Officials in Wyocena in Columbia County were busy Tuesday draining water from 93-acre Lake Wyona to relieve pressure on its three dams.

"We are releasing as much water as we can until the lake is emptied," village Clerk and Treasurer Almon Porter said as workers struggled to remove the gates from the newest of the dams. "The lake will go away until we can get this repaired."

About 15 feet of a spillway failed Sunday in the wake of heavy rains. Porter said it could take as long as two weeks to drain the lake, which he said is primarily known for fishing.

Village Trustee Kim Bauer said all three village dams, including one that generates electric power, were spilling water Tuesday to reduce pressure.

Porter said the village will ask for federal help in repairing the spillway, which empties into Duck Creek, then the Wisconsin River at Portage.

Porter said several homes rim the lake, but none were lost. Lake Wyona is not as highly developed as Lake Delton, he said.

"There was no danger to the village," he said. "Village residents were never in danger."

The area beneath the dam was also collecting thousands of carp that come up river to spawn, Porter said. This year the increased water flow resulted in a larger population, some of which made it into Lake Wyona because of the breach in the spillway, he said.