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Wisconsin River Report September 23, 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

 

Two-Day Wet Period Doesn’t Erase Drought Conditions

 

A brief wet period on September 14^th and 15^th that dropped about 2 inches of rain on the northern Wisconsin River Basin and 1.4 inches on the central basin was not enough to erase three months of drought conditions over the summer according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company (WVIC) of Wausau. Total rainfall in the northern basin since June 1^st is still running 36% below normal. River flow rose only slightly for a few days after the rains and water levels in the reservoir system showed very minor response. Dry conditions returned for the past week and the outlook is for little or no rain for the next ten days.

The flow of the Wisconsin River averaged 1,366 cubic feet per second (cfs) this week, or 24% below the September normal, at Merrill in the northern basin.  At Wisconsin Rapids in the central basin the flow averaged 2,155 cfs or 30% below normal. In the lower basin at Muscoda the flow of 5,043 cfs was 33% below normal.

Storage in WVIC’s reservoir system rose 2% following the recent rains, but still stands at only 57% of capacity following the dry summer. Water levels in the five large reservoirs used for daily control of the flow in the Wisconsin River range from five to eight feet below the full mark. With conditions again turning dry, reservoir storage will resume dropping this week. Water levels in the large reservoirs can be expected to fall three to six inches per week until more rainfall occurs.

            Air temperatures were above normal throughout the basin last week, especially in the northern basin where the weekly average temperature was 7 degrees above the September normal. The water temperature in the Wisconsin River rose 2-3 degrees last week and now ranges form 66 degrees in the north to 71 degrees in the southern basin. Normal river temperature for this time of year is 61 degrees.

 

 

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