Clear Lake neighbors dealing with rising levels months after summer's record
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Water has been creeping up on the summer home of Don Lukas of Janesville on Clear Lake.
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The Clear Lake summer home of Steven Victor of Riverwoods, Ill. is completely surrounded by the rising waters of the lake.
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Schrank
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Nordlof
MILTON TOWNSHIP — The scene looks familiar to anyone around for Rock County’s record floods this summer.
Water surrounds a gray cabin, nearly touching the bottom of a grill leaning against the house.
Down the street, the waves lap under a forlorn swing tied between two trees and around a flagpole with its American flag still flying defiantly in the breeze.
Months after the water receded from the shores of the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong, it’s still rising around Clear Lake in Milton Township, neighbors said.
“It’s a slow-moving disaster, watching it inch up and inch up,” said Steven Victor of Riverwoods, Ill., who owns the gray summer home, which bears four inches of water inside.
Gail Nordlof, treasurer of the Clear Lake Improvement Association, estimated the lake is six feet higher than normal. It has surrounded at least two homes, covered some wells and flooded at least one basement.
Neighbors were already dealing with high water levels after record rainfall in August 2007 and snowfall in the winter of 2007-08. June’s torrential downpours made things worse.
The lake isn’t fed by streams or rivers, but it’s slowly seeping up the excess groundwater in the area, said Madeline Gotkowitz, associate professor with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
Now, there’s nowhere for that water to go.
“The lake is reacting now to 18 months of much higher than normal precipitation,” she said. “If that continues, I imagine the lake level will stay high.”
Gotkowitz hasn’t seen the lake yet and hopes to learn more by meeting with neighbors at Milton Town Hall on Tuesday. The meeting will discuss why the lake is rising and what, if anything, can be done about it.
Clear Lake isn’t the only body of water facing this problem. Communities near Fish, Mud and Crystal lakes in Dane County and Middle Genesee Lake in Waukesha County have already pumped water out of those lakes.
But Nordlof doubts the area can afford such an undertaking. It cost $46,000 to pump water out of Middle Genesee Lake, not counting the cost of fuel, engineering studies or permitting fees, she said.
Pumping or draining might not be viable options for Clear Lake, Gotkowitz said.
“It can be an enormous, engineered solution, and sometimes when we’re dealing with problems that occur in the natural landscape that occur because of natural conditions, it can be a little presumptuous of us to think we can change these conditions,” she said.
No one is sure when the lake might recede again, though this year’s snowfall total will certainly be a factor. When the lake level has risen in the past, it’s taken years to go back down, Nordlof said.
And no one has ever seen the lake rise the way it has this year.
Bob Schrank’s family has owned property on the lake for about a century, and the family has never seen anything like this, he said.
Schrank’s basement flooded in June even though he lives about 200 feet from the shoreline.
Since then, he’s pumped water out of the basement for 14 minutes every 2½ hours, he said.
“We’ve literally pumped thousands of gallons out of the basement,” he said.
The rising water level raises concerns about wells, propane tanks and septic tanks, neighbors said. They predict the situation will get worse come winter.
“Once the lake freezes, it’s going to wreak havoc,” Schrank said.
IF YOU GO
What: Meeting to discuss Clear Lake’s rising water level and possible solutions
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Milton Town Hall, 23 First St., Milton.
Nov 18, 2008 at 11:36 p.m.
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No more summers using that awesome swing... i remember when we actually could see the stone wall ten feet from the cabin.
Nov 17, 2008 at 7:37 p.m.
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I also know that the Schrank's are trying to help out all of the Clear Lake area residents and campers with their water situation by contacting a variety of DNR and Emergency Management personnel to help with this situation.
Nov 17, 2008 at 7:31 p.m.
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I know that the Schrank's home is over 100 years old. I hope that all people can show compassion for all home owners and campers in this area for the losses that they are experiencing. I also hope that the DNR and other Emergency Management personnel can step up and help this situation.
Nov 17, 2008 at 5:27 p.m.
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The houses close to the lake that are in water were built years ago before the lake rose to it's current level. At one time this lake was but a pond with corn planted on it's edge. No one actually built 25' from the water. I believe the water table is so high due to heavy rains and even heavier snow this last winter. The table and pressure are causing the "filling" of the lake. This is a great concern to many who live close to the lake with many purchasing flood insurance just in case. Mr Schrank appears to be pumping the water on the ground which would end up pretty much in the same place as if he pumped into his septic tank as the water would leach out into the drainfield, true the drainfield would clean the water first but if I'm reading into it correctly, the water in his basement is coming from an open spring under floor and is clean water. There are also those many many yards from the lake that fear for their homes and belongings that did not ask for this problem nor build in a flood plain.
Nov 17, 2008 at 4:15 p.m.
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I agree with greengina in the proposition that we leave the lake alone. This seems to be a very natural occurrence and I don't think we should try to stop it. Imagine if a long time ago someone tried to stop the glaciers from changing the landscape of Wisconsin and the Northern US and Canada. We wouldn't have many of the great things we have today.
°
My condolences to everyone who has lost real estate and other valuables. Hopefully things work out.
Nov 17, 2008 at 3:08 p.m.
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I've lived in the Clear Lake neighborhood for 4 years. It is unfortunate that some people are experiencing water problems, but they should expect this since their houses or cabins are within 25 feet of, or in some cases right on the lake.
We've had high water on the lake all year, therefore the whole lake was declared a no wake zone. We had the best fishing and boating because the high speed boats and waterskiers weren't overcrowding the lake and stirring up nutrients.
I think that Clear Lake should be made a permanent "NO WAKE LAKE" so that it may be saved and enjoyed far into the future.
Nov 17, 2008 at 2:26 p.m.
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Septics should hold only solid material. I don't think they hold alot of water. Maybe they hold more liquid if you don't have a drain field, which they probably don't have near the water. If you pump water out of your basement, it usually is pumped into your yard. Interesting how the lake is still rising. You have to consider when these homes were built, it was based on the "old" hundred year flood plain. If you look at the old may of the lake and now look at the new flood plain map; you are going to see a big difference. Alot of the homes that were flooded this year, were right outside of the old flood plain.
Nov 17, 2008 at 11:54 a.m.
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Uh oh. I don't think Kenny can swim.
Nov 16, 2008 at 8:36 p.m.
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badgerboy ---the JX must have their eye on you.
Nov 16, 2008 at 2:10 p.m.
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Mr. Schrank is a homeowner on the lake, and Ms. Nordlof is the treasurer of the Clear Lake Improvement Association.
What's happening is a natural occurence that should not be stopped. Pumping 'excess water' from the lake is a costly and unneccessary proceedure. While I feel for people who own waterfront property when there is a flood, I must wonder why flooding was not considered when these structures were built initially. It is more important to have clean water than to have lakefront or riverfront property for homeowners. Laws have changed from times when people had no scientific knowledge that flood plains and riparian areas are necessary land features of flood mitigation. Also, I hope Mr. Schrank is pumping the water into his septic system and not back into the lake, as this is against clean water ordinances for our region. It would be highly beneficial if this lake association were to develop and implement a sewerage district for the area, with the long term goal of improving the quality of the lake by removing the private septic tanks from the region, a 'no mow within 30-35 feet of the shoreline' policy, and a 'no phosphorus' policy for fertilizers.
Nov 16, 2008 at 12:11 p.m.
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Sorry, badgerboy, the captions were inadvertently left off. That has been fixed now.
-Stacy Vogel, reporter
Nov 16, 2008 at 9:02 a.m.
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So who are the people in the bottom two pictures??
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