SAWM, dam operator seek multi-year water level order

Water level to be set at historic height year-round
By: 
David Wilhelms
Reporter

Shawano Area Waterways Management and operator of the Shawano Paper Mill Dam announced their pursuit of a multi-year temporary amendment to the dam’s Federal Energy Resources Commission (FERC) license to set the pool elevation at its historic level of 802.9 feet mean sea level (msl) year-round in a May 3 SAWM press release.

The joint effort for a multi-year exemption marks a departure from the previous five years where one-year exemptions to the water levels were sought.

“Everywhere you turn and look, it’s good,” Bill Monfre said of the water level proposal, saying it was good for the environment, boating, wildlife, the economy and tourism. Monfre is a SAWM board member serving on its water levels committee.

Monfre said a permanent exemption has always been the group’s goal. He said the 802.9 level was the norm from 1985 -2015. That was the year that Brian Knapp, a Shawano riverside resident, filed a complaint about high water levels and ice damaging his property. FERC ordered the dam to hold water at a lower level.

North Eastern Wisconsin Hydro, an Eagle Creek Renewable Energy Company, as the dam operator, will submit the temporary amendment application in mid-May. The sought-after order would most directly affect water levels in Shawano Lake, the channel between the lake and Wolf River and the pool above the Shawano paper mill dam.

If approved, it is expected that the pool elevation of 802.9 feet msl would be implemented in June 2021, the press release said.

In tandem with the temporary amendment, North Eastern Wisconsin Hydro plans to apply for a permanent amendment to allow the normal pool elevation to be maintained at 802.9 feet in perpetuity. It is expected that the permanent amendment application would be submitted to FERC for review and approval by the fourth quarter of 2021, the press release added.

Monfre said the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service encouraged SAWM and Eagle Creek Renewable Energy to pursue the permanent exemption. The SAWM board member said the two agencies pointed out that a multi-year temporary exemption would give all affected groups the time to work out a permanent solution.

An April 27 meeting of SAWM with FERC representatives, organized by Pauline Meyer, a staffer with Rep. Mike Gallagher, confirmed the direction, Monfre said.

The DNR noted it now has five years of data and experience with the water levels and has seen no problems, primarily for fish and wildlife, but also for recreation, according to Monfre.

Monfre also pointed that it was “taxing” to all involved organizations in terms of spending resources and time every year, seeking an exemption.

The SAWM board member said the watershed property owners’ group has the agreement of all affected groups and is seeking updated letters of support from local sporting groups, the Towns of Wescott and Washington, the City of Shawano, the Village of Cecil

FERC issued its latest order June 3, 2020, as a temporary solution to the issue as local groups, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seek a permanent agreement on water levels.

FERC accepted the proposal from the dam operators to keep the level at a target normal election of 802.9 feet, or 0.4 foot above the authorized normal impoundment elevation of 802.5 feet, between May 15 and Nov. 15.

The higher level represents what local groups, including SAWM, find to be a safe level for recreational boating and fishing.

Walleyes and Sturgeon For Tomorrow had, in the past, contended there were significant negative impacts on fish populations and spawning below the dam, especially in May, under the seasonal water level scheme.