Pictures And Lessons As Lake Delton In Wisconsin Drains Away
In the end, Mother Nature will have her way.
That was the main thought on my mind as I stood on what hours before had been Lake Delton. We like to think as human beings, possessing intelligence and using technology, that we can shape the earth to our whims. We can conquer all, build anything anywhere, and force the laws of nature to abide by our desires.
Mother Nature struck back and reminded us all on Monday that we are not in as much control as we would like to think. Lake Delton, a major economic magnet for the Wisconsin Dells area emptied all of its water in just about 4 hours into the powerful Wisconsin River. All that was left was the muddy reminders of what had once been. Piers stuck in the mud, boats arrayed like toys left out by a child, and old tree stumps that had long been covered by water were all that remained.
The history of how Wisconsin Dells came to be is one where business interests trumped the lovers of Mother Nature and natural beauty. Billboard pollution and fake rocks have never excited a wide swath of the public. It seemed in some frightful way that Mother Nature was doing in some small way on Monday what God did at the time of the Great Flood. Trying to cleanse some of the sins away.
Governor Doyle said that the state would work to insure that Lake Delton came back stronger and better than ever. And I am sure that it will.
And I am also certain that Mother Nature is watching. She knows who is really in control.
The high water that had extended well above the beach area drained rapidly as Lake Delton joined the Wisconsin River.
Even after the bulk of the water had left the remaining amounts worked its way through the mud to find an outlet.
Three hours before the man here would have been at least chest high in water.
Ducks found enough water to swim on a dwindling Lake Delton.
The Upper Dells Dam worked over-time to deal with the heavy rains from the weekend.
Tommy Bartlett Water Shows without the water.
Without the water the image is just not as menacing.
This picture above is my favorite of the day. After all the bustle of the day, and the onslaught of reporters and bloggers, it is just the water and mud that remains, making their own ‘footprint’ on the bottom of Lake Delton.
Technorati Tags: LakeDelton, , WisconsinDells, Wisconsin, Environment
Wonderful set of pictures! Thanks much for the very interesting and informative compilation. The amount of response and comments generated is proof of its value.
As a professional civil engineer and licensed surveyor, it pains my heart that the village was not able to be served properly from my peers. Purely, the public has suffered 100% at the hands of these professionals inability to provide service to protect the village, and will continue to suffer as tax payers subsidize the clean-up and rebuilding.
Learning that the FEMA mapping was not current absolutely flabbergasts me. To me, this is the equivalent of sending our children to asbestos laden schools, and painting our homes with lead paint. It’s 2008 for heaven’s sake.
Please consider these issues of public safety when electing your local officials, and demand that your money be spent for proactive objective solutions, rather than the conjectured culture that promotes deferment in the interest of lining pockets.
Thank goodness for the brave souls and big hearts of this community determined to fight its way back from this terrible, terrible, terrible, tragedy.
Oh sure.. but when some preacher says New Orleans was punished for debauchery or gays are punished with AIDS.. THAT is not okay to say.. but… oh no.. some people lose their livelihood in wisconsin cause its a tourist trap.. THATS okay to say God did it.. i mean mother nature
you are a bunch of hypocrites.
Things happen… because they HAPPEN… the rain falls on the godly and the ungodly.. there is no REASON…
unless you make choices.. THEN reasons get involved.
My biggest fear is that the Dells “Big money boys” and “tax & spend” Doyle will get together and open or remove the dam above Lake Delton to drain all the water from Mirror Lake so they can re-fill Delton.There is not much on Mirror except Ishnala,the State Park and a few homes….Watch and see if they don’t pull that little trick.
“home owners were unable to aquire flood insurance,but were assured by the developers that they would not need it because it was dam controlled …”
As far as I know, no one sells private flood insurance (and, homeowner’s policies don’t cover it).
Flood insurance is available from the federal government, at varying rates depending on the estimated risk (more info at http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/ ). Even so, the federal program does not take in nearly enough in premiums to cover the cost. Which, of course, is why there is no private flood insurance.
Given that government already provides incentives to large companies to stay in Wisconsin, it does not seem entirely unreasonable that some help might be available for the mostly mom-n-pop business operators found in Lake Delton.
But having said that, it is not unreasonable that the help be limited. After all, Lake Delton was built as a private real-estate development (what is now the lake bottom was dug out in the 1920s, and that dam on CTH-A began its work in 1927).
