Waterway users prepare for winter

With temperatures beginning to cool, both users of the Fox Waterway and the people who manage the waterway are preparing for the winter.

The annual winter drawdown on the Fox River begins Nov. 1 when the William G. Stratton-Thomas A. Bolger Lock and Dam closes until next year.

Every year, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources lowers the water level by 18 inches in anticipation of rising water due to the large snow melts and rains of spring.

The drawdown, which takes place from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, gives the IDNR more room to store water that comes into they system in the spring. The lock will reopen May 1, said Januari Smith, a spokeswoman for the IDNR. This is the second year the lock has had reduced hours and was closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The reduced hours of operation were meant to save money in the tough economic times, the IDNR has said.

Lock use has dropped since the days when operations were cut back.

Smith said the IDNR did not replace two lock tenders who worked at Stratton.

"If don't you have someone there to work on those locks, you can't have them open," Smith said.

As the lock closes for the winter, people are preparing their boats for storage. At Bald Knob Marina in Johnsburg, people started bringing in their boats for the winter during the middle of this month, said General Manager Bill Wehrs Jr.

If people don't move their boats before the drawdown, then the boats might be stuck where they are during the winter, if the water is too shallow, Wehrs said.

Through the middle of November, workers will winterize boats. Water left within a boat can freeze, causing cracks within the boat, especially the engine, Wehrs said.

"Ice is very strong when it expands," Wehrs said.

Drop in lock use

Last year, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources reduced the days of operation at the William G. Stratton-Thomas A. Bolger Lock and Dam. The number of boats passing through the lock has dropped.

2008 - 12,261 boats

2009 - 10,849 boats

2010 - 10,585 boats