Agenda

As many of you are aware Sunset Drive (Dredge Bank road) has been closed to public access due to the flooding that took place in June of 2008. Efforts are currently underway to develop a plan to restore the road and again make it available to the public. We will be posting links to meeting minutes from the Montello Dam/Sunset Drive Steering Committee to help keep everyone up to date on the progress of this effort.

On April 28th $165,000 was approved by the State of Wisconsin Building Commission to fund a study to determine the best option for repair and how best to perform that repair and the cost of the total project.This study will take approximately 3 weeks. We then have until September to get this plan approved and included in the next state budget.

DNR Plan February 2010

Steering Committee Notes 9-18-09

Another issue that has a significant impact is the use and regulation of groundwater. Recently a bill was introduced which will help protect our state's groundwater supplies.

Groundwater Bill 4094

Marquette County has 90 lakes. Buffalo Lake has about 50% of the water surface area. It was a natural lake formed by a downstream deposit of sediment in 1871. The level of the natural basin was increased by four feet. The Army Corps of Engineers constructed a low head dam under authorization of the River and Harbor Act of 1958, the Federal Government turned over control of the upper Fox River above the mouth of the Wolf River to the State of Wisconsin in June 1962.

• Acres = 2500
• Mean Depth = 4.5 ft
• Maximum Depth = 8ft
• Length= 13.1 miles
• Width 1/2 mile
• Shore Length = 32.2 miles
• Watershed area = 600 sq. miles
• Normal outflow 12 days from the time water enters Buffalo Lake to the time it goes over the dam at Montello.
• Buffalo Lake was named for the buffalo grass growing around the lake.

On December 31, 1986, petitions were filed with the Marquette County Clerk requesting the establishment of a public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district in the Townships of Montello and Packwaukee, and the City of Montello. The petitions were accompanied by a map and description of the proposed boundaries.

Notice of a public hearing was published in the Marquette County Tribune on January 8, 1987, and mailed to the landowners within boundaries of the proposed district.The public hearing was held before the Marquette County Zoning and Planning Committee on January 29, 1987.

Buffalo Lake Protection and Rehabilitation was then declared organized and established.

The Lake District has a new truck! Jim Sanders spent much time looking for just the right one and here it is! Our new truck