The water level at the Manawa Dam on July 12, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
MANAWA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Progress is slowly being made on the restoration of the Manawa Mill Pond dam after a flood July 5 compromised the structure.
Manawa Mayor Mike Frazier said they’re moving forward.
“We are nearing completion of phase one of the restoration of the shoreline,” he said. “They do have to fix the parking lot at the library. They’re pretty much done with the rest of it. Hopefully by the end of this month, they’ll be done with the blacktop.”
While work on restoring the shoreline that was damaged in the flooding is well underway, Frazier said work on the dam itself has not yet begun. That’s because it’s a much more complicated process.
The phase is actually the feasibility study and then for Cedar Corporation to actually design a new dam for us, because the old one will never pass DNR inspection. We found that already.
Residents like Floyd Gerl are looking forward to a meeting June 17 to hear more about the city’s plans.
“I expect there’s going to be a pretty good turnout. A lot of people are concerned about what’s going on,” Gerl said. “Again, it comes down to money. That’s always the big issue about grants.”
Replacing the dam will cost $8.4 million, according to Frazier. The city has submitted requests for financial help to the state, but hasn’t heard back.
“Our engineering firm does have some other ways to fundraise, and if we fail at the state level, we’ve already contact our folks in Washington saying, ‘Hey, we need help also’ so hopefully something comes in,” Frazier said. “From both would be absolutely super.”
Frazier says he’s hopeful there won’t be a repeat of last year, so the annual rodeo can go on.
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