Although the original developer went bankrupt when demand for vacation property cratered in the Great Depression, as a general principle the cost and risk of artificial-lake real estate developments (and there are many besides Lake Delton) really should be borne by those who choose to build in the development.
Its too bad about the lake. It doesn’t really matter that the lake drained out. Disaster happens. As far as everyone doing this “I told you so” bit, you sould keep your mouth shut and concentrate on your own affairs. Disasters happen to everyone, the poor, and the rich, and everyone is worth helping. I’m sure that the people that owned homes on Lake Delton paid taxes, and made charitable contributions to help people in need. Why would they be any less deserving of help? As far as mother nature is concerned, it is a rediculous notion that the climate possesses a personal claim on the world which would consider humanity an affront to its wants and desires and therefore wreak havoc on the land to “reclaim” portions of it which are taken from it. For the people of Lake Delton that lost homes or businesses because of this please know that everything will be okay. It may not be the same as it was, but count the belssings in your life and be happy!
Wow, Mark you are slightly psychotic and made one of the most heartless comments I have read yet. The attractions and what not are only a small part of what the Dells area has to offer. Have you ever traveled outside the Dells(country) or done one of the Boat tours? I wish you could have witnessed the raw emotion on Monday as I did. I saw people crying not for the loss of money but for the loss of memories. Something they have worked for there entire lives. Again, some of my best memories come from that place. Even though it is a bit of an amusement park in most place…..so what!!!! I guess every type of environment similar to that should be stricken with floods and natural disasters. Such as Las Vegas, all Six Flags or amusement parks around the globe…..but I bet you have never visited one of those have you….not even as a child. If the flood had taken out the whole city most likely someone would of also been killed….I think you are sick to suggest such a thing.
(Moderator note….I agree with Kelly that one part of Mark’s comments here were way out of bounds and therefore given the raw emotions of the moment removed that portion.)
I was in the Dells area on Sunday and took some pictures of Lake Delton while it was flooding. So when I heard the lake was empty the next day I went back and took more pictures from the same spots I was the day before.
These are dramatic “Before” & “After” pictures taken less than 24 hours apart, here’s the link:
http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Before_After_Lake_Delton_Wisconsin
Thanks!
Lets get real. Wisconsin Dells is gross. The blight on the landscape is for pure greed and nothing more. Many decades ago there was a chance for this area to be special and natural. But greedy investors thought they could rape the land and destroy it with god-awful crap and make a quick buck. Look at the landscape there and tell me the billboards are anything that one can say “Wow, how pretty!” Instead folks I know are happy to never have to even drive through the city.
Meanwhile Devils Lake State Park (nearby) can provide all the love of the outdoors beauty without the shameful greed that comes from man-made lakes and cheesy shops selling pure crap.
Finally, as I read elsewhere and use here ‘we’ve seen it happen time and again with Hurricane Katrina, wildfires and other “disasters” and we will see it more as human-induced climate change accelerates. Nature goes where it will, not where we tell it to go. When we mess with Nature, we pay for it. And our God of goodness and compassion will not stop it because- even according to His unflappable followers- He created it. Would you want someone messing with your creation?”
Thank you Laura…and please tell your friends to support our community.
I’m appalled with the heartless comments that have been left on this message board. Nobody deserves the tragedy that has happened to these unfortunate families and business owners. You truly believe that someone deserves to lose their house or their income. Many families relied on this lake to earn a living. You people should be ashamed of yourself to say that this horrible tragedy was well deserved. I would like to see how you would feel if you lost your home, your business, and your livelihood. It’s like saying that if your house was destroyed by a tornado you deserved it because you live in the Midwest. Don’t be absurd.
I don’t live in the Dells, however, I have more memories that I can count. I have memories as a small child riding the Ducks, memories now as an adult with my children. We were planning on going back in August. I’ll say it now with or without the lake we will be there supporting the residents of the Dells.
My heart goes out to the families affected by this tragedy.
“You run the risk of flooding and water damage when you live on the water. That’s why they have insurance you can purchase. Next time think about what matters most to you. The people who have insurance, you are very lucky. To those of you who don’t, lessons learned.”
You might need to read some more articles because you are grossly ill-informed of their situation. Many of these people tried to purchase flood insurance and couldn’t. Pretty hard to “learn a lesson” when they tried to get insurance and were told it was not available or unnecessary. A dispute with FEMA led Lake Delton to refuse to be enrolled (free enrollment) to offer flood insurance to residents on the lake. Other people had their agency tell them it was unnecessary because their home was build above the flood plain. It would be very unfortunate to let people who have worked hard all their lives to purchase a $1 million home lose it all when they tried to protect their investment. Between the state, the town of Lake Delton, the Federal government, and the home insurance agencies, someone had better show some compassion for these people.
