Water from Lake Delton well on its way to Mississippi River

Anita Weier  —  6/10/2008 2:23 pm

The surge of 696 million gallons of water from now-empty Lake Delton has already flowed quite a way down the Wisconsin River toward the Mississippi River, a DNR spokesman said.

"We were a little worried about possible impact on the Portage Levee and had people patrolling that. So far, we are not aware of any problems," Greg Matthews, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, said Tuesday morning.

The Wisconsin River levee system near Portage was at 15.27 feet Monday, nowhere near flood stage, he said.

Matthews was not aware of any environmental impact along the Wisconsin River from debris or pollutants, and had no current information on any flooding in low-lying areas.

"Our concern is mainly dams. We are working with dam owners," he said.

"Today we will look at the Pardeeville, Fall River and Danville dams. The Pardeeville Dam on the Fox River overtopped on its south spillway, and the city and the Department of Transportation were constructing a sandbag and plastic spillway over Highway 22."

The Fall River Dam on the Crawfish River was within inches of overtopping and will be inspected today, he said. The Danville Dam on the Crawfish River south of Columbus failed.

Matthews stressed that the Dell Creek Dam at Lake Delton did not fail, but that heavy rains produced enough water force to wash out a section of County A.

Jessica Iverson, a spokeswoman at Wisconsin Emergency Management, said pressure on the Lake Delton and Mirror Lake dams had been relieved and situations stabilized.

Village, county and state officials were meeting Tuesday to discuss the Lake Delton situation, he said.

"We are committed to expediting things on our end, but we will make sure that any reconstruction is built to modern day standards," Matthews said.

He did not know who would rebuild it or how soon the man-made lake might be refilled.

"Dell Creek is still flowing down to the Wisconsin River, and the lake would be refilled from the creek.

"That is how it was created in the first place," Matthews said.

A key part of the Wisconsin Dells tourism area, Lake Delton overflowed after two days of rain and was empty and dry by Monday afternoon, said Thomas Diehl, a Lake Delton village trustee.

Local residents said three lakefront homes floated downstream and disappeared into the water, and the foundations of two other homes were destroyed. Nobody was injured and the homeowners either evacuated or were not there, residents said.

Don Kubenik, 68, burst into tears Monday after seeing the $500,000, 2,800-square foot home he built in 2003 snapped into pieces. The businessman from suburban Milwaukee said he spent every weekend here.

"That house had everything you can imagine and now it's all gone," said Kubenik, who was at his home in West Allis when the lake overflowed. "My boat's gone. The pier's gone. Everything is gone."

Local residents said they feared a large chunk of the local economy was gone, too, after vacationers learn that boating and fishing won't be possible anytime soon. The 20 resorts that line the lake were already reporting customers who were canceling their reservations.

Wisconsin's lawmakers in Washington urged FEMA administrator David Paulison to immediately consider Gov. Jim Doyle's state of emergency declaration after flooding caused massive damage throughout the state.

Doyle called Lake Delton critical to the $1 billion Wisconsin Dells tourism industry and said state workers would try to replenish it as soon as possible.

"We have really seen the force of Mother Nature here," Doyle said. "At this particular point, we see how really powerful water is."

About 100 people started sandbagging at 2 a.m. Monday, but they could not stop the highway embankment from failing, state and village officials said.

"It's horrible. There's no way we could stop it," Diehl said. "The breach is between 300 and 400 feet wide. The volume (of water) was just so great there wasn't anything anyone could do."

Doyle declared 30 counties in a state of emergency by Monday, and at least 130 inmates from the Department of Corrections were helping sandbag throughout the region.

In Vernon County, the damage would likely surpass the $60 million done by floods in August, said Linda Nederlo, spokeswoman for the Vernon County Emergency Operations Center. Damage assessments there would begin on Tuesday as well.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Anita Weier  —  6/10/2008 2:23 pm