Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board (LWSRB) executive director Mark Cupp reported a paddler safety issue had popped up near Sauk City. The area contains a dangerous stretch of the river, and construction of the new Sauk Recreational Bridge may be presenting challenges for paddlers navigating that stretch of the river.

“I had a conversation with WDNR’s Harry Stone this morning,” Cupp told the board at their July 10 meeting. “This is the second time I got a call from Cindy Bender, who operates a canoe rental at Sauk City. With the Lone Rock Bridge construction project, the communications were exceptional. They communicated with the canoe livery operators, with local stake-holders, with the Riverway Board, DNR, and everyone. With this project, there's been almost zero communication.

“Cindy said that today there's a barge there, right there by the bridge, and that is such a difficult place to navigate to begin with. Then you put a barge in there, and then nobody knows about it, let alone the people that have private boats, canoes, and kayaks.”

Cupp said that he’d contacted Marty Krueger, who's on the Sauk County Board. Krueger had assured him, the last time they spoke about the same complaint, that someone from Sauk County Parks would be talking to the construction company.

“So I left a message for Marty this morning and asked him to please give Cindy Bender a call,” Cupp said. “It's important that we find ways to alert recreational users on the river to changes in navigation at that site, because it is a dangerous place with that big vortex that still exists even after they've made some improvements. You need to be bank ready when you come through there with a paddle craft.”

WDNR’s Harry Stone reported that he’d sent an e-mail to a colleague about the situation, and hoped to hear back soon.

Canoe trips

Cupp told the LWSRB that he and executive assistant Marsha Curtis are in the process of rescheduling voyageur canoe trips that had been cancelled, due to high water on the river.

“This year was very similar to last year, where we lost the first part of the season because of unusually high water,” Cupp said. “Now last year, we were setting all kinds of records for specific dates for unusually high water. This year, I don't think we have set any records for specific dates, but we've had unusually high water so much so that we've had to cancel multiple trips.”

 Cupp said they were fortunate that they could extend their use season beyond when he normally would have taken the canoes back, because no one else had them reserved.

“So we're trying to squeeze as many rescheduled trips in as we can.” Cupp told the board. “It's difficult. It puts a lot more pressure on Marsha and on me, because we have to then re-contact everyone. We have to look at their respective schedules, and juggle a lot of the other things.”

Cupp said there's nothing much you can do if Mother Nature decides to have a lot of rain throughout the Wisconsin River Watershed, and he refuses to compromise on safety.

“We had one canoe out today, and Rich Ten Pas was on that trip. We saw some beautiful things today, mature and juvenile, eagles and deer swimming across the channel,” Cupp observed. “We also had a lot of knowledgeable people that could point out some other bird life and flowering plants, and we talked about forestry and trees. So it was a very good trip, other than a little wet at the end.”

In other business

In other business, the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board:

• heard that 50 people had turned out to observe the Summer Solstice at Frank’s Hill

• learned that after an extended period of high water on the river, upstream flow gauges indicate that water levels are falling quickly, and should be improved by Sunday or Monday, with sandbars once again visible on the river

• postponed officer elections and committee assignments to the board’s September meeting

• approved an extension of a management permit in Town of Millville in Grant County.