Madison Can Learn from Koshkonong

...A request to raise the level of Lake Koshkonong in the 1980s is still being hashed out in court because of opposing sides, WISC-TV reported.
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This is a misleading statement by Madison's WISC TV-3.

The court case from the 1980s was settled in 1991. The RRKA had requested the DNR raise the lake level by more than 2x what the current RKLD petition requests (7.2 inches). They made this request with no consideration or research into the impacts on the OHWM - possibly causing a "takings" issues of private property.

During the roughly 10 years that the dispute/request sat on DNR's desks, no research was conducted by any party.

The DNR water level order was eventually changed, arbitrarily, with no scientific reasoning behind why the new order was established at today's order of 776.20 mls.

It was also during this compromise rooted in zero site-specific science, that the official lake level gauge was moved from the Indiandford Dam to its current location at Binghams on the lake.

The change in lake/river bed elevation alone cost us roughly 3 inches in water depth.

So, I take exception to the portrayal by TV-3 that it is "still being hashed out." Our current case is based on hundreds of hours, hundreds of thousands of dollars in site-specific research, including a joint RKLD-DNR OHWM analysis, that confirmed our water level request for 7.2 inches of water would not encroach on the OHWM, and cause a "takings" issue.

And we have sponsored wetland protection grants to armor privately-owned wetlands, that research indicates have protected the wetlands - in most cases - against flood stage damage.

Research photos presented again at the annual meeting Saturday illustrated how the armor has enabled the wetlands to regenerate new growth.

It won't be long and Madison-area homeowners will look to RKLD-funded science to defend themselves against the DNR's goal of turning their lakes back to a pre-settlement era.

And for that, all RKLD electors should feel good about their role in improving the ecosystem.