3/18/2009 3:31:00 PM Vienna seeks fix to flooding problems
Jim Winter Hometown News Group
Flooding has struck Vienna again, and this time, at levels never recalled before.
Melting snow, rainfall, farm field runoff and blocked culverts have resulted in the closing of one town road and posting of high water signs on at least three others.
Water also crept across Hwy. DM west of Hwy. I and started spreading across Hwy. V on the eastbound lane as of Tuesday afternoon.
"I've been around here 40 years, and I've never seen it this bad, not even close," town clerk Robert Pulvermacher said. "I've never seen water over Schumacher or Patton roads, or on County V."
The town closed Patton Road south of Hwy. V around 10 a.m. March 7.
Water had also started creeping across Patton Road to the north of Hwy. V. As of Tuesday afternoon, water was four to six inches deep for about 25 feet of the road north of the intersection with Hwy. V.
Pulvermacher said there is also water across Schumacher Road in a couple spots, and on WIBU Road south of Hwy. DM. Hwy. I north of Hwy. V is also in danger of flooding.
The cause
The main culprit of the flooding in the Hwy. V/Patton and Schumacher roads area is a 40-acre parcel owned by the federal government.
The parcel, labeled as wetlands, is bordered by the three roads to the north, east and west, respectively. The government runs it as a waterfowl wetland.
"There's always been a high level of water on adjacent properties, but it's never been as high as it has been in the last couple years," town chairman Dan Muxfeld said. "This is a new problem."
The parcel is part of a natural basin that is isolated and ponds water. It is located in the Yahara River/Lake Mendota watershed.
"We've had town meetings where we discussed how to control the water levels there," Vienna engineer John McKenna said. "The Dane County Department of Land and Watershed Resources (DCLWR) said they won't allow the water to be discharged into the watershed."
Department director Kevin Connors did not return calls from the Times-Tribune.
McKenna said he thinks the department won't let the water be discharged because of the large amount of contamination due to water flowing over farm fields fertilized with chemicals and manure.
The area is also a collector for farm field runoff north of Hwy. V. Properties north of the highway are susceptable to increased flows of water runoff.
Local reaction
Town supervisor Lonnie Breggeman lives at 5626 County V. The water was so high Monday Breggeman couldn't get to his home. About two feet of water and ice covered his driveway.
Breggeman has lived on the family farm for his entire 45 years, and flooding in the last year is the worst he's ever seen.
"Before last year, we never had flood problems," Breggeman said. "It's a nasty situation."
Last June, during record heavy rains, Breggeman's basement flooded. He's been using sump pumps all winter to try and keep the water out.
Last weekend, Breggeman temporarily moved out of his house, going to his brother Dale's home just west on Hwy. V.
Dale had rocks and gravel put on his driveway to raise it above the water. Rock was also placed on Lonnie's driveway to allow dump trucks accessing a lime quarry on the property to get through the water.
Alan Kubly, general manager of Madison Sand and Gravel, which owns the pit, was concerned high water was going to stop his crews from accessing it.
Kubly said the company, which is located at the intersection of Norway Grove and Patton roads, has at least 15 acres of its 40 acres of farmland under water. Last year, water in the company's pit was 30 feet high. Breggeman believed it raised the water table in the area.
"We've dealt with 100-year storms," Kubly said. "But in the last year, we've had a big problem."
Kubly said last year, floodwaters broke through into their pit and flooded one area to the point that 5.5 feet of water flowed over Norway Grove Road.
Dale and his wife Debbie are concerned water will start flowing into their home at 5680 County V. Debbie said their house was built in 1987, and they never experienced flooding problems until last year, and now.
Dale said two to three years ago, the wetlands across Hwy. V from his property were "bone dry, without a stitch of water."
"It's just unreal," Dale said. "I've lived here my entire life and never seen anything like this. It's starting to snowball."
"Someone who knows the area and is involved said the water has always been here," Debbie said. "I've been here 22 years and I never seen it look like a lake up to my doorstep."
In the summer of 1993, Dale and Debbie ran a sump pump in their basement to get rid of water. Later in 1993, it stopped. It started back up again last summer, and hasn't stopped since, except for breaking down around Christmas.
"We're in a pickle," Debbie said. "We followed the rules, and now we're stuck possibly losing our home or access to our home.
"We're at the point now where it seems no one wants to do anything about it," Debbie said.
Government reaction
Pulvermacher said town and county government are both monitoring the situation.
The town has used its supply of between 50 and 60 high water signs, which is twice as many as it had last summer.
Pulvermacher said the town is looking at buying or renting more signs.
"The county is out of the signs, too," Pulvermacher said. "We talked to the county, and they're monitoring their roads."
Pam Dunphy, assistant commissioner of the Dane County Department of Public Works, Highway and Transportation, said the flooding on Hwy. V is a concern.
"The conditions are unique; the reason the water is high is a completely saturated water table," Dunphy said. "We are continually looking at options and monitoring the roadway on a daily basis."
Dunphy said high water signs were put up Tuesday morning. The road would be closed, Dunphy said, when it becomes impassable by two lanes of traffic. The proposed detour would be Hwy. I south to Hwy. 19 west to Hwy. 113 north.
The town did its part last year to try and alleviate the flooding problem. For the first time, crews raised Patton and Schumacher roads about 18 inches for stretches of about 600 feet. The project cost $16,000, of which the town paid about $2,000. The rest was paid by FEMA grants.
"We'd obviously love to wave a magic wand and have the road appear above the water again," Muxfeld said.
Pulvermacher finds the latest round of flooding, and closed and cautioned roads frustrating.
"We didn't anticipate it flooding the first time," Pulvermacher said. "It's higher than any time in our history."
What now?
With the damage done and no long-term solution to fix the problem, town officials are scrambling to find a way to alleviate the flooding.
Pulvermacher said he met with McKenna Tuesday afternoon at a Dane County Emergency Management meeting in Madison.
Muxfeld has some thoughts on a solution.
"This problem will have to be resolved at some point," Muxfeld said. "Whether we continue to raise the road or deal with the water around the road remains to be seen."
Draining the water isn't a simple solution. Because much of the area is wetland, it cannot be drained. That's one of the reasons the county won't allow the water to be discharged.
Kubly proposed allowing the water to be routed through his property's pits and into the watershed, but he said the county never considered the idea.
"The county conservation department said there would have been a lot of legal stuff to go through, so they dropped it," Kubly said.
Now the area, with frozen ground, is innundated with water that has nowhere to go.
"We'd obviously prefer to solve the underlying problem rather than continue to raise the road," Muxfeld said. "This is going to have to be a multi-government solution."