Great pictures and interesting article. Though, I agree fully with Bill F.
First of all, thank you Erin Lopez, being a lifetime resident of Lake Delton I appreciate your comment and concern,,,,none of you know the effect this has on our lives, our economy and the trickle down affect it has to other business in our area and all of Wisconsin.
Lake Delton is not a luxury pool!! some of your comments are insulting, we have lived on the lake for over 50 years have never seen it flood, we as full time residents have taken care of the lake and care about our environment, its others that use our lake that take no care and care not for it.
None of you were here at 4am in the morning with our local fire department men and woman bagging our properties and helping us move out of our lower levels…For those of you that say we are idiots for not having flood insurance, think again, we cant obtain it!! judge not, you were not here……….
First I want to send my regards to all the residents and the business owners that were effected the tragedy of Lake Delton. I use to go to the Dells with my family and I am taking my kids there every chance I get including a vacation this summer at Mt. Olympus.
It really affected me cause I use to stay at the most wonderful resort that is now know longer in business
Pine Beach Resort that was located right on that beautiful lake. I just wish everyone well and hope things will return to normal.
Erin Lopez
Bill F is right on the money. The global warming crowd blame every ( natural ) disaster on climate change. A rudimentary knowledge of weather would tell the GW crowd that a stationary front aligned with a jet stream that is also somewhat static causes a bunch of rain to fall in the same place. When a bunch of rain falls in the same place there will be flooding in low areas. And the last time I flew over beautiful Wisconsin, it was largely natural. Not a blacktop.
Excellent article, great pictures.
Do I smell a “Tommy Bartlet’s PaintBall field?!”
I know it’s a terrible thing to happen to the people around the Dells-Delton area, But…where are all the T.V. cameras, Governor, Army Corps of Engineers, etc. for the many smaller, poorer, worse off towns in the area whose people are in REAL dire straits? Farmers dumping their milk because the trucks can’t get through…people wonderind about the availability of food, medicine and the necessities for life. The effect on these hard-working Wisconsinites doesn’t seem to get nearly the coverage and help that the “Tourist Towns” seem to be recieving. How about the Tax-Payer Dollars and not just the Tourist Revenue. A lot of people don’t have Tourist trade where they live. They have to rely on hard work and trying to get by. It’ going to be a long summer and a hungry winter for a lot of local people equally or more devestated. And it’s a damn shame they don’t seem to get the help or recognition they truly deserve. Remember, those are the people who REALLY made Wisconsin what it is. Not a few Fast tourist money Lucky towns.
Lake Delton always has been a special place for me. My grandparents took me there and we stayed at the Shan-Gri-La Lodge when I was in sixth grade. Two years later in 1976, I fell in love with a sixth-grader named Kelly from Morrison, Illinois, whose parents also were staying there. Never saw her again, but I remember the music of that time, “Afternoon Delight” was the biggie. We swam and played together. She danced but I was too shy. We could watch the Tommy Bartlett Water Show for free because it was directly across from the lodge. I snuck across to the second hole of the golf course across the street and would play the rest of the course. That same year, I took a rowboat out on the lake and rowed to where Dawn Manor is. Unfortunately, the ducks, the amphibious vehicles, also came onto Lake Delton from that spot, and the waves created by those ducks were so strong that I couldn’t row back. Instead, I got pushed to the shore where there was a bar. I had to call my dad to pick me and the rowboat up. God was that embarrassing! Hopefully, Lake Delton will return.
Has anyone taken an aerial photograph of the drained lake?
Somebody wrote sun spots… Nice words and the only ones we need to know!
The Dells: I live in mid Sweden near two lakes called South and North Dellen.
Lots of people with opinions here. Before Man built any dams on the Wisconsin River the entire river in the Dells area was a white water river. Lots of rain = Floods and wild rivers. When this happens Earthen dams, the most popular dam there is, there’s thousands of them, sometimes give way. There’s PLENTY of earthen dams containing the Wisconsin River. Go up the river only a few miles to the Mauston – Necedah area and you can see where the water being held back is 20 to 30 feet deep and MILES wide. They generate electricity with those dams. How do I know all this. First off, if you visit the dells you can read its history and see the pictures. So that whole central wisconsin area is nothing but a bunch of artificial lakes causes by daming up a fairly wild river. Its not Man vs Nature, its man adapting nature to his needs. Someone want to argue against hydro-electric power now? And Keeping water from causing wild flooding?
