Wisconsin River Report - February 27, 2004

Wisconsin River Report

February 27, 2004

Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company

2301 North Third Street

Wausau, WI 54403

For more information contact Sam Morgan

Phone: 715.848.2976, ex 301

Email: morgan@wvic.com

Snowpack Above Normal in Northern and Central Basins

The water content of snowpack in the northern and central portions or the Wisconsin River basin now averages about 4.5 inches according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company of Wausau. Normally at the end of February the snowpack in the northern basin contains about 3.3 inches of water and the snowpack in the central basin contains about 2.3 inches of water. The snow water content is 34% above normal in the northern basin and 96% above normal in the central basin.

Current snow depths in Vilas County range from 21 inches at Land O’ Lakes to as much as 27 inches in Presque Isle. Snow depths average about 23 inches in Oneida County and about 19 inches in Lincoln County. In Marathon County snow depths range from as high as 22 inches in Colby down to 15 inches Wausau.

Farther south, Wood and Portage Counties reported 8 to 9 inches of snow, while Adams and Juneau Counties reported 6 inches of snow on the ground. In the far southern portions of the Wisconsin River basin, Sauk and Grant Counties only have 1 to 3 inches of snow on the ground.

The flow of the Wisconsin River remains 20-30% below normal because of low groundwater levels and low reservoir storage. Both the low groundwater and low reservoir storage are direct results of the drought conditions that were experienced during the summer and fall of 2003. River flow is expected to remain below normal for the remainder of the winter season.

Water released from WVIC’s reservoir system provided about 20 percent of the measured river flow last week. Reservoir storage dropped 2% to 27% of capacity. Water levels in WVIC’s five large reservoirs continue to drop slowly as water is released to augment the low natural river flow.

Air temperatures were well above normal throughout the basin this past week. At the Willow Reservoir near Hazelhurst the weekly average temperature of 21 degrees was 9 degrees above the February normal. The weekly average temperature at Wausau of 29 degrees was 10 degrees above normal, and at Prairie du Chien in the southern basin the weekly average temperature of 34 degrees was 11 degrees above normal.

Reservoir Water Levels			River Flow			Precipitation
Location	Feet Below Max	Weekly Change (Ft.)	Location	Weekly Average (cfs)	Monthly Normal (cfs)	Location	This Week (In.)	Annual Total (In.)	+/- Annual Normal
Rainbow	8.5	-0.9	Eagle River	257	426	Upper Basin	1.26	3.09	+1.18
Willow	9.2	-0.5	Tomahawk	1,583		Central Basin	0.70	2.08	+0.17
Rice	7.0	-0.2	Merrill	1,701	2,014	Temperature
Spirit	10.5	+0.2	Rothschild	1,776	2,390	Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	16.4	-0.4	St. Point	2,250		Willow Reservoir	21	12	+9
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	2,151	3,009	Wausau	29	19	+10
Northern	29%	-2%	Petenwell	2,224	3,600	Prairie du Chien	34	23	+11
Overall	27%	-2%	Muscoda	N/A	7,464

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