Remember Just 100 or so days ago when it was RKLD fault for the very low lake level?

Dear Mr. Christiansen,

It is my understanding that you are Chairman of the Koshkonong Lake District.  As such I would like to voice my opinion as a lake frontage owner against high lake levels.  I own a little over 2 acres, including frontage, on Lakeside Drive and 2/3 of my property is flooded due to high lake levels approximately 6 months a year.   In addition the high water levels results in residential drainage problems during periods of heavy rain.  Currently, levels are extremely high and some properties are close to incurring flood damage.

I understand the reasons behind higher water levels but do not feel district takes into account the problems of frontage owners.  Since the 2008 flood property values have decreased over 1/3 (not reflected in assessed values) which to a significant extent is due to not only the flood but also high water levels.  Since only a limited amount of employment is directly affected by water levels I believe that the effect on the frontage property owners has not been properly considered by the District.  Not once, in my seven years of ownership, have I, as a property, owner been directly solicited through mail or electronically to voice my opinion on the affect of the policies of the District.  Please note that I am aware of your open meetings but feel more can be done to solicit the opinion of those directly affected by the Board's policies.

I request information as to your position on the issue of the lake levels.

Also regarding future notices please change my mailing address to:
Joseph Hansen, Chief Financial Officer
Zensun USA
6450 Lusk Blvd., Suite E206
San Diego, CA 92121

Thank you for your cooperation.


Sincerely,

Joseph Hansen
Attorney at Law (Inactive #1015383)
1127 E. Lakeside Drive
Edgerton, WI 53534

--
Joseph Hansen

JWH000@gmail.com
Home (608) 884-4909

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Mr. Hanson - 

All due respect, but you could not be more wrong.

To begin, the Lake District has absolutely nothing to do with either "high" water levels or flood conditions.  Mother Nature is to blame.  Lake Koshkonong sits within a 4,000 sq. mile watershed -- 10 counties and 750,000 people, their homes, their malls, their driveways, and roads all contribute to the drainage into Lake Koshkonong and the Rock River.  When the sun is shining on Lakeshore Drive and raining in Sun Prairie, Columbus, Beaver Dam or Waupun, we will see rising lake levels on Koshkonong.

Furthermore, the operation of the slide and wicket gates downstream at the Indianford Dam are regulated by the WDNR.  Each and every day the Lake District is mandated to report all gate positions, as well as the inflow from the Jefferson Dam (as measured by telemetry stations at Fort Atkinson).  We are mandated to report Lake Koshkonong lake level daily, and the outflow at Indianford.  It is impossible for the Lake District, as owners of the Dam, to cheat the DNR on complying with their operating/water level orders without facing a stiff state fine.

As a learned man, I am sure you also reviewed the elevation of the concrete spillway at Indianford.  You surely noted that the elevation is lower (775.27) than the lowest level the lake (rarely) reaches.  The dam is nothing but a speed bump to high water/flood levels; meaning, all gates could be closed right now and yet the lake would still drain, flowing freely over the spillway.  Mother Nature keeps the lake full, not the Lake District.

Conversely, the operation of the Dam can only slow down the draining of the lake during drought conditions....because the spillway is lower than the lowest lake level.

The hydrology is complex but really, easy to understand if you spend an equal amount of time perusing our website for facts as you do expressing your opinion below.  The Lake District Board, a statutorily created local unit of government, has invested many thousands of tax dollars to build a library of data and knowledge through research from UW PhDs - we don't give "opinions" the same weight as facts.

Best Wishes, 

Brian Christianson

chair, RKLD.org

608-884-9444

P.S.  If you have been a property owner in the boundary of the Lake District for 7 years, then you have received a property tax bill, and if you have received a property tax bill, then you have received our annual newsletter; a newsletter that is mandated by state statutes.  Our mailing lists come from the respective counties and their tax rolls.  We cannot change addresses.  Newsletters must be mailed to the same address that receives the property tax bill.

P.P.S.  Today the lake level is at 779.8 or 3 1/2 feet OVER the DNR Summer Max level or 4 1/3 feet OVER the DNR Winter Level Order.  So you did state one fact, "levels are extremely high levels and some properties are close to incurring flood damage."  But to imply RKLD has control over such water levels is simply wrong.