Climate is what you expect, Weather is what you get. OK, lets talk global warming. One of the ‘tragedies’ of this current global warming cycle is the thousand year old glacier in Glacier National Park is melting away. The fact that this Glacier is ONLY 1000 years old seems to be lost on people. That means 1100 years ago, no glacier. What does this mean? It means the earth was warmer then? Oh yes, the Northern Polar Cap melted then as well. But we still have Polar Bears so I guess it wasn’t quite so devastating. It is HUBRIS to think that Man has caused this when Science indicates that, in fact, this whole thing was caused by the Sun. Its that glowing ball in the sky during the day. Our star, we call it the Sun is what is called a variable star, only ours is not extremely variable. We are very lucky for that. But it does swing in solar output. Currently we are in quite an active period. But only a few hundred years ago we had ‘years without summers’ and went through something called a Maunder Minimum. It is Hubris to think that Man causes all of the climate changes. I’m not argueing against electric cars, burning less fossil fuel and in general being less wasteful. The simple facts are, we just don’t make that much of an impact on things. The good ideas are worth doing because they are cheaper and less wasteful.
Less not get crazy about things. Its the sun, its that simple. Oh yeah, 1100 years ago vikings lived on Greenland and grew crops there and actually shipped some food back to Europe. Where they lived is now covered with Glaciers. Don’t mess me up with your global warming bullshit.
You arrogant fools. You know fully well that naturally occuring carbon dioxide comprises 98% of the existing total. This “man made” global warming movement religion is just the new push by the super socialists/communists.You Lenninists are so damn arrogant, but then again you dont have to cling to that foolish christian religion or guns like us backward folks.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that oil is the root of all evil. If not oil then it would be something else. Through history mankind has gone to war over spice and gold and anything else deemed valuble. Oil is just the vehical that profiteers use to pillage the people. War is the real money maker for the uber rich. How much money has been spent on this war. Can anyone say just where the money trail leads. This war will pass to history leaving a trail of broken lives and very wealthy people. With that said I do find it interesting that the first place that Doyle found time to stop by was the wealthy comunity of Lake Delton. Lets see, close to Madison, playground of the semi wealthy, gotta chase the money eh.
New topic Global Warming, psudo science, as new developments are brought forth tho combat the carbon footprint of humanity, i.e. Iron seeding the ocean tho raise carbon digesting plankton, the scientific commuity finds ways to stall solutions untill they can find a way to get that fat research grant for themselves. There is no cooperation within the scientific community because it has also become all abut the money,not the solution. There is no higher purpose except the gathering of mamon (money).
Anyone who thinks that humans are not affecting the state of the earth’s nature is completely in denial of their physical surroundings. Humans are lazy, greedy beings who only want to believe what is convenient and makes money for them, even if it’s an illusion. Mother nature didn’t take anything back. Humans manipulate the landscape with dollar signs in their eyes, only speculating the “good” that could come of it, and not even considering that something “bad” can happen. (Hurricane Katrina, same thing…) Things like this happen (not only here) because of greed and overpopulation. And because humans are too lazy to think about the consequences of their actions. Learn from the past? Now that’s WAY too much effort for the human race. And it doesn’t make money.
And while we’re at it, if you find yourself “stuck with a gas hog,” well, that’s a great example of how humans refuse to see what goes on around them. A few years ago, after “we” went to war, and gas prices were really on the rise, did anyone ever wonder why? I mean really, the big picture, why? And did you really think that it was going to get more affordable? The auto companies sure did a good job of convincing people that it would. At this point in the game, if you are filling up an SUV, boat, or ORV with gasoline for recreation and leisure (that is, not a necessity), or to get somewhere that you could walk or bike to, you are only contributing to the oil wars. Way to be patriotic!
How can you look at the destruction of Lake Delton and think that this proves we can’t affect the climate?!? How can you think that we don’t play a role in these “natural” disasters? What do you think caused this? 90% of the wetlands in southern Wisconsin have been drained. Tens of thousands of acres have been paved over with highways and parking lots. The area around Lake Delton especially. Where is floodwater going to go when you take away all the flood plains? What is going to happen when it all flows into the one spot it can still flow?
