Slow No Wake Debate

The photos below are from June 7th, 2009 and capture the subjective and inconsistent process used to impose and remove SLOW NO WAKE orders on the Rock River.

When someone complains to the the Town of Fulton about waves splashing against their pier (set too low) the town demands of the Rock County Sheriff's Department to impose SNW orders.

The issue is not when SNW is imposed - water levels rise quickly and are obvious to all of us who are riparian property owners. The problem is when levels are receding, the town/county are slow to remove SNW orders - limiting and punishing the boating public and misusing the SNW order's legal intent.

The official NOAA gauge level on this day below was 777.74. Yet, without cause or justification, SNW orders were not removed until June 12, 2009, when levels were at 777.42 - a difference of 3.84 inches..

USGS Historical Datum

This also reflects how slow the levels on the lake and river recede.  During the period above, the river was dropping less than an inch per day.  And as these photos illustrate - not one shoreline was "flooded" at 777.74.