So Close….

Lake Level =

778.07

.84 Inches from being BELOW the SNW trigger….

But it's raining.

maybe next weekend below SNW trigger of 778.00

Lake Has Crested (Again)

Yesterday = 779.63
Today = 779.57

However We are STILL 3+ feet OVER DNR Summer MAX Lake Level Mandate.

Expect Memorial Day Weekend to be SNW on the Rock River.

Lake Koshkonong will be Full Speed.

New ordinance means changes for Rock River boaters - Jun 2013

Koshkonong Has Crested

So far, so good.

Just keep the rain away, and keep this slow warm-up, warming-up.

RKLD and Mother Nature Just Proved the Value of a higher SNW Trigger

So what did the new SNW ordinance accomplish this Spring?

Simply, it bought us another week of boating.

Under the old gestapo County rules, the SNW order would have been imposed a week ago.

This time of year, with snow piles still remaining and water temps near freezing, this might sound like an insignificant point.

However, for those years when lake levels jump (or decline) adjacent to a holiday weekend - Memorial Day in May, Independence Day in July, Labor Day in September - the week that the RKLD bought is very significant.

--- It is the difference between getting the kids and grandkids out on the tubes and skis, or having them spend a summer "boating" holiday in front of the tv with their IPads...

--- It enabled the UW Crew Team to stay on the river a week longer training…

--- It enables the fishing boats to get to their honey holes on plane, rather than plowing a wake into my pier (which is set too low, so I am not complaining).

Sometimes, we forget - 
...during flood conditions, the dam is little more than a speed bump, it does not hold water back; 

...during drought conditions, the dam can hold back water for a short time, stretching the recreational season a week or so.

These are the fights RKLD says is worth having, and Mother Nature is proving our motives are correct and justified today.

SLOW NO WAKE ORDER Posted

Rock County Sheriff's Office posts slow/no-wake on Rock River

By Gazette staff

March 31, 2014

JANESVILLE--The Rock County Sheriff's Office has announced that the northern and central portions of the Rock River are under slow/no-wake restrictions.

U.S. Geological Survey gauges show water levels on Lake Koshkonong were at 8.16 feet Monday, and the river level at Afton was 6.79 feet.

A county ordinance requires slow/no-wake to be set on the northern part of the river when water levels exceed 8 feet at Lake Koshkonong and at the central part of the river when waters exceed 6.5 feet at Afton.

Sheriff's deputies will begin placing slow/no-wake signs along the river at all public access points between the south end of Lake Koshkonong and the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge. The restrictions will remain in effect until the sheriff's office lifts them.

There is no slow/no-wake posting for southern portion of the Rock River between the Townline Road bridge and the state line. The county ordinance only requires slow/no-wake postings south of the Townline Road bridge when waters reach 8.5 feet at Afton.

Lake Koshkonong itself does not fall under the slow/no-wake orders.

NEW SLOW NO WAKE ORDINANCE In EFFECT

Today, the official lake level is at 777.49 and will cross the 7.50 threshold before the end of the day.

This is significant because under the OLD Rock County slow-no wake ordinance, the county with support from the Chairman of the Fulton Town Board, would have closed full speed navigation on the Rock River.

Yep, Slow No Wake would have been issued, and the UW Crew Team and their support boats would have been kicked-off the water.

And fishing boats - because under the OLD ordinance, SNW would be in effect now, yet by observing the shorelines, most everyone would never assume SNW would be imposed at this water level.

Today, fishing boats can get up, plane-off, pushing a smaller wake than the wakes they pushed if SNW was in effect today.

It is a shame RKLD had to spend the money we did to demonstrate shoreline water levels, pay legal fees to attorneys to sit and wait to speak to the county board, pay engineer firms to produce maps illustrating how the OLD county ordinance was punitive.

We even had to prove the claims made by the sanitation district's (CKSD) engineers were wrong when they testified a higher trigger for the SNW order would "flood" their pumping stations located near the lake.

If CKSD/Strand knew those claims to be false at the time, they should have been terminated, and if they believed their own claims, then they are not qualified as engineers and should have been terminated.

Strong words perhaps - but take a look at your shoreline today and through next week, and tell me if your property is inundated.  

Drive past those CKSD pumping stations and see if you can find where the lake or river has breached so far that water is approaching those structures.

The amount of money RKLD must spend to defend against the ridiculous and to promote the logical prevents us from reinvesting those resources into the habitat.

Happy fishin - Koshkonong Walleyes will be feasting soon.