Nature causes destructive floods, sure. But nature has not operated in a totally natural environment in southern Wisconsin in hundreds of years. Nature is aided and abetted by the way we use the land.
Learn the wrong lesson and you just make the problem worse.
Great report from the scene. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.
What is God besides Mother Nature? Nada…
When she rocks, she rocks…
I heard they think they found Jimmy Hoffa.
It still is unique, it’s probably the only lake in Wisconsin that you can’t dround in.
When are they comming with the F.E.M.A. trailers?
Will they just call it “Delton” or something more creative, like ‘Delton Crater’?
There’s a lot of water slides, but they’ve got the first Mud Slide.
This sure reminds me of a couple “catastrophes” in recent history. We just get complacent. If it’s not broke don’t fix it right? Being reactive instead of proactive. The levy’s could have been made to contain the water in Louisiana. Everything was fine for years, but no one thought about what might happen and did not plan accordingly. Now we are spending billions when we could have spent millions and saved a few lives along the way. On top of that if you are going to build and live 13 feet below the water level there is a good chance you’re going to get wet. Reactive instead of proactive.
Then there was the bridge collapse in Minnesota. Lives lost in twisted steel. There were photos of stress fractures long before this bridge ever fell. No one did a thing about it. Now it’s like “oops time to inspect and fix every bridge in America”. Reactive instead of proactive.
This little Dells incident could have been avoided too! Without even mentioning the fact that people are building on sandy shorlines of flowing water (o.k. I mentioned it). I’ve seen the “concrete” dam that seperates the upper and lower Dells. Seems pretty sturdy and does not wash away when water starts flowing. How can people expect the dams that Billy Bob built with his tractor back in the 50’s to hold up forever? Now they will be reacting to an event that should’ve never happened.
This stuff is not Mother Nature taking something back, this is complacancy, ignorance, arrogance and people just not doing there freaking jobs.
Wake up, look around, fix something before it breaks. That goes for our country too! Everyone wants it now (and cheaply) while ignoring the reprucussions. Pretty soon China will own us.
Wow what a tangent…..sorry about your houses. My advise would be to make sure they use concrete in those dams before rebuilding that close to the water. Good Luck!
The irony of this disaster is that the reason the Dells even exist today is thanks to a catastrophic (glacial) dam failure and the subsequent draining of a lake the size of the Great Salt Lake. The great torrents that drained the lake cut down into the sandstone creating the unique gorges and slot canyons of today. 15,000 years later humans turned this scar on the landscape into a tourist attraction and dammed up one of the side canyons to make an additional attraction, Lake Delton. It is weird how history tends to repeat itself–albeit on a much smaller scale.
Those who do not remember and learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Look up historical records of a piece of land before you purchase it. And don’t listen to the idiot trying to sell it to you.
Excellent article! Every sentence was well-thought and well-placed. Awesome writing!
The way I see it though, is not that Mother Nature took back what is hers, but that this once again shows the arrogance of man that they think they can tame the beast on their own. It wasn’t that man did a mighty fine dam and Mother Nature ran over it but that the dam was not built with the potential strength of Mother Nature in mind.
A developer I know built a townhouse skyscraper to withstand 120 mph winds. The building wasn’t even finished when a hurricane came by with winds over 130. Luckily the building stood because I am invested in the company but Mother Nature will always surprise you. It is just a matter of if it is a good surprise or a bad one.
Once again, your blog post on Lake Delton was high quality. I am learning rss at work so I will BlogLine you as soon as I figure out how!
Linda Sue
Some might say this is climate change. Mother nature didn’t take back. We caused this. Many Wisconsin rivers are now at there highest on record. Record snowfalls last winter. Is it really mother nature taking back or are we responsible. Look at what we have done in the last hundred years as far as consumption of resources and polluting. I for one believe we can and are changing the world. Mother nature is not indestructable. Of course earth will remain and be beautiful when we kill ourselves off. It just may take a million years. Which isnt that long in earth years. Long live the earth!
Those who are not convinced that we are creating global warming are right on one count, we will not destroy the earth. The earth will outlast us, although perhaps not in a condition that we would recognize.
My concern with global warming is the survival of our species and other species that I care about.
Those of us who believe that we are creating problems with our carbon emissions, deforestation, overpopulation, etc. are concerned about future generations.
I also believe that autos burning lead-based fuel created smog that impacted our health and the health of other species.
