Dangerous Wind Chills on Lake Koshkonong

Just what we need to get to work on our dredging - a deep freeze.

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Bundle up Thursday night and Friday, or risk the chance of frostbite or worse.

Wind chill readings down to 30 below are possible as Arctic air blows into south central Wisconsin, with conditions expected to improve during the weekend.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory from 6 p.m. Thursday to noon Friday for south central Wisconsin, with winds gusting up to 25 mph and actual temperatures dropping to 9 below overnight and only recovering back to 7 above on Friday.

"Make sure you wear a hat and gloves if you must venture outdoors," the weather service said. "Frostbite and hypothermia are likely if precautions are not taken."

The outlook for Madison during the weekend and beyond:

• Saturday: Slight chance of snow in the morning with a high of 21; 30 percent chance of snow at night with a low around 11.
• Sunday: Mostly sunny and 21; mostly cloudy and 11 at night.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy and 32; 20 percent chance of snow and a low of 16 at night.
• Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of snow with a high near 30; mostly cloudy and 15 at night.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny and 31.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/dangerous-wind-chills-thursday-night-and-friday/article_2950e1a4-6be7-11e2-adb4-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2JaxJcait

Temps Near Lake Koshkonong

Are The Dredge Spoils Contaminated?

And people ask why is everything so expensive...because our opponents force us to spend money on items that we are forced to address.....

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I've conferred several times with Tomas Roa, who is vice president for sales and manufacturing at Soil Net, LLC.  Here is some additional discussion of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene memo dated December 2 that we sent you yesterday.

To summarize the results presented:

1. The test for aquatic toxicity characterization was done using standard protocol on two aquatic species, Ceriodaphnia dubia and fathead minnows.  The result was that the median lethal concentration, LC50, was greater than a concentration of 4 g/L of Soil Net TRIPAM in water. 

2. Because it was physically impossible to increase the concentration of the polymer solution due to the high viscosity that the polymer would produce, the laboratory calculated a half maximal effective concentration for the polymer solution, EC50, with effectiveness defined as the limitation of movement and 50% of the test population of Daphnia and fathead minnows.  The result of this the EC50 was 1230 mg/L for Daphnia and 1370 mg/L for fathead minnows, for TRIPAM dissolved in water.

How do these results apply to the PAM powder application to dredge spoil sediment proposed for this project?

1. The polymer applied to the sediment surface will have a very strong tendency to bind with soil particles and not dissolve into the water column, because of the binding of the anionic charge of the polymer and the cationic charge of the sediment particles.  That is the main characteristic of the polymer employed in its use as an erosion control agent.  The polymer will adhere to the soil particles in the sediment much more than it will tend to dissolve into the water that may appear above the sediment surface.

2. The proposed surface soil application rate of 54 pounds per acre corresponds to 0.56 grams of polymer per square foot.   In order for the polymer in the sediment to even come near to the water solution EC50 of approximately 1.4 g/L, approximately 1/3 of a liter of water would need to be in permanent contact with one square foot of sediment surface (corresponding to an inch or two of water above the soil), without mixing or greater water depths (very unlikely at this location).  Even more importantly, even approaching the EC50 concentration would require complete dissolution and transfer of the polymer from the sediment to the water above the sediment, which will not happen due to the bonding of the polymer to the soil particles.

3. Note that the 54 pounds per acre application rate is based on performance in standard tests (ASTM and Wisconsin DOT) for control of soil erosion in a sloped soil test plot subject to high rainfall rates.  The test procedure is designed to produce a lot of raindrop impact energy at the soil surface that could cause soil particle detachment.  This application rate is much, much lower than application rates that would even approach the EC50 water column concentrations to matter what the circumstances.

Based on this discussion of the results of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene testing, it is our opinion that the TRIPAM polymer will not endanger the environment in this application.

Wacky weather brings dense fog advisory, flood watch, winter storm watch

This might be a first for Madison: The National Weather Service on Tuesday morning declared a flood watch for the area to go along with a dense fog advisory and winter storm watch.