Slow/no wake lifted on northern portion of Rock River

"Slow/no wake lifted on northern portion of Rock River" by Latest News -- GazetteXtra

Slow/no wake lifted on northern portion of Rock River


Rock County is temporarily suspending a slow/no wake speed restriction on a stretch of the Rock River from the northern Rock County line to the Indianford dam because water levels have dropped.County ordinance allows for change when the river falls below 8 feet. A U.S. Geological Survey gauge on Lake Koshkonong found the river’s depth is 7.99 feet, according to a release from the Rock County Sheriff’s office.The slow/no-wake restriction downstream, from the Indianford dam to the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge, will remain until the Lake Koshkonong gauge falls below 6.5 feet, the release said.The Sheriff's Office previously removed slow/no wake restrictions on the southern portion of the river from the Townline Road bridge to the southern county line because levels fell below 8.5 feet.

SNW Removed on the southern portion of the Rock River - Still in effect in RKLD boundary

ROBERT D. SPODEN

ROCK COUNTY SHERIFF

BARBARA J. TILLMAN CHIEF DEPUTY

NEWS RELEASE

Slow-No-Wake Removed From Southern Portion of Rock River

For Immediate Release Contact Person

July 9, 2013 Captain Jude Maurer 608-757-7944

According to the US Geological Survey Gauge in Afton, the water level for the Rock River is 8.46 feet. County Ordinance allows for an abeyance of a slow-no-wake speed restriction when water levels fall below 8.50 feet on the portion of the Rock River downstream from Beloit Rock Town Line Road Bridge to the southern Rock County line.

Therefore, the Sheriff’s Office is removing the previously declared slow-no-wake speed restriction on this portion of the Rock River. The rest of the Rock River remains under a slow-no-wake speed restriction.

ROBERT D. SPODEN SHERIFF

More Public Comments from the SNW Change

Brian,

Congratulations on winning the increase up 8’.  The funny thing is, the conditions which brought about the change never included any time where the 7.5’ vs 8.0’ difference would have mattered.  It seems the clamoring started around 8.5’, or maybe it just started around the middle of June.

Ken

Congrats from constituents....Well Said!

Brian

Great news now that the SNW will be at 8.0', good news for the boating public, that a fair and balanced SNW level for property owners was reached!

Getting the county supervisors out to see for themselves, before making important and impacting decisions, shows the public, that they are making judgments based on fact not biased hearsay.

Property owners who made  the decision to place the height of their piers so low that they are still under water at 8.0', should either remove or raise them. It's their responsibility and  they should be reminded that it's a privilege to be allowed to place a private pier in the PUBLICS' waterway! 

Thanks again to Ivan Collins and the rest of our County Board for taking the time and basing their final decision on real facts.

Mike & Debbie Green 

Grumpy Old Men and the Slow/No Wake Trigger - aka "Get Off My Lawn!!"

Hank Stockwell lives along the river in the Indianford-to-Koshkonong section and said the supervisors did not spend enough time on the river to see the damage the high water can do.

   “There’s dead trees, acres of land, and when there’s high water, all of it is going to disappear,” Stockwell said. “Both of my neighbor’s piers are underwater right now. It’s just a no-win situation for anyone who lives on the river.”

________________

The boldness to which Henry Stockwell makes such careless, erroneous statements overwhelms the brain.  I guess some folks might accept him as a long-time river homeowner who knows what he is talking about - but, sadly, he doesn't.

First, his neighbors' piers are underwater because the lake is more than a foot and a half OVER the new 778 trigger.

Long ago I set my wood pier at 6 inches above 778, and guess what, it's TOO LOW.  It's underwater too.  When the lake level drops 3 feet - back to 776.30 DNR Summer MAX - I will either raise it, or more likely, move to a floating system.

Why?  Because me and my family LIKE TO RECREATE on the water.

And that brings me to my second point - the "no-win situation" comment.

In fact, 'everyone" wins from ALL user groups being able to access decent water levels - from boaters, to wakeboarders, from fishermen, to duck hunters, from homeowners, to business owners.

Perhaps it is time for the grumpy anti-boaters to leave the shoreline - sell your homes, cash-out, and take your huge profit.  

For those who are fond of saying, I have lived on this water for 30-40-50 years, what did your home cost you back then?  And look at market values today.  OK, so the market tanked for the past 5 years, but it is coming back and waterfront property will always be in demand.

God only made so much waterfront property.

And we ALL want to enjoy its use.

If Your Property is in the boundaries of the Town of Fulton and RKLD, Think About Which Gov't is PROTECTING Your Home Value....

