Wisconsin River Report - July 17, 2003

Wisconsin River Report

July 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

Natural River Flow Lowest Since 2001

The natural flow of the Wisconsin River at Merrill dropped to 850 cubic feet per second (cfs) this week, the lowest level in almost two years according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company (WVIC) of Wausau. The last time natural river flow dropped this low was in September 2001 when the flow dipped below 700 cfs.

The low natural flow of the Wisconsin River is the result of dry conditions that began in early June. Rainfall has been more than 40% below normal over the last six weeks. Since June 1^st, rainfall has totaled 3.6 inches in the upper basin north of Tomahawk and 3.9 inches in the central basin from Tomahawk to Wisconsin Rapids. Normal rainfall for this period is 6.2 inches. Not only has the rainfall been below normal, but there have been no significant storms with enough rainfall to produce runoff.

WVIC’s northern reservoir system was used to provide 53% of the regulated river flow at Merrill of 1,810 cfs. The combined release from the northern reservoir system and the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir provided 49% of the regulated river flow at Wisconsin Rapids of 2,512 cfs. Storage in the reservoir system dropped 4% last week and now stands at 79% of capacity. Water levels in the five large reservoirs continue to fall at the rate of 6 to 8 inches per week.

After one above normal week that included the Fourth of July weekend, air temperatures returned to the below normal range again this week. The weekly average temperature of 65 degrees at the Willow Reservoir near Minocqua was 1 degree below the seasonal normal. At Wausau the weekly average temperature of 66 degrees was 4 degrees below normal and the weekly temperature of 71 degrees at Prairie du Chien was 3 degrees below normal.

The water temperature in the Wisconsin River dropped slowly to 70 degrees at Rhinelander and 73 degrees at Wisconsin Rapids. The normal river temperature during the third week in July is 74 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	3.4	-0.7	Eagle River	N/A	404	Upper Basin	0.62	15.14	-0.85
Willow	2.6	-0.8	Tomahawk	1,782		Central Basin	0.44	14.73	-1.26
Rice	2.0	-0.4	Merrill	1,810	2,164	Temperature
Spirit	2.5	-0.5	Rothschild	2,097		Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	2.3	-0.5	St. Point	2,618		Willow Reservoir	65	66	-1
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	2,512	3,239	Wausau	66	70	-4
Northern	77%	-4%	Petenwell	2,396	3,600	Prairie du Chien	71	74	-3
Overall	79%	-4%	Muscoda	5,162	6,962

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