SHAWANO COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – Residents fear life on the Wolf River won’t be the same anymore after a company that owns a hydroelectric dam there announced a major project.
Beginning Wednesday, Wolf River Hydropower LP (WRHLP) announced that its federal regulator (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) directed it to start drawing down the water level on the Wolf River between the Balsam Row dam and Keshena. WRHLP owns the Balsam Row dam.
The plan is to reduce the water level in this stretch of river by as much as 14 feet. The company said the purpose of this is to ensure the dam can safely pass water downstream during the winter months. A source tells Local 5 News that the dam also needs repairs to its generator and some of its gates.
Several people familiar with the river estimate that the water depth in this stretch of the river is between 12 and 20 feet.
Several residents who live on this stretch of the river told Local 5 News they worry about the implications of this project. They said they love life on the river and worry that the water level reductions and potential changes to the dam could prevent them from doing the things they love on the river.
“The view is part of it,” said town of Wescott resident Ken Longmire when asked why he loves living on the Wolf River. “Just a gorgeous view, we can wake up every morning and see that. We also have a boat and a jet ski, and that strongly encourages our family to come visit in the summertime.”
Longmire said in the winter he loves going ice fishing and going ice skating with his grandchildren. He said that’s likely not going to be possible with the water level reduction. He said he also worries about his property value.
Longmire and other residents said they also have concerns about how these projects will impact wildlife.
“There’s so many turtles, frogs all kinds of different wildlife that we’re afraid is going to be disrupted by this,” said Michelle Long who also lives on the river. “There was company out her last week that did some measurements of the silt. They said that there would be a couple weeks to do the testing to see what’s in that so that’s another concern for us.”
According to a press release that the town of Richmond posted on its Facebook page, WRHLP took the environmental factors into consideration when planning for this project. Long and others said they didn’t do enough.
Fresh cut cantaloupe recalled in Wisconsin over listeria risk
A source with one of the towns in the area told Local 5 that it’s his understanding that the goal is for the water level to return to normal by next boating season. Local 5 News spoke briefly to a WRHLP spokesperson on the phone, but he didn’t respond to an email or a phone call later in the day seeking a statement or follow-up interview.
Michelle Long helped organize an informational session on Tuesday night so that community members could get some of their questions answered. The dam’s operator assured attendees that a dam shutdown wasn’t imminent and that the process to do this takes a long time and officials would consider community input before making that decision.
He said he thinks the chances of the dam shutting down completely are very small. A complete closure was a big concern for community members, with several of them saying they felt better about things after the meeting.
There were over 50 community members at the informational session. They said they will continue to push for answers and do whatever they can to maintain the life on the river they love so much.
“The water is why we moved here, it’s what drew us here,” Long said.
“If we saw a decrease in the width of the river that would greatly affect our enjoyment of the river,” Longmire said. “So we’re concerned about that, concerned about what our waterfront is going to be like.”
The Balsam Row dam is a nearly 100-year old hydroelectric dam.
