Dammed if you do...

By Jim Lundstrom

It’s a dam predicament.

The 1,000-foot seawall at the Stevens Point Dam maintained by Consolidated Water Power Co. is leaking and needs drastic repair.

“Divers have already identified voids that are 18 inches wide,” said Tom Witt, Consolidated’s resource manager.

By the time you read this, the Wisconsin River will already be diminished from the Stevens Point dam to the DuBay Dam in a historic drawdown that began Aug. 14. The gradual drawdown – 0.2 feet an hour – will continue through the 16th, with a total drawdown of 8 to 10 feet.

CWP and its parent company NewPage looked at several options for repairing the seawall before deciding the drawdown would be the least invasive and most inexpensive way to perform the repairs.

“Our engineering consulting firm looked at several options,” Witt said. “One was some type of coffer dam arrangement. We looked at doing repairs wet and at doing repairs on the downstream face of the wall, but given the history of repairs that have been done on the wall, and recent repairs done on the wall that haven’t produced the results we were looking for, they came back and said from a safety standpoint and to get the permanent fix you’re looking for, you need to get that area dry.”

Witt said the whole operation should take less than two weeks.

“It takes us two days to draw down the river, then we’re going to hold that in the range of 8 to10 feet,” Witt aid. “We’ll hold that range for about three days and then we’re going to start filling the river back up. As we’re filling the river back up, we’re working on repairs higher up on the structure and the seawall.”

Bloggers went to work immediately, claiming NewPage/Consolidated was taking the cheapest way out, and, because of that, recreation on that part of the Wisconsin River would be harmed. Boaters would be stranded and fish would die or take off for unknown parts, never to return to the area.

“Nobody can predict how much aquatic life will move with the natural flow of the water during the drawdown, but drawdowns have been done on a lot of river bodies,” Witt said. “We’ll be doing anywhere from 1/10 to 2/10 of a foot an hour. We’ve discussed this with the Wisconsin DNR and they’re on board. That rate sounds fine to them. We had asked if they wanted us to go slower. They said that sounds fine to get fish to move into the main channel.”

“I guess there has been a lot of discussion online, but I don’t pay much attention to that,” said Tom Meronek, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources fish biologist based in Wausau. “If somebody has a real question, they need to call me. Our number’s in the phone book. Most of the people chatting online don’t know all the details. They just think they know. It’s been getting fairly disgusting.”

While the DNR has responsibility for most of the dams in the state, the Stevens Point Dam, which produces hydroelectricity, is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which gave its approval to the drawdown.

“The engineering and repair and even the authority to draw down really falls to FERC, however, Wisconsin DNR definitely has a role in counseling and reviewing the environmental issues,” said Scott Watson, the DNR’s watershed supervisor for Central Wisconsin. “The DNR did get input from our engineers. They all felt they would have concerns with some of the other concepts that came up. We’re glad – very glad – that they’re going to do the repairs necessary.”

Watson said DNR fishery, wildlife and endangered species biologists were called in to evaluate the impact the drawdown would have in their various areas.

“There were several timelines that were being considered,” Watson said. “ Hands-down they concluded that mid-August was best for all the resources. Each one was evaluated and they all pointed toward this being the best time. We also worked to contain the drawdown to the minimum time and get the water level restored as quickly as possible. That was important to us.”

“It’s the most reasonable, the most efficient solution,” said Meronek, who not only reported in on fishery end, but was also familiar with FERC, having served as the DNR’s liaison with the federal agency. “This is going to get the job done the quickest, which is what we want, and probably in the end with the least amount of disturbance to the fishery.”

There are some in the community who believe building a cofferdam – a temporary protective area built around the dam – would have been a less intrusive (but costlier) option. Building a cofferdam requires pile driving posts into the river bedrock.

“Coffer dams do disturb the bottom structure,” Witt said. “In our case, we’re very close to our powerhouse where the major repairs are going to be done. Driving piling in creates a whole new set of circumstances with the vibration from that. That can further degrade the existing wall. It could do something to structures in the power house. The risk there is a concern. Then you have to dewater that whole area and keep it dewatered so people can work in that area, which becomes a safety concern for workers. It is done, but in this case here, the benefits of doing what we’re doing outweigh the benefits of doing a cofferdam.”

“They don’t know if they could even pull it off with the bedrock that exists in the river channel,” Meronek said. “That’s hazardous in itself, when you risk doing damage to other structures. Maybe everyone wants to say they took the cheapest alternative, but in the end it’s the most efficient alternative. This thing needs to be fixed as soon as possible rather than later. It is a drastic fix, but once it’s done, it’s done.”

Several individuals and organizations realizing the inevitability of the event have decided to put a positive spin on the drawdown by volunteering to help move stranded fish populations the weekend of the drawdown. Others will be helping to remove carp, while still others will be working on garbage details to remove accumulated junk from the river.

The volunteers include angling groups such as the 12 Apostles Musky Club and the Wisconsin Bowfishing Association, as well as the Wisconsin River Alliance. Volunteers will meet at Club 10 6 a.m. Aug. 16.

“The people support is just a tribute to the area, taking this situation and trying to improve it, to save the muskies, to reduce the carp, clean up the area a little bit and do some shoreline maintenance work,” Witt said. “I can’t thank enough people understanding the value of the resource of the river and understanding also the resource of having a dam, because if the dam was not there, the resource of the river as it is today would not be there either. They go together. I think a lot of people in the area understand there is a balance here. This is not something we want to go out and do every five years. Our goal is to not ever do it, but recognize there are times where this needs to happen for the safety of the dam and continued running of this operation. The river will come back. DNR has stated that. There might be some impact. But the river is a strong body. The fish are strong in that area. We’re going to help maybe with a little restocking down the road to keep this area the way it is.”