Imagine that - the Rock River could become a tourist attraction….

…Maybe even protect the property tax base too

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Embracing the Rock

Janesville appears ready to use the Rock River downtown as an attraction

By Marcia Nelesen

   mnelesen@gazettextra.com  

   JANESVILLE

   After years of giving the cold shoulder, Janesville appears ready to snuggle up to the Rock River.

   Residents have shunned the natural resource that many planners have said could and should become the city’s major attraction.

   Doors of downtown businesses face away from the river, for example. Only one business, Main Street Saloon, takes advantage of the view with a back deck.

   Concrete walls keep floodwaters away, but they keep residents out of the river, as well.

   A majority of residents who gathered in April for a downtown redevelopment meeting identified the river as the area’s most important attribute, said Ryan Garcia, economic development coordinator for the city.

   The focus is 240 acres stretching from Traxler Park south to the Jackson Street bridge—an area with more than four miles of riverfront and one dam.

   A meeting Thursday will be the second of three and will offer maps for residents to see alternative uses for six redevelopment sites.

   The Rock River as an attraction appeared to be a common denominator of many of the suggestions from residents during the first meeting, Garcia said. Most of those who attended want to figure out ways to get people to and in the river, he said.

   Suggestions include a river rapids course for kayaking or an arcade in the lower level of the Olde Towne Mall that leads to a pedestrian river crossway and public space on the other side.

   At the meetings, the consultants from SAA Design Group of Madison—a landscape architecture and civic engineering firm hired with a $200,000 federal grant—urge people to think in different ways, Garcia said.

   The resulting plan will outline how the city could put the redevelopment plan into action, including the costs of suggested projects, available grants and changes in zoning, Garcia said.

   “This is an action-oriented plan,” Garcia said. “This is what you have to do to make it happen.

   “What we’re trying to do is create something behind their (business) buildings so they take it upon themselves to reorient themselves to the river,” Garcia said.

   “It becomes another front door.”

   Creation of a town square was another common focus, and the plans identify areas where that could happen.

   Each plan addresses the removal of the downtown parking plaza over the river. Residents believe additional parking must be provided near high-traffic areas, Garcia said.

   Anyone is invited to the second meeting, and Garcia said he hopes to see people who were at the first meeting, as well.

   Residents will be asked to suggest options for land use, such as preferred areas for public and commercial spaces and entertainment. For example, an area designated “naturalized” rather than “urban” might mean the concrete river walls would eventually be removed, Garcia said.

   A third meeting will be scheduled the week of July 18. The final plan will be presented to the plan commission in September and to the Janesville City Council in October.

What a difference a Month Makes….

March 1st = 775.84
April 1st = 778.28

A lake level increase of - 2 1/2 feet.

Comparing Lake Levels

TODAY - 775.83
2013 - 776.84 (a foot HIGHER last year)
2012 - 776.81
2010 - 776.34
2009 - 778.1 (2+ FEET higher than today)
2008 - 777.82


In EVERY example, the gates, ALL gates were, and HAD BEEN, 100% WIDE OPEN.

Funny how Mother Nature works, eh?

6 Years Ago - It Began

Jan 16, 2008 = 779.2
Jan 16, 2104 = 775.93

39 1/4 inches HIGHER then, than now.

Wet 2013

During the summer and early fall of 2012, southern Wisconsin experienced a challenging period of drought.  In sharp contrast, the first half of 2013 has experienced very wet conditions with precipitation amounts now incredibly running up to 15 inches above normal through June 26th.

2013 Jan thru June - weather

3rd Wettest January – June Period On Record. I was a little surprised to see the reality of the first half of 2013: the third wettest (first 6 months of a year) going back 119 years, according to NOAA NCDC. It was the wettest January thru June period on record for Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, while California saw the driest first half of the year ever recorded. All or nothing.

US Army Corps can do anything…..wow.

USACE Dewaters Niagara Falls

How did last summer's drought affect groundwater levels?

Just Ask Us: How did last summer's drought affect groundwater levels? : Wsj

“I went back through 100 years of data. Overall aquifers have rebounded 10 to 12 feet higher than where they were 10 years ago,” he said
.

Endangered Orchid No So Endangered....

8 years ago, RKLD was accused of flooding and killing this orchid should the courts rule in favor of our 7.2 inches of added lake level - then, the Wetlands Club and DNR pulled back their testimony after RKLD was forced to spend time and money collecting data and evidence that proved otherwise.

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Endangered orchid shows it has an attitude

   “This (the white-fringed orchid) is one of the most beautiful wildflowers in a prairie. Rejoice should you discover one or two plants in bloom.”

   So says a website describing Illinois wildflowers, and indeed, the eastern whitefringed prairie orchid is not only attractive, it’s uncommon enough to be on Wisconsin’s endangered species list (as well as Illinois’).

   I’ve written about this rare plant in the past, describing how there was land near us where these scarce orchids were not only growing, but flourishing. Every year, when they came into bloom around the Fourth of July, we would do our annual orchid count, flagging the flowers and keeping tabs of where they were concentrated. With each census, the numbers grew until the flood of 2008.

