In the News

Droughts drain northern lakes: Falling water levels trouble residents, raise pollution .
Scientists and property owners say they are worried about the long-term effects of a prolonged drought on fishing and water quality in northern Wisconsin as they've watched some lakes drop to their lowest point in 70 years.

As people flock to the north this weekend, drought conditions also are evident in tinder-dry forests that experienced a surge in fires last week.

Many lakefront property owners are being forced to push out docks and motor around new shallows as water levels have dropped, in some cases, as much as 8 feet from their highs.

Levels are likely to drop even more in some reservoirs controlled by dams, and utilities say that they're generating less hydropower than in the past.

By Lee Bergquist of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
To read more, go to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.