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Dam Owner Safety: Emergency Planning – When emergency strikes, being prepared helps you respond safely. A formal Emergency Action Plan (EAP) may or may not be statutorily required depending upon the type of dam, but having an emergency plan is still essential. An EAP lists the roles and responsibilities during an emergency, including who is in charge and available, who can provide technical assistance and who should be called. This video explains the components of an EAP and why it is important to include others who would respond in an emergency to create your EAP.
Photo Credit: iStock/nzphotonz
Dam Owner Safety: Extreme Rainfall Events – Many catastrophic events occur during or after extreme rainfall. Often these extreme events create heavy runoff or floods. High-hazard dams in Wisconsin are required to handle 1000-year floods, but more extreme flooding can occur. Extreme flooding causes spillways to fail through damage and deterioration. Overtopping a dam is a common failure. This video explains why it is important to pay attention to extreme events and be prepared if they happen.
Areas where 1000-year rainfall occurred over any 24-hour period between Jun. 14-18, 2018 are highlighted in navy blue. / Photo Credit: Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center/NOAA
Dam Owner Safety: Hiring an Experienced and Qualified Dam Engineer – There may be many reasons a dam owner may need the help of a qualified engineer. Finding the appropriate engineer is important to address any needs the dam may have. This video provides a review of qualifications and ingenuity in selecting appropriate assistance.
Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Dam Owner Safety: Rehabilitation Projects – Each dam has a life limitation, and the usefulness of that life can be protected through repairs. However, there comes a time when dam rehabilitation is needed. Often rehabilitation is put off because of cost or time. Reasons for rehabilitation include age, poor condition, downstream and upstream development and change in regulations. Older dams were built when practices were limited. The rehabilitation process can be lengthy, so having a rehabilitation plan is important.
Hingham Dam, Hingham, WI Rehabilitation Project. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Washburn County, WI
In Washburn County, Wisconsin, there are 62 dams of various builds, sizes and types of owners. The Washburn County Highway Department owns and manages six of those dams: Minong Flowage, Birch Lake, Slim Creek, Long Lake, Spooner Lake and Pokegama Lake. All six dams are under Wisconsin regulatory authority. Although the history of these dams is sparse, it is assumed that their primary purpose was to float logs down to the sawmills.
The six dams owned and operated by the Washburn County Highway Department.
Washburn County inherited the dams from previous owners to maintain recreation values in the county. Washburn County dam reservoirs provide recreation in the form of fishing, snowmobiling and boating. However, Minong Flowage Dam also provides power generation through an agreement with Renewable World Energies, which provides day-to-day operations.
Who Manages the Washburn County Dams?
Brian Danielsen, Washburn County, WI Highway County Commissioner / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR
Brian Danielsen, Washburn Highway Commissioner, is responsible for operating and managing the six Washburn County dams and operations and maintenance on the county, state and US highways within county limits. Much of his work involves coordinating with townships, municipalities and lake districts.
Brian is a registered civil engineer and graduated from UW – Platteville. He has been the Washburn Highway Commissioner for three years and previously worked for a consultant that worked on Wisconsin Department of Transportation projects throughout northern Wisconsin. However, Brian’s previous job required a great deal of travel. Although he loved the work, he had a chance to return to his hometown of Spooner, located in Washburn County. The transition from consultant work to filling the Washburn County Highway Commissioner role was smooth, and he very much enjoys the work he is now doing.
Managing the six dams, learning how to operate them and managing a target lake level has been a good challenge for Brian. “When it rains, I’ve found that each reservoir responds differently, so you can’t assume that dam adjustments will be the same. I’ve learned better how to adjust the dam operation and look at weather forecasts more critically. The one thing that will always be a concern for me will be those unexpected heavy thunderstorms.” To get real-time data during extreme weather events, Brian has installed technology that can be used with a phone app and allows him to read water levels in real-time, saving unnecessary trips and allowing staff to respond quicker if needed.
“Although the target level of the reservoirs is important, my staff and I spend time reviewing the structural stability of the dams. We want to keep people up and downstream safe. We work hard on public notification of major dam operations. We send out e-mail notifications to the public, as well as municipalities and lake associations or districts.”
When Brian started in this role, he was surprised at the number of opinions people had about target lake levels. “People are very passionate about their reservoir!” To help build consensus around operating lake levels, Brian worked on finalizing a policy titled Washburn County Policy – Operation of County Owned Large Dams. Brian worked with townships, municipalities and lake districts to garner public input on lake levels. The local governments worked with the public to find agreeable lake level recommendations, provided they were within the minimum and maximum levels outlined in the Inspection, Operation and Maintenance Plan (IOMP) for each structure which requires approval by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). To make changes to the target water levels, all parties on a reservoir must agree on any changes to reservoir management. The requests must then be submitted to the county and the DNR Water Management Engineer. “This creates a fair, inclusive and transparent way to make changes.”
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The Minong Dam. / Photo Credit: Ayresassociates.com
Brian shared one of the recent success stories from working collaboratively with local organizations and governments. Last winter, the Minong Lake Association received a DNR grant to draw down the flowage from November to April. The purpose of the extended drawdown was to set back milfoil. Milfoil is an invasive plant that kills other aquatic plants and depletes the oxygen levels in the water when it starts to decay, harming fish. This situation can kill other aquatic species until everything in the water is completely dead. It’s also problematic for swimmers, water skiers, boaters and those who enjoy using jet skis.
By drawing down the pool in early winter and allowing the milfoil roots to freeze, they were able to freeze out the roots. The DNR will review the data in October to see how successful that was. Brian is proud of the work he and his crew have done to serve the residents and tourists of Washburn County.
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