The Vernon County Conservation and Education Committee voted down a resolution Thursday, Oct. 8, that would have paused the decommissioning of six flood-control dams in the Town of Christiana, leaving in place a federal plan that critics say could leave downstream communities more vulnerable to flooding. The vote keeps intact a years-long process to notch or dismantle dams across the Coon Creek and West Fork Kickapoo watersheds, even as some supervisors have raised concerns about the dams' role in flood protection after the kind of catastrophic runoff that battered the region in 2018.
A Resolution Aimed at Buying Time
The failed measure, introduced by Supervisor Dave Eggen and co-signed by Supervisor Bruce Kilmer, asked the federal government to hit pause on decommissioning and find flood protections equal to or greater than what the earthen structures offer, according to VernonReporter. Eggen, who represents the district containing the six Christiana dams, has said the structures hold back an estimated 2.5 billion gallons of water when full and that they protect Coon Valley, Chaseburg and Stoddard from torrential runoff. He has also floated the idea that the county should explore raising funds to save the six dams rather than let the federal process proceed unchecked.
The broader initiative, which Vernon County is proceeding with, would notch and dismantle 22 Public Law 566 dams across the Coon Creek and West Fork Kickapoo watersheds, per the same report. A separate account from WPR describes the approved plans as covering 23 dams — 14 in the Coon Creek Watershed and nine in the West Fork Kickapoo Watershed — and the discrepancy between the two figures has not been resolved in available reporting. Separately, a report from CitizenPortal described residents opposing removal of five PL-566 dams in Christiana, while the October vote concerned six — another figure that remains unreconciled across coverage.
Why Officials Say the Dams Are at Risk
The Natural Resources Conservation Service recommended decommissioning because the dams are considered at risk of failing, according to WPR. That risk traces back to Aug. 27, 2018, when flooding caused five dams to fail and runoff spilled over nine more across the two watersheds, the outlet reported. The storm that triggered the collapses was estimated to be a 500-year rainstorm, with about 11 inches of rain falling near Cashton in just six hours, according to SWNews4U.
Vernon County Conservationist David Hettenbach told the committee that removing the dams from the federal plan would leave the county carrying total financial and legal liability, per VernonReporter's account of the meeting. He also warned that abandoning the decommissioning agreement could trigger state repair orders and jeopardize the county's insurance coverage. Supervisor Nathaniel Slack echoed that concern, saying taking the dams over is not a financial option for the county.
Engineering Work Already Underway
Engineering firms have finished on-site landowner interviews across both watersheds, the outlet reported, and detailed engineering designs for decommissioning are expected to reach completion by February 2028. That design process includes pauses scheduled at 30% and 90% completion to allow county and landowner comment, giving residents further opportunities to weigh in before any construction begins.
The cost math behind the decision has weighed heavily on supervisors. Repairing or replacing the dams in the Vernon County Driftless Area project was estimated at about $61 million, compared with roughly $4 million to remove them, according to PBS Wisconsin. WPR separately reported that decommissioning 14 Coon Creek dams was estimated at $4.4 million, while removing nine West Fork Kickapoo dams was pegged at about $7.8 million. Replacing the Jersey Valley dam alone was estimated to cost roughly $17.7 million, per WPR's reporting — a structure that, unlike most of the others, is slated to stay in place because of its lake's economic and recreational value.
A Changing Climate Behind the Numbers
SWNews4U reported that a study calculated flood-control cost-benefit ratios of 0.9-to-1 in Coon Creek, 0.3-to-1 in West Fork Kickapoo, and 1.6-to-1 for Jersey Valley Dam — figures that underpin the push toward removal in most of the watershed. Those numbers sit against a broader climate trend: average precipitation in Wisconsin has increased nearly 20% since 1950, with Southern Wisconsin seeing the largest increase, according to WPR. The 2018 flooding alone caused an estimated $29 million in total damage across Vernon County, the outlet reported.
Some residents and watershed groups have pushed back on the idea that removal is the only path forward. PBS Wisconsin reported that community members raised concerns about dam removal and discussed possible next steps. Separately, a University of Wisconsin team produced a roughly 15-page outreach plan calling for a countywide public survey and targeted landowner messaging, according to VernonReporter's coverage of a related flood mitigation alliance meeting.
A draft NRCS plan reviewed for a different Public Law 566 dam elsewhere states that decommissioning is mandatory based on law — citing PL 83-566, Section 14, A1e — and NRCS policy, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. That specific language was drawn from a different dam's draft plan, and whether it governs the Christiana structures directly was not independently confirmed. Separately, Wisconsin administrative code defines a state enforcement order for a dam as one issued under Wisconsin Statutes section 31.19(5) directing an owner to repair or abandon the structure, according to the Wisconsin Legislature.
For now, the committee's Oct. 8 vote leaves the federal decommissioning timeline unchanged, with engineering work continuing toward the February 2028 design target and landowner comment periods still ahead. Whether Eggen's push to find alternative flood protections or private funding gains further traction before then remains to be seen.
