how the state of Wisconsin could allow the syphoning of millions of gallons of water from trout streams by contractors. If this is true, it's insane. Letter to editor in our local paper:

EDITOR: Anyone driving on Highway 45 between Wittenberg and Birnamwood in western Shawano County recently is aware of road construction, but most are not aware of a state law that allows the local contractors to remove thousands of gallons of water from a small trout stream in the area without a permit.

Such was the case on Sept. 4 as I attempted to fish a small creek emptying into the Embarrass River. Huge tanker trucks pulled up every half hour or even more frequently, pumping thousands of gallons of water. As this noisy activity ruined my fishing, I decided to report this obvious violation to the Department of Natural Resources hotline. The following Tuesday, Warden Jim Horne of Shawano County called to inform me that the contractor's actions were legal! State lawmakers allow highway contractors to remove up to 2 million gallons of water per day from trout streams without a permit. As this area's drought conditions persist this law becomes lethal to our trout.

Thanks to our state legislators and the DNR, my 2008 trout stamp will be my last.

Schofield

I do not understand what the point is of syphoning water out of these streams? What do they do with the water?

I'm not sure either.  I have an e-mail out to a friend of mine that's a warden here in my area.  I hope he'll shed some light for me.  I'm thinking cranberry growers  for their harvest.  We've had a fairly dry year up here, and they need alot of water for that.  Other than maybe hatcheries, I don't know what else would take that kind of water.

I also saw that at a lake in wausau. The only thing I can think of is water for cement.

Thats pretty stupid IMO.

firefightin15 it is called rape, abuse, and any other things you care to add that would describe these dirtbags. Done here also and until some complained and got it cut back I guess they would have drained everything and left everyone else to cleanup after them. Get involved with a group and start raising hell with some of the lawmakers and see if you can get some action going. Most fishermen just do not get involvede and it is sad. They will be a lot sadder when most of their fishing waters start to suffer. Good for you for trying. Don't give up.

Being legal does not make it right!

I got an answer back last nite.  He didn't list any examples as to why, but apparently it's true.  He said he has cited companies in the past for abusing the law, taking advantage of the water.  

tipptruck, I was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure if you could burn up 100's of thousands of gallons for concrete.  I guess for highway construction.

fishfordollars, rape was the first thing to come to mind.  I can't believe that every conservation group under the sun hasn't raised all kinds of hell over this.  But I haven't heard a word til now.  I hope this guys letter to the editor gets some kind of reacton from the public.

Water could be used for a lot of things. From what I understand, construction sites building from the ground up have water trucks to spray the ground to soften it for digging. In this case it becomes groundwater that sheds back into the rivers and streams.

I got an answer back last nite. He didn't list any examples as to why, but apparently it's true. He said he has cited companies in the past for abusing the law, taking advantage of the water.

tipptruck, I was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure if you could burn up 100's of thousands of gallons for concrete. I guess for highway construction.

fishfordollars, rape was the first thing to come to mind. I can't believe that every conservation group under the sun hasn't raised all kinds of hell over this. But I haven't heard a word til now. I hope this guys letter to the editor gets some kind of reacton from the public.

Maybe you have someone on your side. That is a start. Do not let this die an early death. Armed with your response, try to get more polititians involved. Keep us posted. Talk to anyone that will listen. Write your own letter and put your contact information inside(Where it will be hard to edit out) and see if you can get some personal responses;. Good luck!

Water could be used for a lot of things. From what I understand, construction sites building from the ground up have water trucks to spray the ground to soften it for digging. In this case it becomes groundwater that sheds back into the rivers and streams.

How about our survival? The water wars are going to become the largest battle(Even more than oil) over the next 50+ years. Just glance at the current water wars going on out west and the line in the sand that has been drawn between the s. e. states. The Coosa and Tallaposa, and many other rivers in the Alabama and Georgia areas have allready been drawn down. It will be a fight to the finish that noone will win.

Water could be used for a lot of things. From what I understand, construction sites building from the ground up have water trucks to spray the ground to soften it for digging. In this case it becomes groundwater that sheds back into the rivers and streams.

How about our survival? The water wars are going to become the largest battle(Even more than oil) over the next 50+ years. Just glance at the current water wars going on out west and the line in the sand that has been drawn between the s. e. states. The Coosa and Tallaposa, and many other rivers in the Alabama and Georgia areas have allready been drawn down. It will be a fight to the finish that noone will win.

I agree. I meant to add in my previous post that I have no idea what the environmental impact would be. I couldn't get the words out right so I deleted it altogether.

I guess I thought that water was reusable and that it cycled and would eventually return to where it came from.

I came across a brief article or tv report that was discussing what was going on in georgia. Applications to move the borders of states? Nasty stuff...

I didn't exactly read the whole article, but didn't the states in the Georgia area just sue the great lakes states for some of their water, and have it thrown out by the supreme court?

Great lakes hold 20% of the world's fresh water.  I see why that's a hot topic, now if I can just find out what my state law is on pumping water from streams and rivers.