Evan Sayre, chairman of the town of Fulton, said he thinks the level should be even lower than 7.5 feet for the upper section because of the damage the waves cause to property along the river, although at that level, the land along the river at least had a chance to dry out before people were speeding along the river again.

   “If they’re going to do 8 feet, they need to wait a week,” Sayre said. “That would give it a chance to get the water out from behind the sea walls and give the water a chance to get out of the bank.”
__________________

"Water out from behind the sea walls..."

DOH!

Thankfully, the 22-2 vote of the Rock County Board endorsed the data  presented last year by our hydologist and other science by UW PhDs - otherwise, RKLD would have to spend your tax dollars proving both this perverse theory wrong, and likely trying to find where the sea walls are on the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong.

Sea Walls???  Really??

Slow No Wake Trigger is AMENDED - 778.00 = Exactly as RKLD had suggested

The Voice of Reason on the Rock County Board RE: SNW Orders

The county board passed the proposed changes with a 22-2 vote.

   Many supervisors who originally supported amending the level to 7.5 feet said they changed their minds after touring the river and realizing 8 feet was an acceptable level that did not cause much damage to property and was a good compromise for boaters.

   “I just feel that 8 feet is feasible. It’s a little bit to help the businesses. It’s a little bit to help the landowners,” Supervisor Ivan Collins said.

SNW: RKLD Wins; Lake Koshkonong Wins; Rock RIver Wins; Grumpy Ole Men Lose.

County board OKs changes to slow/no wake

River split into three sections

Samantha Jacquest

   sjacquest@gazettextra.com  

   JANESVILLE

   Rock County boaters and businesses near Newville will get an extra 6 inches of water to play with on the Rock River due to changes the county board approved Thursday to the countywide slow/no-wake ordinance.

   The new ordinance puts the slow/no-wake levels along the river at:

   8.5 feet from the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge south to the state line.

   6.5 feet from the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge north to Indianford Dam.

   8 feet from the Indianford Dam to Lake Koshkonong near Newville.

   Before 2012, towns were responsible for slow/no wake rules, leading to a confusing patchwork of regulations for boaters.

   Then last year, the county board enacted a countywide ordinance that split the county’s portion of the river in two. The trigger point north of the Indianford Dam to Newville and Lake Koshkonong was set at 7.5 feet. The much longer stretch south, through Janesville and Beloit to the Illinois line, was set at 6.5 feet. On Monday—partly in response to complaints about slow/no wake from boaters—the board’s public safety and justice committee agreed to recommend dividing the river into three parts and raising the section from the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge south to the stateline to 8.5 feet, based on the gauge in Afton. The committee recommended that the midsection north of that bridge to the Indianford Dam remain at 6.5 feet, based on the Afton gauge, and the run above Indianford remain at 7.5 feet, based on the gauge at Lake Koshkonong.

   At Thursday’s meeting, the depth in the ordinance for the third stretch of the river north of the dam to the lake was amended twice: from 8 feet, to 7.5 feet and back to 8 feet.

   The county board passed the proposed changes with a 22-2 vote.

   Many supervisors who originally supported amending the level to 7.5 feet said they changed their minds after touring the river and realizing 8 feet was an acceptable level that did not cause much damage to property and was a good compromise for boaters.

   “I just feel that 8 feet is feasible. It’s a little bit to help the businesses. It’s a little bit to help the landowners,” Supervisor Ivan Collins said.

   Many residents who attended the meeting opposed the change to 8 feet.

   Evan Sayre, chairman of the town of Fulton, said he thinks the level should be even lower than 7.5 feet for the upper section because of the damage the waves cause to property along the river, although at that level, the land along the river at least had a chance to dry out before people were speeding along the river again.

   “If they’re going to do 8 feet, they need to wait a week,” Sayre said. “That would give it a chance to get the water out from behind the sea walls and give the water a chance to get out of the bank.”

   Hank Stockwell lives along the river in the Indianford-to-Koshkonong section and said the supervisors did not spend enough time on the river to see the damage the high water can do.

   “There’s dead trees, acres of land, and when there’s high water, all of it is going to disappear,” Stockwell said. “Both of my neighbor’s piers are underwater right now. It’s just a no-win situation for anyone who lives on the river.”

   The changes in the ordinance may be put in effect as early as July 4, but slow/no wake orders are likely to remain on all stretches of the river through the holiday and beyond because of water approaching or exceeding flood levels

______________________________________

Evan Sayre lives miles from the Rock River shoreline and rarely visits the businesses in Newville that are dependent on recreation.  He bases nothing he says on data, or reality.   

