Lake Delton Redevelopment Status

Governor's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

The Dell Creek Dam improvements project is on schedule. The gates of the dam are expected to be closed around the first of December so Lake Delton can start slowly refilling this winter. Several improvements to the dam are being made to allow the dam to withstand much heavier amounts of water. Spillway work and reinforcement of the dam are the major pieces of the project, with sluice gate improvements also being made to expedite the movement of water through the dam. The improvements will increase the dam's capacity by 214 percent, more than enough to accommodate a 100-year flood.

The fractured County Highway A reconstruction project is on schedule and is coming together nicely according to Wisconsin Department of Transportation officials. Plans are to have Highway A open to traffic in December. The State took over jurisdiction of the highway about a week after the lake drained. Once the work is complete, the road will be returned to Sauk County.

The coffer dam in front of the Highway A breach was finished in mid-August. The dam was completed quickly because the State wanted to preserve the breach site from further damage by the elements. The coffer dam stopped the creek from flowing through the site. It is centered with steel pilings, surrounded by rock aggregate.

A projected three-year project, the Lake Delton Fisheries Restoration Project, online at www.restorelakedeltonfisheries.com, was established in August to help restock Lake Delton. The first step in the project, besides raising funds, will be to chemically treat the carp and other fish that are left in the lake bed when the Dell Creek Dam and the Mirror Lake Dam are closed in December. Next spring, about three million flathead, golden shiner and sucker fry minnows will be put in the lake.

The Village of Lake Delton received a generous donation from the Tennessee-based Propex in August that will help keep certain areas of land around the lake from eroding. Propex donated 5,000 square yards of its ArmorMax system that includes a mat, anchored to the ground with tension rods, and then planted over with vegetation to help keep it in place. The system has a 50-year lifespan and is especially useful for steep slopes like those around dams and levies.

The Village of Lake Delton will spend additional monies to fix the dried out lake bed and to remove vegetation that has been growing in it all summer. Contractors have been spraying dry areas of the bed for the past month to remove the grass, weeds and saplings that have taken root.

Crews have completed the cleanup of a 20-mile stretch of the Wisconsin River downstream from where flooding washed out part of Lake Delton. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank said the Lower Wisconsin River now is safe for navigation and free of debris. Organizers said about 120 tons of debris was removed.

Work on County Highway A in Lake Delton is underway. Hoffman Construction of Black River Falls will be the prime contractor and the company hopes to have the road complete in December.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signs a $3.63 million contract for the reconstruction of County Highway A in Lake Delton. Work on the roadway, which also serves as an embankment for Lake Delton, is scheduled to begin September 8, 2008.

Two local outdoor experts, Dan Small and Ben Hobbins, announce a project to restore the fish in drained Lake Delton in a collaborative effort to help rebuild the multi-faceted recreational opportunities in the Lake Delton and Wisconsin Dells area.

The Wisconsin River cleanup is off to a good start with 15,000 pounds of debris collected after nearly a week of work. Seven of the 89 debris sites along the river have been cleaned up.

The Wisconsin River cleanup begins in Columbia County where the Wisconsin River is filled with the aftermath of June flooding. The work is the beginning of pulling Lake Delton debris out of the Wisconsin River.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources identified 89 sites, over a 24-mile span of the Wisconsin River, to be cleaned up after the breach of Lake Delton. Officials hope to have the river fully cleaned up by the end of September.

Work begins on a $1.8 million cofferdam at the County Hwy A breach of Lake Delton; the first step in state and local plans to fix Lake Delton.

The state of Wisconsin expects to purchase the majority of properties lost or damaged in the Lake Delton breach to clear the way for reconstructing County Hwy A.

Crews begin improvements to Lake Delton Dam to increase its capacity and to build new emergency spillways.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation develops a proposal to rebuild County Highway A and restore Lake Delton by Spring 2009.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announces the state's Department of Tourism will have $250,000 allocated for grants of up to $12,500 each to help Wisconsin tourism destinations in the 28 counties that have been declared federal disaster areas.

Lake Delton Village officials receive word the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will handle the repairs to the breach and County Hwy A, with the goal of restoring Lake Delton by Spring 2009.

Lake Delton officials deliberate the use of three options to restore Lake Delton and fix the breach of County Hwy A.

Wisconsin National Guard engineers assess what equipment and supplies will be needed to begin repairs of Lake Delton.

Lake Delton breaks through its banks draining into the Wisconsin River.