County Board will be discussing the lake levels tonight. Which reminds us all again of the issues with the lakes and makes one ask why isn’t the county using the minimum lake levels that they are authorized to use?
To get up to speed, here’s a relatively straightforward, easy to read quickly, easily digestible power point presentation about Dane County lake levels.
The County Board has a resolution (see page 62) at their meeting tonight to address the lake level issues and urge the state to take action. While the resolution is asking to be able to maintain the lake levels below the minimums, the county is planning to maintain the Lake Monona levels 3 inches above the summer minimum, which is 2460 acre-feet of additional flood storage if they would bring it down to the minimums authorized. Lake Mendota has not been maintained at its winter minimum since 1980.
Now, I realize that there are competing interests here, do we flood Belle Isle, or have flooding issues on Lake Mendota? (Not to mention the boaters?) But it does seem that with aggressive management, when the lakes are below their maximum levels, there could be actions taken to help rectify this situation and not have to make that choice.