   After weeks of hard rains that year, I could have canoed from my deer stand in the woods bordering the orchid field all the way to Lake Koshkonong. For months the field was under several feet of water. When it finally subsided about the time the plants should have been blooming, there was nothing but rotting vegetation littering the ground.

     Evidently the orchids were resilient. A few years later they were back—not in the numbers they had been, but enough to raise hopes that they soon would be.

   Then there was last summer’s drought. Since prairie orchids require moist ground to grow in, they were especially vulnerable to the endless weeks of searing sun and cloudless skies. By July, when they should have been flowering, there was no trace of them other than a few shriveled stalks.

   To add insult to injury, for several weeks this spring, much of the field was again under water. After taking a double whammy in a single year, there wasn’t much hope.

   Against all odds, last week I found three flowering plants. When I returned with flags to mark them I ran into 39 more.

   Equally as remarkable as their resiliency to extreme weather changes is the history of the field they grow in. When we moved to the area, it was used to raise corn.

   Since the orchid requires undisturbed land, the yearly plowing and planting made conditions impossible for it to take hold. Even when the field was set aside in CRP, it was sprayed on a fairly regular basis to eliminate brush and reed canary grass—another big no-no on the list of things prairie orchids don’t like.

   During those years we used the field for hunting, tramped around on it, cut native grasses down for duck blinds, plowed firebreaks and even ran a road down the middle of it. Then, amazingly, after doing just about everything you’re not supposed to do to encourage this endangered plant (which we didn’t even realize was in the area), one summer a few orchids took root and bloomed.
   Probably one of the reasons for their appearance is the fact that each March the field gets burned (at least when it’s not under water), keeping invasive, non-indigenous and native flora at bay. The white-fringe likes open sunlight, and there’s plenty of that.

   Then, too, there must be something unique about the pH of the soil in that area, as well as the presence of a particular fungus it needs to propagate, making the field ideal.

   One thing I’ve learned from the ongoing neighborhood orchid saga is how tenacious this plant seems to be. When you hear the word “endangered,” you often associate the term with some wimpy snail or little fish that can’t seem to make it on its own without some help.

   True, this fussy flower is pollinated only at night by hawkmoths and requires special soil. In spite of its little fringy blooms that give it the look of some kind of botanical French poodle, it’s one tough customer.

   You can cut it, spray it, flood it, starve it for water and ignore its needs and it will fight to come back. It’s a plant with an attitude!

   D.S. Pledger is an outdoors columnist for The Gazette. Email him at maus16@  centurytel.net  

Best Bar Owner ever...RIP Jim.

Newville Bridge 1928/29

Hat tip to Tom Sherman....

The present law is indeed badly flawed....

Local control within the parameters of the Public Trust Doctrine should be the reality, not empowering a bureaucratic state agency with even more authority...

Yes. Mrs. Close, it was RKLD who saved the Indianford Dam.  And we saved it, and banked more than $500,000 in a segregated fund along with it.  

A simple, Thank You, would suffice.

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YOUR VIEWS

   Legislature should rethink power of lake district boards

   While it is probably a truism that you may not care to know what goes into making sausage, likewise you may be astounded at what gives substance to a legislatively formed board district.

   The DNR vs. Koshkonong Lake District lawsuit has been in the hands of the state Supreme Court for many months, yet no published decision has come. That long delay may be due to the wisdom of the court to direct the Legislature to “clean up” the enabling statute, thus making the law and accompanying administrative rules more judicious and less frequently violated. The present law is badly flawed!

   Every organized group that is formed with a governing board may cling to its stated highly emotional goals for two or three years, after which time the board will abandon the stated goals and concentrate on the biases of the encumbered board, such as the Brian Christiansen Board! (And more recently experienced by the Mallwood District.)

   Returning to the sausage: How can a district get from saving a dam and 8 inches of water to dredging a lake and forming islands? The dam was saved years ago, and the trickle of that small amount of water is really a nonworkable entity, yet the lake residents are being taxed to dredge? The court needs to give legislative remedial advice to the state Legislature. 

LOREN J. CLOSE II Edgerton

Lake Koshkonong; Top 15 Water Levels all time

#1    6/21/08    15.12**

#2    1959          13.00*

#3    4/23/13    12.39

#4    4/25/93    12.23

#5    1979          11.74*

#6    4/18/08    11.65**

#7    6/05/04    11.49

#8    6/07/00    11.02

#9    4/07/07    10.58**

#10  8/30/07    10.46**

#11  4/23/98      9.77

#12  4/28/99      9.73

#13  3/23/90      9.45

#14  3/21/94      9.19

#15  3/14/97      9.02

 

*Estimate using flow chart

**Two month’s or more between levels 

Another Week, Another Foot Down

May 1 = 781.39
May 8 = 780.32

So, we lost another foot of water level during the past week.

Depending on rain, we should lose another 1ft during the next week, then begin gaining speed.

But likely, Memorial Day weekend will be a SLOW NO WAKE boating holiday weekend.

Anchor Inn, Newville, USA

Anchor Inn, Then, 2008

Anchor Inn, Now, 2013

Yes, It was a COLD Spring...

