Wisconsin River Report - June 5, 2003

Wisconsin River Report

June 5, 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

River Flows Tumble to Summer Levels

River flows dropped sharply last week as the third consecutive week of dry weather erased the effects of wet conditions in April and early May according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company of Wausau. River flows had remained well above normal throughout most of May thanks to heavy rains in late April and over the Mother’s Day weekend in early May. However, during the first week of June flows dropped sharply as evaporation and water used by trees and crops exceeded the amount of water supplied by rainfall. Flows have now dropped below the June normal and are approaching the lower levels usually seen in July.

Rainfall for the past week averaged 0.35 inch in the northern Wisconsin River Basin and 0.37 inch in the central basin. Rainfall was scattered, with as little as 0.15 inch in the Phelps and Sugar Camp areas and as much as 1 inch in the Tomahawk area. Normal rainfall for a week in June is 0.95 inch. Total precipitation for the year, which had been running 2 or more inches above normal, is now less than an inch above normal in the northern basin and slightly below normal in the central basin.

Water levels in WVIC’s five large reservoirs that are used to regulate river flows during the summer are still near the full mark and overall reservoir storage remains strong at 92% of capacity. However, with rapidly declining river flows the reservoir water levels are expected to start dropping over the next few days if no rain occurs. Reservoir water levels could fall several inches in the next week at all locations.

Air temperatures were below normal throughout the basin last week, particularly in the south where the weekly average temperature of 57 degrees was 9 degrees below normal. Wisconsin River water temperatures are ranging from 63 to 67 degrees depending on location. The normal river temperature for the first week in June is 66 degrees.

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	0.7	-0.3	Eagle River	N/A	618	Upper Basin	0.35	11.12	+0.70
Willow	0.2	+0.2	Tomahawk	2,336		Central Basin	0.37	10.22	-0.20
Rice	0.2	+0.4	Merrill	2,870	2,497	Temperature
Spirit	0.2	+0.1	Rothschild	3,682		Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	0.4	-0.3	St. Point	4,310		Willow Reservoir	56	57	-1
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	3,898	5,200	Wausau	59	62	-3
Northern	90%	-2%	Petenwell	4,070		Prairie du Chien	57	66	-9
Overall	92%	-2%	Muscoda	7,690	10,127

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