Wisconsin River Report - April 17, 2003

Wisconsin River Report

April 17, 2003

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

Heavy Rains Pound Wisconsin River Valley

A major clash of warm and cold air over Wisconsin Tuesday night produced rainfall amounts of over three inches in central Wisconsin according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company of Wausau. The heaviest band of rainfall was over Marathon County where Wausau reported 3.4 inches. Rainfall amounts tapered to the north with Tomahawk reporting 1.9 inches some areas in Vilas County reporting less than an inch. Rainfall totals were also less to the south of Marathon County where Wisconsin Rapids reported 1.5 inches.

River flows rose dramatically following the heavy rains Tuesday night. The flow of the Big Eau Pleine River near Stratford rose from 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) Tuesday evening to over 11,000 cfs by early afternoon on Wednesday. Other rivers in the central basin like the Rib and Eau Claire also rose sharply. The Wisconsin River rose to its highest levels of the year by Thursday morning. At Merrill the flow hit 12,000 cfs, up 400% from earlier in the week. At Rothschild the flow of the Wisconsin rose from 4,000 cfs before the storm to 32,000 cfs Thursday, an eight-fold increase. River flows on the lower portion of the Wisconsin River will rise over the weekend as the runoff from the heavy rains in the central basin works its way downstream.

The high river flows provided a much-needed boost for the Wisconsin River Reservoirs. Both the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir near Mosinee and the Spirit Reservoir near Tomahawk filled completely by Thursday morning. Reservoirs farther north rose more slowly because of smaller rainfall totals in that area. Total reservoir storage jumped 15% from 51% to 66% of capacity. Storage is expected to continue to rise over the next week as runoff from the recent rains continues to hold river flows well 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	7.2	+1.9	Eagle River	N/A	484	Upper Basin	1.98	5.49	+0.80
Willow	6.6	+1.1	Tomahawk	1,815		Central Basin	2.41	5.27	+0.36
Rice	2.9	+1.2	Merrill	4,084	3,850	Temperature
Spirit	0.2	+2.3	Rothschild	7,379		Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	0.4	+3.8	St. Point	6,753		Willow Reservoir	45	40	+5
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	6,014	9,283	Wausau	50	44	+6
Northern	55%	+11%	Petenwell	3,792		Prairie du Chien	61	48	+13
Overall	66%	+15%	Muscoda	6,077	17,185

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