Wisconsin River Report - July 10, 2003

Wisconsin River Report

July 10, 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

Dry Spell Continues in Early July

The dry spell in the Wisconsin River basin that began with 30% below normal rainfall in June continued through the first one-third of July according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company (WVIC) of Wausau. Rainfall for the first ten days in July totaled less than three-fourths of an inch in the central and northern portions of the Wisconsin River Valley, about 40% below normal.

River flows continue to fall because of the dry conditions. The weekly average flow of the Wisconsin River at Merrill fell to 1,800 cubic feet per second, 17% below the July normal. Flows were even farther below normal at other locations. At Wisconsin Rapids the weekly average river flow was 20% below normal and at Muscoda on the lower Wisconsin River the flow was 28% below normal.

WVIC’s reservoir system was used to provide 40% of the river flow at Merrill and 36% of the flow at Wisconsin Rapids. Storage in the reservoir system dropped 4% last week and now stands at 83% of capacity. Water levels in the five large reservoirs are now 18 to 30 inches below full and falling 6 to 8 inches per week. Reservoir levels will continue to drop until significant rainfall returns to the valley.

Air temperatures jumped above normal over the Fourth of July weekend following two cold weeks. The weekly average temperature of 69 degrees at the Willow Reservoir near Minocqua was 3 degrees above the seasonal normal. At Wausau the weekly average temperature of 72 degrees was 2 degrees above normal and the weekly temperature of 76 degrees at Prairie du Chien was also 2 degrees above normal.

The water temperature in the Wisconsin River responded to the warmer weather and rose as high as 77 degrees at most locations throughout the basin. The normal river temperature during the second week in July is 73 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	2.7	-1.0	Eagle River	N/A	404	Upper Basin	0.20	14.52	-0.62
Willow	1.8	-0.8	Tomahawk	1,669		Central Basin	0.53	14.29	-0.85
Rice	1.6	-0.6	Merrill	1,800	2,164	Temperature
Spirit	2.0	-0.5	Rothschild	2,113		Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	1.8	-0.6	St. Point	2,652		Willow Reservoir	69	66	+3
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	2,593	3,239	Wausau	72	70	+2
Northern	81%	-4%	Petenwell	2,710	3,600	Prairie du Chien	76	74	+2
Overall	83%	-4%	Muscoda	5,058	6,962

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