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Rock River flood group update: hydraulic study pending; drawdown effects unclear without measurements
Summary
Committee heard that UW graduate students will conduct a hydraulic study of the watershed; members said coordinated drawdown of connected lakes had limited observable effect and emphasized need for measurement to assess benefit.
Committee members received an update on Rock River flood-group activities and discussed the effectiveness of a coordinated drawdown earlier in the season.
Staff said the flood group has not completed a full hydraulic study; several UW graduate students are scheduled to work on a hydraulic study this year to compare watershed conditions with climate-change effects. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for April 22; the committee will hear a presentation in May about a funding request that was postponed during the budget process.
Members reviewed a recent coordinated drawdown effort involving Lake Mississippi and Horicon Marsh. Several committee members said a planned coordinated drawdown was only partially implemented — one agency declined to draw down — and that subsequent rain rapidly refilled the system. One member said visual inspection of the Rock River on Highway 60 suggested limited effect from the drawdown but acknowledged no baseline measurements existed to demonstrate what would have occurred without a drawdown.
Committee members emphasized the need for measured data and monitoring to assess whether coordinated drawdowns postpone flooding or reduce peak flows. Staff said they had arranged monitoring at USGS stations and expected university graduate-student work to provide more rigorous analysis.
