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Waterway Issues

Floating Weeds!

Commissioner Don Baron met with Tom Ditscheit, chief of police, he stated that the buoys effected by the floating weeds are in the strong current areas, the water patrol has been removing weeds as they find buoys under water which takes a long time, taking them away from their patrol of the waterway.

For the safety of our waterway, he requested a plea for help to keep our waterway safe, if the problem continues the police chief stated that he will have to take out the slow no wake buoys in all strong current areas. Without slow no wake warnings, shoreline erosion will become an issue.

Anyone spotting a buoy underwater should try to remove the weeds if unable to remove contact: Town of Waterford Police Department

Day time phone: (262)534-2119        
Night time phone: (262)534-5166

Muck

Muck refers to an organic, nutrient-rich residue which is our inheritance from generations of neglect of our waterway.  Near-shoreline problems with muck are absent along most of the shoreline of the deep Lake Tichigan.  Elsewhere, muck tends to be least in regions of strong current, and most severe in eddies and in bays.  To obtain an overview of the muck situation in our waterway, four shoreline locations were sampled, near and in Island View Bay, and near and in Buena Lake (which is also a bay).

Measurements of water depth above the hard-bottom sand and gravel, plus the depth of the muck above the hard bottom, were done by means of an unfinished wooden rod, with bands of red tape are at one-foot intervals. 

Results of the measurements are summarized in the graph.  Think of the graph as a vertical cross-section near the shoreline, with the shore at the left.  The water surface is at the top.  At each location, the dashed line shows the depth of the top of the muck, and the solid line the depth of the hard-bottom sand and gravel.  The different locations are indicated by different colors.

One notable feature is that even though the hard-bottom profiles at the four sites differ considerably, the muck depths below surface (dashed lines) parallel each other to a remarkable degree.  It is almost as if the muck seeks its own level, though there is a slight gradient outward from shore.

Of the four sites sampled, the most exposed to currents is the location North of the entrance to Island view Bay (blue lines), and in this sample, it shows the least muck.  The least exposed to currents is the location within Buena Lake (red lines), and it shows more muck than water starting out from 7 feet from shore.  Other locations sampled fall in between.

The safety danger imposed by the muck needs to be heeded.  Whenever the muck depth was 2 feet or higher, it took an estimated force of 30 to 50 pounds to pull the wooden measuring rod back out.  The measuring rod was also forced downward with significant force (about 25 pounds), to make sure it contacted the hard bottom.  A wader may not sink quite as deep, but still risks not being able to get out unassisted.  The muck eliminates swimming at much of our shoreline.

Andres and Susan Peekna

Past Events:
Photo Link 2009 Pontoon Classroom (click on link, opens in new window)

Did You Know...

That the Waterford Waterway Management District has a Lake Management Plan authored by the Southeastern Wisconsin Planning Commission (SEWPC):

Volume 1~
http://www.sewrpc.org/publications/capr/capr-283_vol-01_waterford_impoundment.pdf

Volume 2 ~
http://www.sewrpc.org/publications/capr/capr-283_vol-02_waterford_impoundment.pdf


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