Fairer Weather, Less Flooding Expected: Rock River Levels Threaten Homes

By Lisa Sink and Don Behm, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Apr. 13–A stretch of dry, warmer weather over the next few days should lower floodwaters in the hardest-hit areas of Jefferson, Rock and Kenosha counties.

The mix of “nuisance rain and snow” that fell Saturday in parts of southeastern Wisconsin did not stick to roads or significantly affect flooding, said meteorologist Chris Franks of the National Weather Service in Sullivan.

The next chance of rain will be Thursday and Friday, Franks said. But temperatures also will rise from a high of about 40 today into the 60s by late week, which should help lower floodwaters, he said.

Moderate floods have closed roads and flooded homes and yards along the Rock and Bark rivers in Jefferson and Rock counties. Some of the worst flooding was near Fort Atkinson and Lake Koshkonong, where Blackhawk Island Road was closed, according to Jefferson County sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Rue.

Rue said the Crawfish River in Milford in Jefferson County, and the Rock River in portions of Jefferson and Rock counties, have been close to or over the flood stage for the past week. No homes have had to be evacuated, but some areas are close to evacuation stage, Rock County Sgt. Derek Ninmer said.

Free sandbags and sand will be available at the Town Hall buildings in the towns of Fulton, Milton, Rock and Beloit. In the Town of Fulton, the Highway 59 DPW shed also has sand. Residents need to bring their own shovels.

Combined sewer overflows to Milwaukee rivers and Lake Michigan were scheduled to end Saturday night, as the sewers resumed discharging to the deep tunnel system, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District officials said.

District workers began opening dozens of gates linking the tunnels with combined sanitary and storm sewers in central Milwaukee and Shorewood after 9:30 a.m. Saturday, district spokesman Bill Graffin said.

The gates had been closed since Thursday evening to provide adequate storage space in the deep tunnels for excess flows from separate sanitary sewers in the remainder of the district’s service area.

No estimate of the total volume of storm water and sewage released to the waterways since Thursday was available Saturday.

At 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the district also halted blending of partly and fully treated wastewater at its Jones Island sewage plant, Graffin said. The district’s discharge permit allows it to divert up to 60 million gallons of partly treated wastewater a day during heavy rains if both treatment plants are operating at maximum capacity.

Blending began about 8:15 p.m. Thursday to increase wastewater flows through Jones Island and prevent filling the deep tunnels to capacity, which would cause sanitary sewer overflows, officials had said.

The district’s permits allows up to six combined sewer overflows a year, but sanitary sewer overflows generally are prohibited.

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