Lake Koshkonong

Lake Koshkonong
Location Jefferson / Rock / Dane counties, Wisconsin, USA
Lake type reservoir
Primary inflows Rock River
Primary outflows Rock River
Basin countries United States
Surface area 10,500 acres (42 km2)
Average depth 6 ft (2 m)
Surface elevation 774 ft (236 m)

Lake Koshkonong is a reservoir in southern Wisconsin. It lies along the Rock River, 5.5 mi (8.9 km). down-river from Fort Atkinson, primarily in southwestern Jefferson County, although small portions of the lake extend into southeastern Dane and northern Rock counties.

Lake Koshkonong shares its name with Fort Koshkonong, a fort of some importance during the Black Hawk War. It is a natural lake, and at the time the fort was active, before the Rock River was dammed, the area was actually a cattail marsh with the Rock River running through the middle. The Indianford Dam several miles down the Rock River from Lake Koshkonong makes it one of the larger lakes in the state of Wisconsin (10,500 acres) but it remains very shallow with an average depth of six feet.

The lake borders on its east the town of Koshkonong, and on its north, Sumner.

Proposed nuclear power plant

In the 1970s, Lake Koshkonong was the primary site considered for a billion dollar nuclear power station. Wisconsin Electric Power Co., Wisconsin Power and Light Co., Madison Gas and Electric Co and Wisconsin Public Service Corp jointly proposed the project. In 1974, it was estimated that the utilities would lose $40 million if the two unit, 900 MW each, facility was not approved. At that time, the timetable had already slipped to a 1983/1984 commissioning.[1] The plan met with heavy resistance from environmental groups and was eventually killed in 1977 by concerns regarding the Lake's shallow depth during drought conditions. Attempts were made to salvage the $40 million dollar investment by moving facility to Haven, Wisconsin, near Sheboygan, Wisconsin. However, any plans for construction of a nuclear station in Wisconsin were scrapped by the Three Mile Island accident. The plant was planned to be built on Vickerman Road, east of the lake and east of Wisconsin Highway 26.()[2]

References

  1. ^ "Lake Koshkonong Nuclear Plant Timetable Back By Two Years." Sheboygan Press, The. Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Friday, December 20, 1974. Page 5.
  2. ^ Schlicht, Lauren. Weighing Koshkonong technology against ecology. Goldlin, Jan (ed.) / The Wisconsin engineer Volume 80, Number 5 (March 1976)

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