FOX VALLEY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Those relying on the Fox River to run their operations say water levels are the lowest they’ve seen in years. Dry weather has forced almost all dam gates to close, cutting off a significant amount of waterflow needed from Lake Winnebago into the Fox River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says, retaining enough water to sustain Lake Winnebago is more than just a job, it’s like a balancing act.
“Managing the system to try to mitigate the greatest impacts for everybody is really what the corps is trying to do,” chief of Fox River operations for the Army Corps of Engineers Chadwick Shaw said.
But maintaining water levels in Lake Winnebago means closing dam gates. Right now, the Army Corps of Engineers says, only a half of one dam gate is open at the Neenah-Menasha dam.
Having most dam gates shut, then significantly decreases the amount of water flowing into the Fox River; water that many, like Kaukauna Utilities need, in order to run on all cylinders.
“We haven’t seen this low of levels since about 2012,” said Dave Pahl, manager of generation and substations at Kaukauna Utilities.
“We’ve had record production these last few years. Now, we basically have to shut some units down, when the gates are closed up.”
To give you an idea of just how much, or really, how little water we’re talking here, Kaukauna Utilities tells FOX 11 it’s at optimal operating when waterflow is 5,000 to 7,000 cubic feet per second, or CFS. A few months ago, it was at 12,000 CFS. Now, what they’re getting in from Lake Winnebago is at about 1,100 CFS.
“Unfortunately, we’re in this dry period, where we just don’t have any ability to, A, keep the lake level from falling with what’s leaving the lake, or B, keep extra flow in the Fox River that will help with hydroelectric production,” Shaw said.
With outflow being cut from Lake Winnebago, it’s impacting power generation, and companies, like Kaukauna Utilities, must buy it elsewhere.
“We have power purchase providers – WPPI, and they provide us with whatever energy we need, above and beyond what we can produce,” Pahl said.
The good news? Even when things are normal, Kaukauna Utilities says it still needs to use WPPI for at least 60% of its energy.
For residents, Pahl tells FOX 11 that means they won’t see much of a difference on their bills.
“It kind of levels out with a lot of the other factors, so it’s not a huge increase that they’d see on a month-to-month basis.”
The Army Corps of Engineers says, if they tried to lessen some of the impacts hydro plants, paper mills and others see by opening dams, Lake Winnebago would have a rapid water decline.
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