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Rock River remains a dangerous place

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Flooding photos

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JANESVILLE — Lakes and rivers attract relief-seekers as summer heats up.

But floodwaters are receding slowly.

And people shouldn’t expect to get back on the water to cool off any time soon, say county health department and sheriff’s office officials.

“Historically when we have high water, it takes a week or so after (water) gets back down to normal levels before the water clears up,” Rock County Environmental Health Director Tim Banwell said.

The latest National Weather Service prediction puts the Rock River at the Afton measuring station at 12.5 feet by Tuesday, July 1, still above the 9-foot flood stage and weeks away from uncontaminated water.

Banwell said Lake Koshkonong’s levels will recede just as slowly.

He and his staff have been monitoring United States Geological Survey and National Weather Service hydrographs to get up-to-date predictions, allowing them to make a better judgment of when it could be safe to enter the water.

The county health department will monitor contamination levels in the lake and river each Monday to assess contamination levels, Banwell said.

The department measures E. coli, a bacteria naturally occurring in the human digestive tract. It uses E. coli because it’s easy to measure and gives a good indication of other types of bacteria, which can be more difficult to measure, Banwell said.

“E. coli is a pretty hearty bacteria,” he said. “If intestinal E. coli is there, you’ve got a better idea that something else might be surviving in the water.”

Currently, he said, E. coli concentrations are high but not astronomical in the lake and river. That’s not surprising, given both Fort Atkinson and Jefferson bypassed their sewage treatment plants last week, causing raw sewage to be pumped into the water.

The Rock County Sheriff’s Office is encouraging boaters to stay off the water.

All of the public access points to county waters are closed, Lt. Todd Christiansen said. They’ll stay that way until after the water recedes below flood stage. Even after the water comes down, slow/no wake ordinances will remain in effect until authorities feel it’s safe for wakes to hit the shores without eroding them further.

Christiansen said the waterways themselves aren’t shut down, but boaters trying to use them won’t have a place to launch or land their boats because of the closed landings.

“It’s not safe,” he said. “It may not look very dangerous, but the current is still moving very quickly in those areas.”

Anglers should be cautious, as well, as fishing in floodwaters can be dangerous to health.

Fish pick up bacteria and viruses, such as salmonella, cryptosporidium and parasites from the water, which can spread rapidly if anglers aren’t careful, Banwell said.

Washing hands thoroughly is the first line of defense, but Banwell said, anglers should step beyond that.

“It’s just not a good thing (to fish) knowing what’s in the river,” he said of the raw sewage and bacteria concentrations. “But if you’re very careful, you should be OK.”

He cautioned that he doesn’t want to minimize the health risk because some organisms can make people sick in very little concentrations.

“We can’t tell you when the water will be OK (for recreation),” Banwell said. “But it’s not soon.”

FLOOD IMPACTS

The Rock River crested Saturday and is slowly receding.

Here’s where the river levels were today, according to the National Weather Service:

-- Newville: 14.84 feet after cresting at 15.12 feet. Flood stage is 10 feet.

-- Indianford: 18.11 feet after cresting at 18.33 feet. Flood stage is 15 feet.

-- Afton: 13.35 feet after cresting at 13.51 feet. Flood stage is 9 feet.

People are urged to stay out of the floodwaters because the water is contaminated.