The Rock Koshkonong Lake District (RKLD) has released a “winter update,” including information about the district’s Indianford Dam water control project and anticipated next steps for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wetlands impact study.
According to information shared through a newsletter written by RKLD Board of Commissioners Chairman Alan Sweeney, the water control project is underway and conditions have been met to move forward with the wetlands study.
Indianford Dam project
According to information written by Sweeney and shared with Fort Atkinson Online Tuesday, “electrical updates” have been installed at the Indianford Dam and six slide gates and actuators are under construction offsite.
Onsite installation of the new slide gates, which will replace the existing wicket gates underneath the powerhouse and removal of the existing wicket gates, is scheduled for March, when the slide gates are expected to arrive onsite, Sweeney noted in his update.
“Also required with the wicket gate removal (is) underfloor removal of large sections of concrete for effective water flow through the dam powerhouse structure,” Sweeney noted.
Additionally, Sweeney wrote: “The cleaning boom update and reconfiguration, which is in front of the powerhouse, is being designed to better screen large debris that will result in the elimination of the unsustainable trash racks.”
Referencing an earlier newsletter, Sweeney stated that in the spring, he reported that “RKLD has struggled with water control that has resulted in property damage and slow-no-wake events during the boating season. This DNR-mandated water control project, along with the installation of the six new slide gates, is scheduled to be completed winter 2022.”
DNR wetlands impact study
Within the newsletter, Sweeney stated: “RKLD is looking forward to the completion of the DNR wetland impact study. This study required a complete calendar year of water levels within the DNR operating order which has not been attained until now.
“The completion of this study and the completion of the water control project will open the discussion of increasing the water level orders which has been a subject of discourse for years.”
Buoys
Sweeney noted that RKLD installed several navigation and obstruction buoys during the last boating season.
“RKLD has installed these buoys to increase safety and navigation as well as (for) marking dangers within the lake,” Sweeney wrote.
A process is underway to complete required permitting for the buoys. Additionally, the RKLD board secretary, Susan Shearer, is seeking grants to purchase buoys.
Sweeney wrote: “The Rock County Board is considering amendments to the slow-no-wake ordinance that would affect the location of the SNW buoy(s) location west of the I90/I39 bridge.”
Lake ice and water levels
Sweeney further reported “excellent ice fishing” on Lake Koshkonong, with between 2 and 12 inches of ice formed over the lake’s surface.
“Precipitation and ground water levels in the watershed are extremely low and water resources are limited. Despite those conditions, RKLD’s dam operator has kept the lake water levels at or slightly above the DNR maximum winter operating order. With winter freeze-up, the wicket gates at the Indianford Dam are frozen up as well, however the east side dam slide gates are operational for the mandated water level adjustments,” Sweeney wrote.
For more information about the RKLD board and its projects, visit the website: rkld.org.
On a lazy summer day, the Rock River flows through the Indianford Dam. The dam is located about five miles downriver from Lake Koshkonong, the 10,500-acre lake which it impounds. The dam, which consists of six slide gates on the river’s east side, a spillway that spans the river, and a powerhouse, pictured, on the river’s west side, is owned and operated by the Rock Koshkonong Lake District. Modifications to the powerhouse, which are underway and expected to help better control water flow through the dam, are anticipated to complete next winter. File photo/Kim McDarison.
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