water level

[justbob]

Why have they doubled the water over dam to 700?

[LundAngler]

I can't speak for the owners of the dam, but I'll make a guess.

During "normal" years, the flowage fills in the spring and is drawn down over the course of the summer. Usually, the water levels come up in the fall, prior to freeze up. Since the TFF is already basically at full pool, I imagine that they are making adjustments in the discharge rate in case we continue to have wet conditions into the fall.

Ultimately, the flowages in WI are flood control mechanisms, and regulate the flow of water downstream to the hydro dams. We just benefit from the great fish habitat they provide.

[George G]

The flowage is almost a full pool, at this time of year it is really unususal, look at the history chart . Down stream needs and also flooding in the supply to the flowage. Engineering to manage the resivoir. I think they have been doing a good job in the last few years with all the problems of no rain. They have had the flowage at minimum flow rates for a long time. Trying to satisfy all needs as best they can. Great to see the level the flowage is at. Looks good for the end of the season fishing contest held By Donners Bay, first weekend in October. Looking forward to that.

[BlueRanger]

USGS streamflow data is showing a 98 cfm flow rate in the Bear and 242 cfm in the Manitowish. Add the Turtle River, the other creeks and local runoff and the total inflow has to be around 700 cfm. Weather.com shows more than 6" of rain at Park Falls and 4" at Mercer in the past 7 days. Average for the entire month is around 4.5" and we're not even at the halfway point. With the TFF essentially full, it can't do much to mitigate downstream flooding if there's another major rainstorm. I wouldn't be surprised to see additional increases in outflow in an effort to regain some storage capacity.

Just as a point of trivia, the dam has Tainter gates which open from the bottom. Unless it's at full pool and the gates are closed, the water goes under, not over.

[George G]

Several years ago, maybe two to three they changed from letting the gates release the water to using the tubes. It changed the fishing for some reason at the dam. Curious how the gills will be biting there this fall. Still a nice place to tie up and fish, Claus loved that location. When they changed the discharge to the tubes it really altered his favorite location. Always remember him as a great person. Have fun on the TFF.

[Flambeau Vista Retreat LLC]

The great thing is that Midway is again running their Flambeau River Trips that have not run for 4-5 years. This means pristine fishing as very few have ventured these waters for some time. Very hungry fish in the pools below the rapids. See www.midwayflambeauriver.com for details.

www.flambeauvista.com

[gdi]

As I have said before maybe it's time to change what full pool really is, and get it up a little bit higher for the years of no rain or snow. A back up for the back up.

gdi

[Loweboy]

If you lived on the flowage i don't think you would want your place sitting in water,would you?

[gdi]

I think the level could be up some you would need to see how much more would work. I'm not saying get it up another 5 ft just some. Most homes are back far enough to take another 1 to 2 ft.


gdi

[George]

You have to remember the TFF is not an entity unto itself. It is, as the last F indicates, a flowage. You start backing water up in the TFF and the folks upstream on the Mani might have something to say about that as well as the folks downstream. Hence the reason for the regulations governing the flow rates. It's probably true that most homes on the TFF wouldn't be adversely affected by a 1 or 2 foot rise, but that's just a small part of the whole.

[Freak]

Another 2 feet higher I would lose my frontage and my yard would be underwater. It’s like walking on a sponge right now. It wouldn’t be fun wading through 2 feet of water to get out to the pier.