Repair and Restoration
Following the draining of Lake Delton, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service allocated $160,000 to the Village of Lake Delton to redirect Dell Creek back to its normal path and through the Lake Delton Dam. The reconstruction took about 10 days to complete. A cofferdam was built to intercept the water and stop further erosion. A bipartisan congressional effort worked to provide emergency federal funds to midwest areas affected by the June 2008 floods. A bill was signed on June 30, 2008, that provided $390 million for the Emergency Watershed Program, which provides assistance on a matching-fund basis to state and local governmental entities. The Natural Resources Conservation Service estimated that about $500 million in total would be needed for the midwest recovery efforts.
The reparation of the break was coordinated by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Restoration was well underway by the end of October 2008. The gap was filled with 12,000 truckloads of sand and tons of rocks. Sand to fill the gap was donated by a landowner less than a mile away saving $3 million in fuel and material costs. Improvements were also underway on the dam to allow it to withstand a 1,000 year flood without the lake's level rising. The Wisconsin DNR chief of dams stated that the goal was to have the lake refilled by late spring 2009. Highway A was reopened during the last week of November 2008. Water began flowing back into Lake Delton after the dam was closed in early December 2008. An official ceremony was held for December 5, 2008, for both the Highway A reconstruction and the Dam projects. Additionally, rotenone was used to kill carp prior to the commencement of refilling. In February 2009, it was announced that the lake was expected to be refilled by Memorial Day weekend. Costs to the State of Wisconsin were said to be $3.6 million and $2.5 million was spent by the village of Lake Delton.
On June 9, 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was in Wisconsin Dells to help celebrate the reopening of Lake Delton. The lake is at an average depth of 12 feet. Minnows have been released into the lake, and 9,000 walleye fingerlings were released in July 2009.
Read more about this topic: Lake Delton
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