Boaters are asked to exercise caution

Published in the Janesville Gazette - Saturday, September 1, 2007 12:23:23 AM CST

By Shelly Birkelo
Gazette Staff

A resident who lives along the shores of Lake Koshkonong can't understand why a slow, no-wake order hasn't been issued for the lake.

Jefferson County Emergency Government Director Donna Haugom explained why.

"There is no legal ordinance to issue a slow, no-wake on Lake Koshkonong."

The lake rests in parts of three counties-Rock, Jefferson and Dane-and five townships-Albion, Afton, Milton, Sumner and Fulton.

"So according to the Department of Natural Resources, all five of those townships would have to accept and ratify that ordinance in their own townships and then all sign off agreeing that when the lake hits that one level, they would initiate a slow, no-wake," Haugom said.

In the 13 years Haugom has led the emergency management office in Jefferson County, she said a slow, and no-wake order has never been issued for Lake Koshkonong.

That bothers Vivian Knoble of Chicago who has a lake home here.

"Why does every other lake around here have it (a slow, no-wake order) and ours doesn't?" she asked.

"It's unbelievable the damage boaters can cause to the shorelines," Knoble said.

"We can't control the wind up here, that can be terrible. But we sure could control the boaters,'' she added.

Haugom understands Knoble's frustrations and concerns.

"With the wind and wave action on the lake it erodes the shoreline," Haugom said.

Also, "there's a lot of debris in Lake Koshkonong," she said.

"Somebody going at a faster speed not seeing a tree trunk; it could be fatal. There are a lot of boatlifts and piers under water. If they don't know they're there, that could be an issue," Haugom said.

Haugom asks that boaters "be considerate of property owners along the lake."

The Rock County Sheriff's Department Boat Patrol will be providing extra water patrol on Lake Koshkonong and the Rock River over the Labor Day holiday.

There is a slow, no-wake order in effect for the Rock River and "it will be enforced stringently," according to a department press release.

Lake Koshkonong at Neville is at flood stage and was at 10.44 feet this morning, which is 4 inches above flood stage, Haugom said.

The Koshkonong Lake District's Web site, rkld.org, has been placing a half-dozen postings a day telling residents along the lake to remove anything the high water could capture and put in the stream and carry out, said Brian Christianson, chairman of the district.

"We've been removing debris from the Indianford trash racks daily the last two weeks," he said.

"It's really the individual's responsibility," Christianson added, "to protect piers, their boats, picnic tables, storage boxes or anything high water could capture."



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