The Roller Coaster Ride Goes Around a Second (or is it third?) Time

When Friday ended we were in the black pit of despair. It looked like our project was going to be scrapped because, suddenly, we were on a flood plain.

Charlie told us we should stop packing and everything was placed on hold, except the stuff that we had already shelled out some cash for--electric, phone, movers. So the weekend was a real downer and it was not only because the Cubs lost to the White Sox.

On Sunday we went to a small brunch with friends in honor of a recent retiree and asked another friend about our dilemma.

He said that every other body of water up here that is not regulated is at greater risk of flooding than the river.

He graciously wrote the following for us:

I have been working on the Wisconsin River for over 30 years and was the coordinator for the FERC license renewals on all Wis River dams for DNR. It is my opinion that the Munninghoff Marsh area is not very flood prone since it is not a natural system, hydrologically speaking.The flows, elevations, and flood provisions are controlled by FERC licensed dams above and below the marsh. The Rhinelander Dam ( which determines the Munninghoff Marsh water elevation) must maintain an elevation within 0.3 foot above or below the target level by manipulating the dam to release flood waters as necessary. The flood flow capacity of both dams is ordered by FERC to handle the "Probable Maximum Flood", which for our area is aprox. 21" of rain one day and another 21" the next day. This rainfall event has literally not happened since the glacier and will not likely ever happen, but the owners of Rhinelander and Rainbow Dams have been required by FERC to provide gates and other mechanisms to insure that the PMF will can be handled by the dams without failure. Annual inspections demonstrate compliance. The Wis DNR, in contrast, only requires protection to the 1000 year flood level and inspects ,on average, every 17 years. Other natural lakes, rivers, or Wisconsin authority dams have far less control potential than FERC dams. Any flood event that causes failure of the Rhinelander or Rainbow Dams will obliterate the entire upper Wisconsin River basin and is not, therefore, a reasonable design standard for construction in the area. Bob Martini.

We received an early morning call from Charlie who said that he took the surveyor's numbers from Friday and talked with Planning and Zoning one more time, and . . . they said, that if the numbers can be certified, we'll get the permits.

I hesitate to write those words because something else will probably happen between now and 9am tomorrow when we meet. But at least now there's hope.