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Wisconsin River Report December 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

 

Winter Sets In on the Wisconsin River

 

After several weeks of slightly elevated river flows produced by early November rains, winter-like lower flow conditions set in on the Wisconsin River this week according to Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company (WVIC) of Wausau. River flow had remained slightly above the target level for most of November as rainfall over the northern basin generated some minor runoff. This runoff allowed a slight refill of the Wisconsin River Reservoir System during November. However, drier and much colder conditions the past week caused river flow to fall quickly and initiated the annual winter drawdown of the reservoir system.

Total precipitation for November averaged 2.38 inches in the northern basin upstream from Tomahawk and 2.08 inches in the central basin between Tomahawk and Wisconsin Rapids. Normal precipitation for November is 2.03 inches. The most precipitation occurred in the far north, with almost three inches reported in the Phelps area.

Storage in WVIC’s system of 21 reservoirs, used to control the flow of the Wisconsin River, rose to 47% of capacity by the end of November after dipping to 42% earlier in the month. Storage in the northern reservoirs rose to 51% of capacity because of the slightly heavier rains in the north. However, storage in the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir near Mosinee did not rise at all during November because there was not enough rainfall in the central basin to generate any runoff in the Big Eau Pleine River.

The colder and drier conditions that have prevailed during the first week of December have caused the natural flow of the Wisconsin River to drop significantly, requiring water to be released from reservoir storage to meet the target river flow. The available storage in the reservoir system will be metered out over the winter season to augment the low natural flow of the river while at the same time creating storage for spring flood control. Winter river flows are expected to be 30% to 40% below normal because of the drought conditions during the summer of 2003 that depleted both reservoir storage and groundwater levels.

 

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	+1.0	Eagle River	428	541	Upper Basin	0.01	25.85	-3.82
Willow	6.9	+0.4	Tomahawk	1,348		Central Basin	0.01	21.28	-9.06
Rice	4.9	+0.5	Merrill	1,361	1,895	Temperature
Spirit	6.2	+0.1	Rothschild	1,664	2,700	Location	Ave.	Normal	+/-
Eau Pleine	12.1	-0.1	St. Point	1,922		Willow Reservoir	22	21	+1
Reservoir Storage			Wis. Rapids	1,872	3,177	Wausau	28	25	+3
Northern	51%	+2%	Petenwell	2,023	3,800	Prairie du Chien	32	29	+3
Overall	47%	+1%	Muscoda	4,973	6,691

 

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