Supreme Court reverses Koshkonong ruling; UPDATE

"Supreme Court reverses Koshkonong ruling; debate heads back to circuit court" by Latest News -- GazetteXtra

Supreme Court reverses Koshkonong ruling; UPDATE

MADISON—The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reversed an earlier court decision on water levels at Lake Koshkonong, but the reversal hasn't solved a years-long battle over inches of water between the Rock-Koshkonong Lake District and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.In an opinion issued Tuesday, the state's Supreme Court “reversed and remanded” an earlier appellate court decision on water levels at Lake Koshkong, essentially kicking the case back down to circuit court for further legal proceedings

In a written statement Tuesday, The Rock-Koshkonong Lake District called the court's decision "epic" and a "victory" for the lake district.

An appellate court had upheld an earlier decision by the DNR to bar the lake district from using the Indianford dam to increase water levels on Lake Koshkonong during certain times of the year.The DNR, which has control of water levels at Lake Koshkonong, sought to retain an earlier mandate it had set for water levels at the lake—in large part to protect the lake against erosion and loss of wetland habitat adjacent to the lake, according to court documents.That decision is at the heart of a legal fight that spans back a decade, and calls into question the property rights of residents and businesses around the lake, whose livelihood and property values could be impacted by water levels on the lake, the lake district has argued in court.The DNR has long upheld that it doesn't have to consider the economic impact of water levels, although its decisions on water levels at the lake serve to protect wetlands used by local waterfowl hunting clubs.The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday served to poke some legal holes in the decision by the DNR to ignore landowners' concerns over economic impact of water levels on property values.In its written decision the court wrote that the DNR “erroneously excluded most testimony on the economic impact of lower water levels in Lake Koshkonong on the residents, businesses, and tax bases adjacent to and near Lake Koshkonong. This evidence was relevant to the DNR's decision making” under state statute.The decision, however, does not give guidance on how deep the DNR could have to dive into examining how water levels could impact property values and use of the lake, although the court's finding means that further economic analysis of lake levels would have to be a major lynch pin in further court proceedings.“The DNR could still reject a petition for higher water levels on Lake Koshkonong even after considering the economic impacts of lower water levels on property. However, it's clear that the DNR must consider the economic impacts in the first place,” the court wrote.The case, and the future of water levels on the lake have effectively been in legal limbo for the better part of a decade, and the Rock-Koshkonong Lake District, a quasi-governmental unit has spent about $500,000 on fighting the DNR's earlier decision.Lake District officials and the DNR had trumpeted for months that a decision by the state Supreme Court would be the last stop for the case, which has wrangled up and down the state's court hierarchy since 2001. Yet the ruling Tuesday appears to hit a reset button of sorts on the legal fight.Brian Christianson, the lake district's chairman, had said he anticipated the ruling by the state's top court would settle the legal battle “win, lose or draw,” and that the district looked forward to moving on to other things.It was not immediately clear Tuesday morning based on the decision whether the lake district has plans to continue to mount another legal fight against the DNR to raise water levels at the lake, although under the court's ruling, that fight would play out first in circuit court--where the nearly decade-long court battle first started.