Wisconsin River Report - October 6, 2005

Wisconsin River Report

October 6, 2005

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 Drench Northern Basin

A strong line of thunderstorms that lingered over the northern Wisconsin River Basin from Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon dropped as much as seven inches of rain in some areas according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company (WVIC) of Wausau. Average rainfall over the northern basin from Land O’ Lakes down to Tomahawk was 5.12 inches. While the recent rains will not erase the severe drought conditions that plagued the northern basin during summer and early fall, they will provide a welcomed boost to river flows and reservoir storages going into the winter season. Rainfall in the central basin from Tomahawk south to Wisconsin Rapids averaged only 1.37 inches and is not expected to produce any significant runoff in that area.

Total Rainfall – October 4-5, 2005
Northern Basin		Central Basin
Land O’ Lakes	5.64”	Merrill	1.59”
Phelps	5.49”	Wausau	1.69”
Eagle River	7.03”	Eau Pleine	1.77
Three Lakes	5.00”	Wis. Rapids	0.42
St. Germain	6.45”
Minocqua	6.31”
Willow Reservoir	5.75”
Rhinelander	2.95”
Tomahawk	3.01”
Spirit Falls	3.56

The water level in WVIC’s Rainbow Reservoir near Lake Tomahawk rose 2.5 feet in the first 48-hours after the rains and is expected to rise another three feet or more over the next week. The Willow Reservoir near Hazelhurst rose 1.2 feet and is expected to rise another two feet. The Rice (Lake Nokomis) and Spirit Reservoirs near Tomahawk both rose about one foot since the rains ended and should rise another one to two feet over the next week. The Big Eau Pleine Reservoir near Mosinee only rose a few inches because of lower rainfall totals in the central basin.

The rains caused the flow of the Wisconsin River at Merrill to triple from 900 cubic feet per second (cfs) to over 3,000 cfs. At Rothschild the flow also tripled from 1,300 cfs to over 4,000 cfs. However, flows were less than half normal prior to the rains, so flows now are only slightly above the monthly normal.

Temperatures were unseasonably warm over the past week and averaged 15 to 17 degrees above the October 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	9.3	+2.5	Eagle River	475	385	Upper Basin	5.12	25.22	-0.92
Willow	10.0	+1.2	Tomahawk	1,031		Central Basin	1.37	23.40	-2.74
Rice	6.0	+1.0	Merrill	1,151	1,774	Temperature
Spirit	7.8	+0.8	Rothschild	1,735	3,266	Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	12.4	+0.2	St. Point	1,610		Willow Reservoir	61	44	+17
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	1,652	3,210	Wausau	64	47	+17
Northern	44%	+9%	Petenwell	1,417	4,300	Prairie du Chien	66	51	+15
Overall	41%	+6%	Muscoda	4,258	7,272

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