Henry Stockwell lives on the river, but apparently, never looks at the USGS gauges - if he did, he would see that the reason his neighbors' piers are "underwater right now" is because the river is at 779.48, or 18 inches ABOVE the 778 trigger for Slow No Wake. 

With everything this vocal minority  of opponents to RKLD spews - saying it does NOT make it true.

Rock County Board Meeting Tonite on Slow No Wake - Be Sure to Say Hello to Sup. Brian Knudson

What’s next: 

The Rock County Board will take up the ordinance at its meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday night.

A public comment period will be held before the discussion and vote on the ordinances.

County board wades into slow/no wake issue

Be sure Committee member and Supervisor Brian Knudson knows you are there and what he did to recreation on Lake Koshkonong and the Rock River...

__________________

County board wades into slow/no wake issue

Changes appear likely to ordinance governing Rock River boat speeds

By Catherine W. Idzerda

   cidzerda@gazettextra.com  

   JANESVILLE

   More than 35 people came to a Rock County Board committee meeting, and each had an opinion about how the Rock River should be managed.

   On Monday, the board’s public safety and justice committee voted to repeal and re-create parts of the county ordinance regarding slow/no wake orders.

   The vote was good news for recreational boaters in the southern part of the county, where water levels would have to be significantly higher before slow/no wake goes into effect.

   But a mid-meeting amendment to the proposed changes would mean that the tipping point for slow/no wake could remain the same for boaters north of the Indianford Dam, and not everyone was happy about that.

   On Thursday, the proposed changes will go to the county board, and they could be in effect as soon as July 4.

   Slow/no wake orders take effect when the river reaches a certain level. When the orders are in effect, boats must go slow enough to create no wakes—the waves that wash out from a boat and onto shore. When water levels are high, wakes can damage piers and cause the banks of the river and the properties along them to erode.

   Until 2012, towns were responsible for slow/no wake orders, often creating a confusing patchwork of regulations. Now, the county issues orders that affect the entire length of the river within its borders.

   Sheldon Lloyd lives on North Parker Drive in Janesville.

   “If you don’t live on the river, you don’t know what the damage can be like,” Lloyd said. “I’ve lost six feet of shoreline in the time I’ve lived at my home.”

   Trent Tinder lives on the river in the town of Beloit. He told the committee that taking care of the shoreline was his responsibility.

   “It’s part of the ‘greens fee’ for living on the river,” Tinder said. “You have to do what you can to protect it.”

   Others, however, said slow/no wake orders mean it takes them 90 minutes to get from the area above the Indianford Dam to Newville and the mouth of Lake Koshkonong, and that is simply too long.

   The proposed ordinance divides the river into three areas:

   From the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge south to the state line. Currently, slow/no wake goes into effect when the water reaches 6.5 feet at the U.S. Geological Survey gauge in Afton. Under the ordinance, that level would rise to 8.5 feet.

   Mike Lee, owner of Lee Marine in the town of Beloit, said he supports raising the level, as did Tinder, who is his neighbor on the river. The slow/no wake has been hard on business and doesn’t make sense in an area where the river is so wide, he said.

   From the Beloit-Rock Townline Road bridge north to the Indianford Dam. This area would continue to have a slow/no wake trigger of 6.5 feet level based on the gauge at Afton.

   From the Indianford Dam to Newville and the northern county line. The ordinance proposed raising the slow/no wake trigger from 7.5 feet to 8 feet, based on the U.S. Geological Survey gauge in Newville.

   This area was the most hotly contested. Committee member Brian Knudson moved to amend the ordinance so the slow/no wake trigger would remain 7.5 feet. The amendment passed, 4-1, with committee Chairman Ivan Collins voting against.

   The ordinance changes will go to the county board Thursday night. Collins said he would ask the board to amend its rules so the ordinance changes could go through their first and second readings in one night. That way, the ordinance changes would be in effect for the Fourth of July.

   What’s next: The Rock County Board will take up the ordinance at its meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday night. A public comment period will be held before the discussion and vote on the ordinances.

Question regarding yesterday's County Board meeting to reconsider their errors in SNW ordinance

Brian, 

What happened at the meeting to have the committee  vote  to amend level back to 7.5' ? 

 It sounds like in the Janesville Gazette the public was very strong in support of 8.0' as being the trigger for SNW!

  I'm glad to see that the sheriff Dept. got some of the board members out to view the situation for themselves.

 To get to the point, is there any chance the board will go against the Safety Committee and agree with the majority of the boating public and put the level  to the 8.0' which is supported by scientific data, boating public, sheriff dept.and RRKD?

 Is this a majority vote by the board? 

Mike