I’d just like to ask this of the writer and of their followers: Where do you live? Do you live in a home that has overtaken some sort of nature? Do you drive on man made roadways, in cars that use gasoline? Before you throw all of these stones…look at your own life. If you live in the woods in a tent and live off of your own garden and walk everywhere you go…then hats off to you! Get over it.
Maybe this is a good opportunity to clean up and improve the lake, i can only imagine what was found at the bottom.
The people posting about global warming are thinking sloppily. Quasi-poetic ramblings about Man and Nature do not constitute science.
That aside:
Dell Creek forms a gorgeous slot canyon as it meets the Wisconsin River. It looks as though they’ll refill the lake, but even if they don’t, give the old Dell Creek channel that was under Lake Delton 10 years to dry out, and you have: more of the real Dells.
While we’re at it, can I have some of my old fishing lures back from the bottom?
And before you judge go visit it in person it is a lot more devastating in real life
I find it humorous that all of these people now decide to rag on the Dells now that it is suffering such a tremendous loss. This community has been a place of memories for people all over the world who have visited. The Dells has brought a tremendous amount of money into the state and even though Lake Delton is man made it still symbolizes a great deal to many people. I worked in the Dells for number of years. I met my husband there many of my closest friends and I felt a deep sadness in seeing my memories wash away in a matter of hours. The point is the community will persevere and go on. And I guarantee, you are all the same people that will visit it once again after it is up and running
I totally agree with many of the comments posted here. Especially the one regarding global warming. It is totally arrogant to think that we have any influence on the global climate. A few sun spots change the temperature of the earth. Many years after we are all dead and gone, the earth will still be here. As lush and as beautiful as the creator intended it to be. All the Lake Delton Disasters will be long forgotten.
There’s an old song I learned at bible camp that goes like this:
Don’t build your house on the sandy land. Don’t build too near the shore. Oh it might look kinda nice, but you’ll have to build it twice, oh you’ll have to build your house once more. You’ve got to build your house upon the rock, make good foundation on a solid spot….
Lakes exist so we can boating, swimming, and fishing. They aren’t there so we can build a house precariously close to the shore, and admire how peaceful and pretty it is. This isn’t the first time flood related erosion has claimed homes, and it won’t be the last. Learn from past mistakes people.
This article is a perfect illustration of why the global warming idea is all a hoax. If man is unable to avoid “Mother Nature” taking away a man-made lake, how is it possible that man can cause the demise of the entire earth? Man, and sophisticated computers are unable to accurately predict the weather tomorrow, so why should we have faith in them being able to predict what the earth is going to be like a year from now, or 10 years from now, or 100 years from now? It is man’s own arrogance pure and simple!
It is a shame at what has happened. This has happened six times before begining in the 1950’s. I guess people got complacent about this lake and never thought something like this could ever happen. Although I feel sorry for the homeowners who lost their home and their land, I do not believe the State of Wisconsin should give them money. You run the risk of flooding and water damage when you live on the water. That’s why they have insurance you can purchase. Next time think about what matters most to you. The people who have insurance, you are very lucky. To those of you who don’t, lessons learned.
After reading an artical that stated the home owners were unable to aquire flood insurance,but were assured by the developers that they would not need it because it was dam controlled. Why would the insurance companies balk if it was truly safe. There had to be a geologic survey of the area around the lake. The area above the dam that eroded away was all sand. This lake could not have survived long term with that even if it was 400 yards wide. Yes mother nature had her way but somebody suspected it could happen. If nobody suspected then so be it but if information was buried that revealed the possability. Sometimes I can’t help myself.
I sure hope the Governor finds money to help devasted farmers who
grow the food we eat, and money to repair small community dams,
before he spends a penny on a man-made lake that rightfully puked
away half-million dollar luxury homes. That lake has no business
being there.
The “real” Dells, meaning the beautiful limestone cliffs on the
Wisconsin River, are still intact and are the reall “natural beauty
of the area.” Lake D was just a big luxury pool!
I saw the stranded ducks but were there any fish left high and dry? Anything lost at lake bottom [like boat motor] can now be recovered. Any bodies found? Morbid I know but it happens. Loads of stuff usually surface.
This is a well-written article and I agree with everything you said. Mother Nature will always take back what is hers. There is too much building, blacktopping, draining of her wetlands and creating water sheds where none existed before. We forget that it is up to her where the water flows and where it will stay. And, she will make changes as to those conditions whenever evoluation dictates. We as humans have to adjust and build according to the needs of the earth and not money interests. She resents our interference and will let us know eventually that she is displeased. Thanks for the insight.