Supreme Court Case to Affect Lake Levels?

A case before the state Supreme Court today could affect the raising and lowering of some lake levels around Wisconsin. Some of the property owners around Lake Koshkonong near Fort Atkinson have been trying for a decade to get the Department of Natural Resources to raise the lake’s water levels. The DNR controls the dam on the Rock River that helps form the lake. The property owners have failed in the lower courts, but now the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. The group Clean Wisconsin is backing the DNR. Staff attorney Elizabeth Wheeler says the southern Wisconsin dispute is important statewide.

Wheeler says many acres of wetland around Lake Koshkonong could be flooded if the water levels rose, harming the lake’s water quality, she says the DNR does have the authority to consider water quality impacts when setting lake levels. The Koshkonong property owners argue it’s harder to access a lower lake and that diminishes enjoyment of their property.