Follow-up re: Blackhawk Island Concerns

Dear Mr. Christianson,

Thank you for your response to my email.

Let me clarify; though my property has been in my family since 1970, I have been the owner for less than two years. I follow the information presented on the RKLD website. I'm sure a personal visit to one of the RKLD meetings would be much more educational. Unfortunately, my work schedule has not allowed it. I am somewhat familiar with the situation on Blackhawk Island, but I'm hoping to better inform myself at this time. I am attempting to find the answers to my questions, which is why I've contacted you among a few other involved individuals. Of all of those I've contacted Mr. Christianson, your response is most interesting.

For the record, my father protected our the shoreline there with riprap which he installed years ago with the permission of Jefferson County and the DNR. I have the paperwork if you, or anyone else, would have any need to review it. It's not my shoreline I'm concerned with. There is plenty of land on Blackhawk Island that is now government owned, as well as private property in low areas where water regularly is gaining access, in ways and at times, it has never done before.

The area of Blackhawk Island was declared to be within a floodplain after my father purchased the land, dumped thousands of dollars worth of fill on the property to raise it, and had already begun construction. No one is asking for taxi service, just egress to their own property....I'm sure you can understand that Mr. Christianson, just things any average resident might expect. I recognize and appreciate that emergency teams were available during the 2008 flood, but isn't it a shame that there may be an ongoing need for similar intervention more regularly, especially since that incident?

I thought that with your role within the RKLD and the fact that tax dollars from property owners on Blackhawk Island pay into that organization, you would have some knowledge, expertise, or insight into the direction things are taking specifically in regards to that area. Clearly, I was mistaken. I apologize for my ignorance, and taking up your time.

Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Donna Panico
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Dear Ms. Panico –

As I review your previous email and the answers I provided, I am hard pressed to find where your concerns were not addressed.

Blackhawk Island is deemed a floodplain and there are risks with being allowed to build in such a zone (i.e. the need to add fill, as your father appararently needed to do to raise the land and the building that would rest on it). Did he not accept the risk, even as he spent “thousands of dollars” to alter the natural elevation of his parcel?

Your comment, “in ways and at times it has never done before,” can be attributed to the crazy unpredictable behavior of Mother Nature. It can also be attributed to the fact that Lake Koshkonong is part of a 2600 square mile watershed – the largest watershed in the Midwest and nearly as large in geography as Yellowstone National Park.

There is no denying that we have more rooftops, more driveways, more parking lots, more sidewalks – more impervious surfaces in the watershed than ever before. But that will happen with civilization and human activity. You and I both contributed to that fact when we built our homes here.

Knowing this, what is your question again?

Egress to personal property on Blackhawk Island should be protected by whom? The RKLD?

I would suggest that the road into and out of Blackhawk Island is the responsibility of your local town and county government.

And thank you for your apology. We are all busy with work schedules. Fortunately, there are those who are so passionate about protecting Lake Koshkonong for all user groups, that we volunteer our time to serve on the Board of Commissioners, and still manage to provide for our families. We don’t limit our time given to constituent questions, we just add to it.

Brian Christianson
www.RKLD.org
608-884-9444