Lake Delton soon to look like old self

We all can be happy for Lake Delton, but what are the chances Lake Koshkonong would have received such special attention had the flood washed away Indianford?

More proof of the DNR's subjective process in picking environmental winners and losers.
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From the Milw Journal Sentinel

Work is on budget, on schedule to repair breach in Wisconsin Dells

...The gaping hole where Lake Delton gushed like a fire hose last June is gone, filled with 12,000 truckloads of sand, tons of rocks and the roar of earthmoving equipment.

..."To the 21 resorts, two restaurants, two marina operators, the Ducks and Tommy Bartlett Show, this has been a morale booster," said Tom Diehl, president of the Tommy Bartlett Show and a Lake Delton village trustee.

"It's a sigh of relief to come out here," Diehl said Thursday afternoon as he checked on the progress of rebuilding Lake Delton.

...The chasm where fish, retirement homes and the livelihoods of many business owners were swept away is now a big pile of sand, boulders, a pancake batter-like mixture and clay. Nearby the dam is under construction to add improvements that will prevent the lake from disappearing again into the nearby Wisconsin River.

The DNR plans to eradicate carp from the watershed that includes Dell Creek by using a poison that dilutes relatively quickly after killing the fish. Fisheries managers will either stock or transport fish back into Lake Delton, a popular destination for anglers trolling for bass, walleye and panfish, said Andy Morton, the DNR's Lower Wisconsin Watershed Basin supervisor.

A cofferdam built to divert Dell Creek, which has flowed through the emptied-out lake, will be kept in place for a fish reef. Village officials are also widening and rebuilding three boat ramp areas on Lake Delton to accommodate pontoon boats, provide more parking and add restrooms.

...Thursday afternoon, the breach site looked like a giant's sandbox filled with Tonka toys: seven excavators of varying sizes, three front-end loaders, four bulldozers, three compactors, several dump trucks and one crane outfitted with a "clam shell." All of the equipment was busy scraping, scooping, compacting, digging and moving dirt and rocks.

A bentonite slurry wall is being constructed at the breach site to prevent water from seeping into the embankment underneath Highway A. Bentonite is a porous clay that swells when it absorbs water.

Before water can begin to rise again on Lake Delton, acres of weeds must be harvested manually to prevent algae blooms when it gets warm next summer, Diehl said.