Sauk River Chain of Lakes Lake Level Monitoring Report - Fall ‘23
By Steve Weeres, SRCLA Board Member
Electronic monitoring of the SRCL level and water temperature using the LAKESCOUT data buoy (www.winrectech.com) was installed in July 2022 and has provided continuous readings of lake level since then. The LAKESCOUT data buoy is installed on Horseshoe Lake and is shown below.
The link to portal to view the real-time elevation and water temperature is available on SRCL.org. Year to date and historical measurement summaries are also available. The year-to-date lake level is shown below. An obvious event was the flooding that occurred in April 2023. The lake level reached a peak of 1091.62 feet. Comparing the lake level with the Sauk River level measured at St. Martin, the river level reached its peak three days earlier. We will use this data to develop models to be able to predict the peak level of the lake in future extreme events giving stakeholders an advanced notice to prepare.
The data from both 2022 and 2023 has also provided data on how long the lake level takes to recover to normal levels after an extreme event. This data will be valuable in order to predict when the lake level will be suitable for normal recreation.
Over the summer months the lake level has trended below the ordinary high water level of 1086.5 feet. The average level over the period of July-August 2023 was 1086.26 feet. The average level over the same period in 2022 was 1086.56 feet. We can use this historical data to better determine what normal levels are and levels during seasons with reduced precipitation.
Electronic monitoring of lake level provides short term benefits of real-time lake level and potential changes. Plus, it provides a historical database that will support both the management of the lake and surrounding landscape.
If you have any questions or comments, or have ideas for other measurements and analysis, please contact the author at steveSRCLB@gmail.com.
SRCL Lake Elevation Portal: https://www.srcl.org/water-level-horseshoe