WI River Draw Down

[Lunker]

For those of you partial to fishing/hunting the WI river, you may have noticed or be interested to know that they finally began the draw down for the dam repairs. I'm not in the area now, but got a call yesterday from a friend who said "the river looks like a stream" so I guess they finally started.

here is a copy of New Page's News Release News Release Media Contact: Shannon K Semmerling Public Relations / Communications Manager, Wisconsin 715-231-5072 – cell [email protected] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONSOLIDATED WATER POWER COMPANY SEEKS TEMPORARY DRAWDOWN OF THE STEVENS POINT FLOWAGE WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wisconsin – May 28, 2008 – Consolidated Water Power Company (CWPCo), a subsidiary of NewPage Corporation, has initiated the process to secure permits allowing a temporary drawdown of the Wisconsin River later this summer. This drawdown, which impacts the flowage beginning at the DuBay dam tailwater and ending at the Stevens Point dam, is being requested to conduct necessary repairs on the seawall located upstream from the NewPage Stevens Point mill. At this time, late August is being considered the best window of time for completion to avoid Labor Day weekend water activities. According to Thomas Witt, resources manager of Consolidated Water Power Company, necessary repairs to the seawall require a flowage drawdown approaching ten feet below normal water levels. “To achieve this, the river will gradually be lowered at a proposed rate of 0.2 feet per hour. The total proposed outage involves a two-day drawdown, eight days for repairs and a twoday refill, for a total of 12 days,” Witt explains. During this drawdown, critical repairs and regular maintenance may be completed efficiently to prevent seawall breakage and possible flooding in the surrounding area. The rate of this drawdown, as well as the size and configuration of the flowage should minimize any effect on the environment. “Slowly lowering the river level will allow adequate time for fish and other aquatic species to move into deeper parts of the flowage,” Witt shares. “Still, CWPCo staff will be monitoring the shoreline for fish or other species that need help getting to a more suitable habitat.” Additional public support is welcome to help in this monitoring process. Boating during the drawdown will be very limited, with only small boats and canoes able to traverse the shallow areas. Furthermore, CWPCo will prohibit watercraft of any kind from approaching the Stevens Point dam, due to potential hazards associated with the repair/construction activity. Once the seawall repairs are completed, the flowage will gradually be returned to its normal level. Landowners interested in conducting their own shoreline repairs during the drawdown are advised to contact the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to describe the work being done, gain permission and secure a permit. All shoreline landowners are encouraged to consider their specific circumstances to determine what is best to protect their property during a drawdown. As river levels become lower, it will become increasingly difficult to get boats out of the water, so these should be removed or put on boat lifts at least two days before the drawdown begins. Floating docks should also be removed to prevent settling and possible breakage of brackets or moorings at the shoreline. Docks that sit on the bed of the river should be secure. Those landowners who draw water from the river for lawn irrigation may also be affected, depending upon the depth of their intake pipe. “People should know, there will still be water coming down the river," says Witt. “This work highlights how dams benefit recreation and commerce by providing consistent water flow.” For more information on the temporary drawdown, contact Thomas Witt at 715-422-3927 or Gary Romanski, operations manager, CWPCo, at 715-422-34

I guess the amount of garbage is disturbing and lots of people are cleaning up, and there is a group who meets at Club 10 that is working on fish rescue(apparently not legal if you do it rogue, must be with that organization).

Anybody have any info on this or witnessed it?