MANITOWOC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Improvements are underway at an area state wildlife area, but before any work can begin officials say part of the dam at Collins Marsh in Manitowoc County needs to be removed and replaced.
“We did a full-drawdown starting in mid-June. We started there to accommodate any spawning fisheries that were still in the system,” said DNR Wildlife Biologist Steve Easterly.
He says the 1,100-acre drained wetland impoundment currently follows the meandering path of Mud Creek. He says Collins Marsh was last drained about six years ago.
“It was time. You occasionally need to rejuvenate, restore marsh, and kind of natural ebb and flow. They would normally dry up and drain. That’s going to allow the sediment that’s in there to settle, and then a lot of the good, native vegetation to come back,” said Easterly.
According to Easterly the effort is two-fold. While the water level is low, crews are scheduled to remove and replace the two gates.
“The current gates were put in in the early ’60s, and they’re called Tainter gates. Just this giant steel plate moves up and down. The new gates will be slide gates, and that’ll give us greater ability to control, manipulate water levels,” Easterly said.
We’ll be able to do better top draw. We can lower the gates down, draw water from the top, get more micro-management of where we want water levels to be out there. With these new slide gates, we’ll be able to essentially put the gates at the water level I want it to be, and then the water will get there on its own.
Easterly says Collins Marsh State Wildlife Area totals 4,200 acres and is a popular stopover for hundreds of different bird species.
“We should have enough water out here to accommodate their fall migration. It will be impacted, for the waterfowl hunting. It won’t be as much water as normal. But come springtime, we’ll get the water back out there, and then spring migrants will stop over,” he said.
According to the Department of Natural Resources, the cost of the project is around $250,000.
Work is scheduled to begin in December.
Comments