This tripleheader is the result of heavy rains that started early Tuesday morning, fog developing ahead of a warm front, and heavy snow coming Wednesday.

The flood watch is in effect from 3 p.m. Tuesday to late Tuesday night the Weather Service said, and includes south central, east central and southeast Wisconsin.

Rain that fell overnight coupled with more rain expected later Tuesday could result in total rainfall of 2 to 3 inches.

Since the rain is falling on frozen ground, it's running off into waterways, bringing the potential for floods and possible ice jams on area streams.

"Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop," the Weather Service said.

The dense fog advisory ends at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The fog is along and ahead of a warm front moving very slowly to the north.

The winter storm watch is in effect from Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon, with rain changing to snow as a strong low pressure system starts pulling much colder air into the region.

The Weather Service predicts 3 to 6 inches of snow, with the highest totals north of a line from Portage to Fond du Lac to Sheboygan.

To top it off, wind chill advisories are possible in the wake of the winter storm as lows are expected to bottom out below zero with strong winds before temperatures moderate for the weekend.

RKLD Communications with DNR RE: Dredging

This email covers the last of the items that you need to complete amendment of the manual code permit for our project.  This email somewhat overlaps Danielle’s meeting minutes for this morning’s meeting, but I wanted to make sure we addressed all the issues on the permit in one place so we could make sure we covered everything.

Stabilization of the dredge fill area

As Danielle mentioned in her email last week, we propose a "belt and suspenders" approach to controlling erosion in the migration of eroded sediment from the fill area.  First, we will keep the silt barrier in place across the entire width of the containment berm after completion of the project.  We will remove this barrier later this spring (probably in May) when the restoration vegetation is seeded and planted in the fill section.

Second, we will apply an anionic polymer in dry form to the surface of the graded sediment as it is placed behind the containment berm.  We are planning to use Soilnet TRIPAM polymer at the recommended application rate of 54 pounds per acre.  We've attached the portion of the DOT product acceptability list that lists this polymer as acceptable, and will email you separately the toxicity work that has been conducted for this product as quickly as we get it from Soilnet, later today or tomorrow morning.

Retention of the stone tracking pad at the launch ramp site. 

As we discussed this morning, RKLD may want to keep the stone tracking pad in place at the launch ramp.  As we noted today, the existing "launch ramp" is actually an eroded graveled surface that is gullied and irregular.  This launch ramp is now used for canoes, but not often for boats with trailers.  We may want to leave the tracking pad that the contractor will install at the launch ramp in place, because it will provide a better access path way to the Lake than currently exists.  The tracking pad, as you know, will be constructed of breaker run clear stone, as described in the project specifications.  We will install this pad at the existing launch ramp from approximate elevation 779 down to approximate elevation 774 or 775.  We will utilize the existing gravel surface slope and grades at the ramp, but will try to keep the tracking pad slope from 12% to 14% for in the elevation range 775 through 778.  After completion of construction activities, we propose to propose to "blind" the surface to provide a clean and smoother surface using new clean 1-1/4 inch basecourse gravel.  We would appreciate your concurrence with this proposed approach.

Spill control and project schedule from the contractor, Badgerland excavating

We understand that the information you received from Badgerland is sufficient for your needs.

Placement of riprap to restore the existing shoreline breach at the Mud Lake outlet

As we discussed on site, the Twin Island Gun Club has requested that we restore the riprap that was eroded away along the existing shoreline where the Mud Lake outlet creek had breached the shoreline protection several years ago.  The location of this riprap placement is shown approximately on the attached PDF figure, and photograph of the breach area are below.  The breach in the shoreline protection is around 10 to 15 feet in width.  We propose to restore this section of shoreline protection up to the elevation of top of the existing adjacent riprap (approximately elevation 778) using Wisconsin DOT heavy riprap, which is the same material used to face the containment berm.  Placement of this riprap will help contain the dredge spoils in the fill placement area.