Second Coldest Spring in US History

1960s Flooding??

Does anyone have photos of Lake Koshkonong flooding from the 1960s?

We have newspaper articles from the flood of 1959 - and the 2008 flood was higher - but I cannot find what this person is referring to.

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YOUR VIEWS

   

   Record flooding in 2008? What about back in ’60s?

   Officials say the flooding on the Rock River this spring got close to the highest ever, which they say occurred June 21, 2008. They had better check their records. 

Back in the 1960s, the Rock River was up just a few inches below the Newville Bridge. The Anchor Inn in Newville was flooded, and water was 2 or 3 feet deep in the building of another bar called Snug Harbor, now Harbor Recreation. 

The water was almost up to Highway 59 between Milton and Newville. I have been told that, at the time, Otter Creek north of Milton backed up into Bowers Lake and Storrs Lake. 

At the time, walleyes went up Otter Creek and got into Storrs Lake. That summer people caught walleyes in Storrs Lake, and they had never caught them in there before. 

You can ask most any older person who lived around Newville in the ’50s and ’60s, and they can tell you about this. 

JOHN R. BERGMAN 
Milton

Comparing Now to 2008

I’m probably not the first to make this comparison, but here is how this year’s rise compares to the big one in 2008
Ken

1959 Flood

Brian:
Do you have an Indian Ford Pool reading for April 1959?
Tom
_________

Tom - 

I do not....I would have to research that for you.

Brian

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There are no official records for water levels on Lake Koshkonong prior to 1987, when the USGS gage was installed on Bingham point. So we have to take a look at discharge in the Rock River and the correlation between discharge in the river and the elevation of Lake Koshkonong to estimate the stage on Lake Koshkonong for April 1959.

To give you the bottom first, I estimate that the April 1959 flood had about 73% of the discharge of the 2008 flood, and probably reached a Lake Koshkonong stage of approximately 13.0 feet, gauge height, or 783.0 according to the "old" NGVD 1929 elevation datum.  As you know, the 2008 flood reached a gauge height of approximately 15.1 – meaning that the April 1959 flood was probably about 2 feet lower in height than the 2008 flood.

The Indianford dam gauge was installed in May 1975, so that won't help define how big the 1959 flood was. The USGS Watertown gauge was operating in the 1950s, but so far upstream that it might not be representative of the discharge that was going to Lake Koshkonong. However, the Rock River at Afton gauge between Janesville and Beloit has a more similar watershed area to Koshkonong and the Afton gauge has been in operation from 1914.

The peak daily discharge at Afton was 12,100 CFS on April 10, 1959.  The peak daily discharge for the 2008 flood at Afton was 16,500 CFS on June 22, 2008. The peak discharge at Indianford dam was 14,800 CFS, also on June 22. So the 1959 flood was large, but the 1959 flood discharge was only around 73% (12,100 / 16,500) of the 2008 flood discharge.

To estimate the Lake Koshkonong elevation for the April 1959 flood, we can make the assumption that the hydraulics of the Rock River have not changed much at high flood discharge (probably a good assumption) and the ratio of the 1959 to 2008 flood at Indianford was about the same as it was at Afton (probably a reasonably good assumption considering the size the watersheds). So our estimate of the 1959 flood at Indianford is 73% of the 2008 flood, or 10,800 CFS.  The stage on Lake Koshkonong that corresponds to 10,800 CFS is approximately 13.0 gauge height, based on the USGS discharge records at Indianford and the gauge records for the Lake. 13.0 gauge height corresponds to 783.0 using the "old" NGVD 1929 datum.

 

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The Rock River Water Trail is now a National Water Trail!!!

 have exciting news to share with everyone ... !

The Rock River Water Trail is now a National Water Trail!!!

Please read below the official email from the National Park Service-Washington, DC.

I've also attached a news release that will be sent to the media tomorrow.

I appreciate your support, participation and assistance to see this wonderful project through to the achievement as a member of the National Water Trails System.

Please share this news with your organizations and others.

Sincerely,

Greg Farnham

From: NWTS, NPS <nwts@nps.gov>
Date: Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 11:07 AM
Subject: Designation of Rock River Water Trail as a National Water Trail
To: frankschier@hotmail.com, waterdown@wildblue.net, Nathan Caldwell <nathan_caldwell@fws.gov>

I am proud to let you know that the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has designated the Rock River Water Trail into the National Water Trails System. We are sending out your official letter of designation and certificate, along with trail markers for your use.
We will populate the national water trails site with your trail information in the next few weeks. I’ve attached the NWTS logo files for your use. We approve the use of the National Water Trails System logo by the designated Rock River Water Trail  This permission is specifically for this purpose; it is not transferable. The NWTS logo can only be used for educational and promotional purposes; it cannot be used on items that will be sold for profit or on undesignated water trails.
Please do let us know of any events or celebrations on your trail. If you need any additional information or have any additional questions, please contact us. Welcome to the National Water Trail System!

Corita Waters, Coordinator

National Water Trails System
 NWTS@nps.gov | 202-354-6900