Manawa continues to move forward after major flooding
MANAWA, Wis. (WFRV) – Manawa city officials are urging safety as they figure out what to do with flood-impacted infrastructure in the city.
Police tape, orange cones, and traffic barrels are popping up all over the city as officials urge people to stay away from the Manawa dam area and off the now dried-up mill pond.
City officials have also decided to close Lindsay Park for the season. When the Little Wolf River flooded last Friday, the park was one of the areas that experienced some of the worst of the flooding. It’s also next to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
City officials said they want to make sure residents aren’t exposed to potential contaminants from the flooding, so that’s why they’re closing the park.
“It’s a safety issue, don’t cross the tape there’s a reason it’s there,” said Manawa Public Works Director and Fire Chief Josh Smith about all the blocked-off areas throughout the city.
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City officials said they’re in the preliminary stages of determining what to do about their flood-damaged infrastructure. Heavy rainfall on Friday eroded away an area of land that connects the Manawa dam to the shoreline of the Little Wolf River on Friday sending water crashing downriver.
City officials said they’re in conversations with the DNR on the path forward. We’re told the city has the final say on whether to rebuild or remove the dam.
“We can’t say for sure if it’s a rebuild of the dam we can’t say anything like that because it’s way too early,” said Smith.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does inspections on the dam. The agency classifies many of its inspection documents; however, it made the one from 2022 public. Local 5 News was able to obtain that document from the agency.
It appears that the dam gets inspected by the FERC every year.
According to the inspection report, “the dam is performing adequately” and “the project continues to be safe for continued operation.”
In regards to the “right abutment” which is the area near the dam that eroded away in the storm, the inspectors wrote that “the right abutment areas generally looked in good condition. The right embankment crest and slope vegetation need to be maintained. The Licensee continues to work with the city to maintain this area.”
One Manawa city official told Local 5 News that he wasn’t aware of any major issues with the dam over the years and that anytime there was a minor issue the city addressed it.
City officials said that they properly notified the FERC about the flooding, a claim backed up by a spokesperson for the FERC.
City officials have maintained that the structural integrity of the dam is still intact. In a Facebook post, Mayor Mike Frazier wrote “runoff from upstream caused stumps, trees and grass islands to block portions of the dam, forcing water to run over the top of the dam.”
However, city officials emphasize that it was the area next to the dam that eroded away.
“Mother Nature just came and decided to dump a bucket of water on us all at once and it’s an unfortunate incident,” Smith said.
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Just upriver from the dam, the Manawa Mill Pond has nearly completely drained after all the water rushed downriver on Friday when the land next to the dam eroded away.
Residents say this is a bummer because the pond is a popular fishing spot, especially in the winter. There’s also people who take their boats out on the water there.
Those who live near the pond caution people against going out on it, saying that the mud is thick.
At a special council meeting on Wednesday evening, city officials scheduled a public meeting at the high school on Monday. Residents will have an opportunity to ask city officials questions and hear about plans for cleanup and for the future of infrastructure.
Local 5 News also learned in the meeting that the residents of a local nursing home evacuated during the storm on Friday remain at a local veterans home.
In a Facebook message, Manawa mayor Mike Frazier asked residents to be patient as city officials continue to work to get things back to normal in the city.
Mayor Frazier asked for residents’ patience as they work through these difficult issues that don’t have a short-term solution.
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