Confirmation that the fill section location is as shown on our project drawings, and that the "alternative" site in the original permit package will not be used.

I believe the confirmation Danielle sent you earlier today confirms that point.  The contract documents for this project clearly identify the fill section at Mud Lake as the only fill section for excavated sediment.  Please contact us if you need any more to confirm the fill site status.

Inspections for conformance with erosion control requirements

As we discussed, Danielle Lee from our office will be the project engineer and will be on site regularly during construction.  She will work with the contractor regarding erosion control activities and will confirm that adequate site erosion control maintenance documentation is prepared and available.  Would you like us to send that documentation to you directly, or simply have it available (as required) on-site?

Potential project schedule extension

As we discussed, we and the contractor are making every effort to have this project completed in the next several weeks.  If climate and water level conditions make a proposed extension of the project for several weeks past March 1 reasonable, we will contact you by February 15 so that you can discuss with the applicable fish managers to confirm conditions that would be required if the work extended past March 1.

Lake Koshkonong Dredging Update 1.28.13

• The survey staking has been completed and the benchmarks have been placed, and Badgerland is preparing the site for construction. They are hoping to start active construction on Thursday. 

• Public notice fliers have been distributed along Lamp and North Shore Roads, as well as at the Sunset Bar and Grill, and the Town of Sumner Town Hall. 

• Pre-construction road inspection has occurred, and Badgerland has opted to stay below the weight limit in Sumner, and they will be getting a permit from the Town of Koshkonong. 

• As we talked about earlier, the Sunset Bar and Grill will be directing motorcyclists to access the lake at two other locations and will keep their activities away from the construction site. 

• A construction kickoff meeting happened this Monday at the boat launch: Travis Schroeder from the DNR, Ricky from GLARC, Rick Gerke, Tim and Kevin from Badgerland, and myself and Rob were present. We had a couple loose ends to tie up, but it seems like given good weather, we should be good to go on the project. I'll be issuing the full minutes from the meeting later today.

Permitting with Towns to use their Roads - another delay...(Koshkonong Dredging)

Here's where were at:

Preconstruction meeting: as you know, we got out notice for the preconstruction meeting.  We will issue a brief agenda prior to the start of the meeting.  Main issues are setting out the work, logistics and sequence of initial activities, monitoring be conducted, measurement and payment.  The archaeological consultant will provide a brief description of communication requirements and observations.  We have not received word one way or the other regarding whether any regulatory agency folks will participate in the preconstruction meeting, but they've been given notice.

Signing contracts: Badgerland picked up the contracts from us yesterday and is getting them signed and getting the insurance certificates and payment and performance bonds.  Tim from Badgerland thinks they might have everything together to deliver to our office Thursday for the preconstruction meeting.  It would be very convenient if you could attend the preconstruction meeting also, so you could sign the contracts, we can distribute them, and we could issue written authorization to proceed.  If you can't attend, let's arrange for a meeting someplace convenient to you on Thursday or Friday.  Your signature does not need to be notarized and we do not need countersignature by the RKLD board secretary (based on a conversation with Mary Beth) because the RKLD board authorized award of the contract.

County permit: I picked up the zoning permit yesterday from the Jefferson County Courthouse.  The zoning permit also makes brief reference to the permission to use the County parcel at the launch ramp.  We will send you a scanned copy of the permit tomorrow.

Agreement for use of the Jefferson County parcel at the launch ramp:  based on Bill’s email and the fact that that agreement was not available for pickup yesterday I'm thinking the agreement will be mailed to you, Brian.  I believe that agreement does require countersignature. 

Town Road use permits: we gave Badgerland contact information, the road use ordinances, and the draft permits that we received from the Towns of Koshkonong and Sumner.  Tim from Badgerland said that he was going to contact towns and arrange for the permits.  We will leave him to it for now, although I suspect this will be a point of discussion in the preconstruction meeting.  I will contact you if there are any problems that we need to deal with.

Actual construction start: Badgerland said that they would like to begin staging equipment and supplies as soon as they get authorization to proceed.  They would like to start work next week.

