June 2020

• Summer Season Means It’s Mowing Time
• Above Average Precipitation Forecasted in Parts of Wisconsin
• Beaver - Impacts and Management Approaches
• Meet Our DNR Dam Safety Staff
• Dam Safety Database
• Emergency: Who do you call?

Summer Season Means It’s Mowing Time

Now that summer has (unofficially) started, it’s time to shift from spring cleaning at your dam to summer maintenance.  If your dam has earthen embankments, thorough mowing is an extremely important component of the summer maintenance routine at your dam.

Below, find an example of an unmaintained embankment on the left and a well-maintained embankment on the right.

Why Mowing is Important  Read More...

Above Average Precipitation Forecasted in Parts of Wisconsin

Read more about Precipitation Forecasts, Rainfall intensity and Great Lakes Water Levels

For more information:

Local Forecast - weather.gov
Long-Range Outlooks - cpc.ncep.noaa.gov
River Forecasts - water.weather.gov/aphs/forecasts.php
Weather & Climate Data - ncei.noaa.gov

Beaver - Impacts and Management Approaches

It is rather common for DNR Dam Safety staff to receive phone calls from dam owners who are concerned about beaver activity at their dams. Owners want to know the impacts beavers might have on their dams and what can be done to manage the issue. DNR also receives phone calls from landowners where beaver have created dams on their property, where a man-made dam didn’t previously exist.

Read more about mitigation strategies for beaver control 

Meet Our DNR Dam Safety Staff

The DNR Dam Safety/Floodplain Management Program is pleased to announce that four regional water management engineers (WMEs) joined our team this spring! They will be based out of these DNR service centers:  

Mike Stone - Fitchburg
Forrest Van Asten - Rhinelander
Megan Duffy – La Crosse
Hanna Johnson - Wisconsin Rapids

Regional WMEs are your local contacts for technical questions on dams and floodplain studies. These staff also assist with floodplain management. A complete list of the WMEs by county, including telephone numbers, email addresses and mailing addresses is available on the Dam Safety web page.

Read more about our new engineers!

Mike Stone, Water Management Engineer, Fitchburg, WI

Forrest Van Asten, Water Management Engineer, Rhinelander, WI

Megan Duffy, Water Management Engineer, La Crosse, WI

Hanna Johnson, Water Management Engineer, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Dam Safety Database

The DNR Dam Safety Database is a great resource for dam owners, operators and others in the dam safety profession. The information in the database can be used when developing an emergency action plan or an inspection, operation and maintenance plan. The database can also assist dam owners in determining inspection schedules.   The Dam Safety Database can be accessed from the Dam Safety website. Two searches have been developed to help determine the inspection schedules for state regulated, large dams and to provide selected database information for dams in the dam inventory.

Click to find your DNR Dam Safety Engineer

Please check the dam safety county contacts page to see the DNR Dam Safety Engineers’ revised coverage areas.

Please Note:  Many of our engineers are converting to one contact phone number.  Please check the DNR contacts page (link provided above, in this section) to update the contact phone number that you have for your local DNR Dam Safety Engineer.

Find a Directory of Consultants and Contractors

This is a resource dam owners can use for dam inspections, maintenance and repairs, and hydraulic and hydrologic analyses.

Emergency: Who do you call?

If, despite your best efforts at maintaining your dam, an emergency arises, the first thing to do is to open your emergency action plan (EAP) and follow the steps outlined. If for some reason, you do not yet have an EAP for your dam and failure is imminent, then call 9-1-1 and prepare to provide the following information to the 9-1-1 operator:  

• Name and title of person reporting incident
• Call back number of person reporting incident
• Name/Location of the dam, including county, waterbody, and nearest road
• Present condition of the dam such as perceived problem, gate status, or level of pond in relation to the low point in the embankment

County Emergency Managers

"Dam Safety News" is published by the WDNR, Bureau of Watershed Management. Its purpose is to inform dam owners, operators and others concerned about dam safety issues.  Comments or contributions are welcome. 

This newsletter is supported by funding through FEMA National Dam Safety Grant No. EMC-2018-GR-00005 as part of the National Dam Safety Program. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Federal government.