NEW LONDON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — By many accounts it was a very wet March, flowing into what seems like a soggy start to April.
High water levels on some area waterways are bringing safety warnings for boaters as well.
On a stretch of the Wolf River in New London, boaters took it slow Monday morning.
“Ice out’s been about two weeks now, and we had kind of a low-water winter, and the water levels really shot up tremendously in the last week and a half,” said John Faucher, Johnny’s Little Shop of Bait Owner.
Faucher says recent runoff put that part of the river just below flood stage.
“Nothing we haven’t seen before. Nothing of grave concern, yet,” he said.
Waupaca County issued a slow-no-wake order last week for the river downstream of New London. Boaters must not leave a wake behind them when they are traveling within 500 feet of a permanent building.
“It can create a lot of shoreline erosion. There’s an awful lot of trees and things that can fall in,” said Faucher.
Wolf River property owners say they like the order.
“Once the water level hits a certain level, then they put the no wakes in, which is a good thing. Because if you live on the river, it can really screw up your banks,” said Larry Hutchison, New London.
Outagamie County issued a similar warning too. At the Stephensville Access near Highway S, signs alert boaters before heading into the Wolf River. And just upstream in Shiocton, The boat landing near the Highway 54 bridge was marked as well.
“It’s just another year in the river in the spring time,” said Eugene “Butch” Bunnell, Shiocton-Bovina Fire Chief.
Bunnell says the 2022 high water season is off to an average start, but it is far from over.
“We can’t say we’re past it. It has been going down, rather slowly, but there’s a lot of runoff coming down, so a couple of inches of rain will change a lot of things, but right now, it’s slowly dropping,” he said.
The fine for violating the slow no wake order in Outagamie County, starts at about $232.
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