According to the forecast, it will be very cold starting next week – good news.  Let's hope the Lake doesn't come up too much further.

Winning bid on Lake Koshkonong Dredge

Is; Badgerland Excavating, Madison. They were low bid, by roughly $15k. More details will posted here and on the PAS page under CURRENT EVENTS Tab.

Snowmobile trails closed, deputies crack down on violators

Most of the public snowmobile trails in southern Wisconsin were closed as of Monday because of warmer weather that has created poor conditions and put drought-stressed farm fields at further risk. Counties throughout the southern part of the state, including Dane, closed their trails until further notice, according to travelwisconsin.com. The only area counties that had at least some trails open on Monday were Dodge, Vernon and Waukesha. That was good news for the frost-free farm fields where much of the snow from last month's blizzard has melted and exposed dormant crops like winter wheat and alfalfa. "Running over that without frost in the ground and snow cover, you can damage crowns and damage plants that are already stressed by the drought," said Mark Mayer, an agriculture agent for the Green County UW-Extension. Complicating matters were snowmobilers who ventured off the trails and forced landowners to complain to authorities. Over the weekend, Dane County Sheriff's deputies partnered with DNR wardens to issue over 20 warnings and approximately 10 citations to snowmobilers. "Violations included such things as failing to stop at stop signs, registration problems, speeding after dark, no trail pass and no safety certification," said Dane County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer in a news release. None of the violations were for trespassing. "We still want to remind snowmobilers to stay on the designated trails, both for their own safety and for the landowner's protection," Schaffer said. Schaffer said the beefed-up patrols will continue after it snows again and the trails re-open. While most of the snowmobile trails remain open in the northern part of the state, less than half of the trails are open in the central portion, according to travelwisconsin.com.

It's officially a record: 2012 was Madison's warmest

How did we warm thee? Let the National Weather Service measure the ways. The perhaps least surprising weather statistic for 2012 was the one everyone had to wait for until its very last day. Yes, the "mean average" temperature in Madison for the year, 51.3, was the warmest on record. The previous record was set 81 years ago, in 1931, when the mean average was 51, according to Morgan Brooks of the National Weather Service office in Sullivan. Madison's monthly temperature mean — which is an average of the averages, said Brooks — was above normal for every month except October and September. In other numbers for Madison, 2012 ranked second in weather history for the number of days with temperatures 90 or above, at 39. Only 1955 recorded more, with 40. If you want to push that, Madison had four days above 100, a tie for fifth. In 1936, there were eight days above 100. While those many hot days of summer contributed to the record, it was the unusual heat wave last March that weighted the final average, said Brooks. The average temperature in Madison last March was 50.1 degrees, nearly 5 degrees warmer than second place, or 45.2. Compare that with the average monthly temperature for March, at 33.7 degrees, and you start opening record books. The 51.3 degree question then is: How come? "A lot of the warmth had to do with where the jet stream sets up," Brooks said. "In March we had a ridge of high pressure that just stationed itself right over us and didn't move." That prevented the cold air from the northwest from visiting, she said, and influenced the summer heat wave, too. While Brooks' office deals out seven-day forecasts, the NWS climate prediction center focuses on longer-range forecasts. Asked if this summer will be another record-setter, Brooks did not venture far out on the limb: Of the three choices — above normal, normal and below normal — "there is an equal chance for all three." The weather service lists temperature statistics as "mean average," a term Brooks defined as "a way to say average average. "In a month, each day has an average, and then for the month, there is an average of all the daily averages," she said. "For the year, all of the monthly averages are averaged to get the 51.3," she said. Milwaukee did not break its records for warmest year, but it hit 51.9, high enough to tie the 1931 mark.

