Oh, the Water . . .

I got that Van Morrison song stuck in my head. Here’s an update about water and the lakes.

Thanks to Supervisor Wegleitner for passing it along.

From: “Connors, Kevin”
Date: April 10, 2013, 6:21:16 PM CDT
Subject: Water level update, Wednesday April 10, 2013

Hello,

To County Board Supervisors with districts that contain shoreline of the Yahara Chain of Lakes.

The purpose of the update is to provide you information of recent changes to lake levels, precipitation events, current management strategy and expectations for the next couple of weeks. We hope to provide you this update on a bi weekly basis. You may refer your constituents to the following website: http://countyofdane.com/lwrd/landconservation/lakelevelpg.aspx

Water level orders require the lakes to be at their respective Summer Minimum following the first runoff event after March 1. It is our policy to hold at this level for all lakes until mid to late April when the recreational boating season begins.

With the snow pack from this past winter, existing ground conditions and recent precipitation events, all lakes are above their Summer Maximum. We continue to discharge as much water out of the system as possible till we reach our target goals.

(the numbers are the current elevation and the difference from mid-range)

Mendota 850.2 +4.20
Monona 845.80 + 10.20 in
Waubesa 845.39 + 7.7 in
Kegonsa 843.72 + 5.6 in

We will continue to get all lakes to their respective mid range.

We have received 10.45 inches of precipitation since January 1, 2013. This compares to a normal of 5.95 inches, 4.53 inches above normal. Last year, we received 5.06 inches of precipitation for the same time period.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Have a great week

Kevin