Manawa enters agreement on dam

Mayor Mike Frazier ended the Dec. 16 Manawa City Council meeting with words of encouragement and hope as the city heads into 2025.

Frazier said they will have a lot of big decisions to make heading into the New Year.

“After July 5 a lot changed, I don’t think any of us really signed up for something like that but it has been an absolute pleasure to work with all of you this past year,” Frazier said. “This council is very loyal and dedicated and thank you sometimes is not enough, but I guess under the circumstances thank you is enough at this time … of course next year we’re going to have some difficult decisions to make and probably be looking for an awful, awful lot of money, hopefully all things work out.”

Frazier was referring to the Manawa dam, which was breached July 5 after a torrential downpour led to water pouring over the dam causing the shoreline on the north side of the dam to pull away and the dam to breach.

Logan Hass, the city clerk of Manawa, said that dams are not insured and the dam in Manawa was never insured.

“We can’t have insurance on a dam just like we can’t insure a bridge or road,” Hass said. “Large infrastructure insurance won’t cover.”

This inability to insure large structures has led to questions as to how the city will be able to pay to replace the dam, as the entire dam will need to be replaced.

Earlier this fall Frazier and council representatives met with state Rep. Kevin Peterson and state Sen, Rachael Cabral-Guevara in a closed door meeting Oct. 30 to discuss the possible monetary addition to a future state budget.

A press release said Cabral-Guevara and Peterson are looking for cost estimates of the demolition of the current dam and the subsequent rebuilding said dam in order to submit it to the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee.

The press release stated that Cedar Corp, the city’s designated engineering firm, will not only draw up the plans for the shore stabilization, but also three to four plans for the dam reconstruction to turn in to the Joint Finance Committee for future budgetary purposes.

The shoreline restoration project is being required per the Department of Natural Resources.

After the dam pulled away from the shoreline and breached, the shoreline has continued to degrade, by stabilizing the shore they should be able to reduce continued erosion.

The press release also stated that the shore stabilization project is being funded by the Emergency Watershed Protection Program through the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The shore stabilization project is set to be completed in winter or spring of 2025.

During the same city council meeting Dec. 16, the council also agreed to enter into a new joint dam agreement between the town of Little Wolf and the city of Manawa.