Update on the Lake Koshkonong dredging

Here is an update on the Lake Koshkonong dredging and wetland restoration project: · We have developed plans and specifications for the project as described in our manual code DNR authorization and our permit issued by the Corps of Engineers. · We have the project out to bid. Bids are due January 9, and we will have an on-site pre-bid meeting on January 3. We have a fair amount of interest in this project from various bidders. · We anticipate selecting a construction contractor shortly after January 9, with work commencing as soon thereafter as possible. We want to take advantage of the low water levels on Lake Koshkonong before the spring flood – we anticipate that this project will be complete in February 2013. · The construction currently being bid includes reinforcing the existing concrete barriers at the location of the "carp barrier" at the entrance to Mud Lake, but not actual installation of the carp barrier itself. As requested in the DNR approval, we will contact DNR to confirm the design of the carp barrier prior to installation, which we anticipate will occur later in spring 2013. Pam or Travis – please let us know who you would like us to contact on the carp barrier design. · We anticipate having a representative of Great Lakes Archaeological at the preconstruction meeting, and will also invite a representative from Ho Chunk to attend this meeting.

Extraordinary snowfall needed to relieve drought

Associated Press

   

   When his drought-stricken Nebraska farm was blanketed with several inches of snow, Tom Schwarz welcomed the moisture. But it wasn’t nearly enough.

   He had hoped for a wet, snowy winter. Instead, he’s watched with worry as the sky spits mostly flakes that don’t stick.

   “I just shudder to think what it’s going to be if we don’t get snow,” Schwarz said. “A friend told me it would take 150 inches of snow to get us back to normal precipitation.”

   Despite getting some big storms last month, much of the U.S. is still desperate for relief from the nation’s longest dry spell in decades. And experts say it will take an absurd amount of snow to ease the woes of farmers and ranchers.

   The same fears haunt firefighters, water utilities and many communities across the country.

   Winter storms have dropped more than 15 inches of snow on parts of the Midwest and East in recent weeks. Climatologists say it would take at least 8 feet of snow—and likely far more—to return the soil to its pre-drought condition in time for spring planting. A foot of snow is roughly equal to an inch of water, depending on density.

   Many areas are begging for moisture after a summer that caused water levels to fall to near-record lows on lakes Michigan and Huron.

   The Mississippi River has declined so much that barge traffic south of St. Louis could soon come to a halt. Out West, firefighters worry that a lack of snow will leave forests and fields like tinder come spring, risking a repeat of the wildfires that burned some 9.2 million acres in 2012.

   Scores of cities that have already enacted water restrictions are thinking about what they will do in 2013 if heavy snows and spring rains don’t materialize.

   For a while, it seemed no snow would come. Midwestern cities including Chicago, Milwaukee and Des Moines, Iowa, had their latest first snows on record. How much would it take to make things right?

   “An amount nobody would wish on their worst enemy,” said David Pearson, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Omaha, Neb. “It’s so out of this world it wouldn’t make much scientific sense (to guess). It would take a record-breaking snowfall for the season to get us back on track.”

   That’s why Schwarz is worried about his 750 acres near Lexington in south-central Nebraska. To save his corn last summer, he pulled water from deep wells and other sources in his irrigation district, but the alfalfa he couldn’t irrigate died, something he’s never had happen before.

   The soil was so dry he didn’t even try to sow winter wheat, a crop that’s planted in the fall and goes dormant over winter, relying on snow as a protective blanket.

   “If we don’t get snow, we’d better get rain this spring or we’re done,” Schwarz said.

   The 150 inches—more than 12 feet—isn’t likely to materialize. That would be about four times the average winter snowfall in Chicago, a city famous for its storms. Schwarz’s area usually gets about 29.5 inches of snow during the winter. As of Dec. 27, it had just 6.5 inches.

   Even if a massive storm developed, the temperature would have to be right for farmers to benefit. If snow melts on frozen ground, the water will run off into rivers and streams, instead of being absorbed into the soil.

   Runoff would be welcome in Sioux Falls, S.D., which was among countless communities that clamped down on water use last summer as rivers and lakes that supply power plants and households grew shallower.

   “This is the driest year in our town’s history since the early 1950s,” Mayor Mike Huether said as 2012 drew to a close.