

...In the past, bills to allow the seven-member Natural Resources Board to hire and fire the DNR chief have foundered.

But the measure is getting more traction with a big push by hunting and fishing groups.

..."We are getting people in there who don't know a walleye from a carp," said Paul Kruse, president of the Green Bay chapter of Trout Unlimited. He added that he was not speaking for the organization.


...McCallum was the first governor to replace a DNR secretary after Gov. Tommy G. Thompson proposed that the governor name the secretary.

Thompson had support from two former Democratic governors - Tony Earl, who served as DNR secretary, and Patrick Lucey. They said having the secretary in the cabinet would lead to greater accountability and better management of government.

...At the time of his departure, Hassett said he had grown weary of the pace and the ceremonial aspects of being a DNR secretary.

..Doyle's fervor to change the law appears to have waned since he has become governor.

As attorney general he said, "I see this as a wholesale attack on the way we protect the environment. I think we're playing with fire here."

As governor, Doyle has said he will sign the legislation if it gets to his desk - but he has never championed it.
__________________________________

PREVIOUS POST

LKRA Banquet is March 5 in Fort Atkinson

Dallman Boat Landing

Proceeds are earmarked for Royce Dallman Landing public boat landing improvement breakwater and channel. Scope of project is limited to the preliminary design, feasibility, and cost estimates. This project is in co-operation with Rock County Parks Dept. Our continued support of Bark River Hatchery, Water safety Patrol support, DNR Warden Support, and other Lake Koshkonong improvement work is on-going.

The LKRA is working to help make a great lake better.

Tickets are available now call and order 608 884 6007

MC/VISA/DISC/AMEX

LKRA Banquent Details

14th Annual Lake Koshkonong Banquet

sponsored by

Lake Koshkonong Recreation Assn. (LKRA)

Jansen’s Banquet Center

1245 Whitewater Ave.

Fort Atkinson WI.

Mar. 5th

Starts 5:30

Dinner at 7:00

Tickets $40.00 ea.

Reserve table of 10 $35.00 ea.

Jansen’s famous Prime Rib