Docks under attack!
Maintaining a dock on the Chippewa Flowage has always been a challenge because of more frequent and significant changes in water level than you might see on a natural lake. After all, the Chippewa Flowage was created by the power company as an impound to store water above 7 dams from Hayward to Eau Claire WI. It was access to quick power until coal plants could be fired up. In recent years the water level generally varies about 3 feet per season.
However, some years saw much more extreme changes. For decades the water level was reduced by 10 feet or more in the winter. You can check out the Historical Chippewa Flowage Draw Down Data on this website.
As our neighbors on Moose Lake know when the water level is low when the lake freezes, docks stay high and dry and suffer little damage. That is why every October Moose Lake does a draw down and sends the Chippewa Flowage about 4 inches of water. Due to the confluence of events the Chippewa Flowage froze over with relatively high water this year and even though a draw down over the winter was planned, it was still higher than usual. Many dock owners will experience much more damage this year than ever before. Hope for optimal conditions to fix those docks before opening!
