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To the Editor:
There have been three extensive full-page articles in the Northwest Herald over the last four months regarding the lost revenue of local business, informing all local residences to prepare for sandbag preparedness and finally advising all flood area residence owners to get flood insurance.
I have lived in Fox Lake for 42 years and flood levels used to be every 10 years, now high-water flooding is every year or every other year. I can get weekly flooding possibilities in Fox Lake from various police from villages along the Fox River in Wisconsin that is reasonable accurate.
I get no help from Fox Lake police, the Fox Waterway Management or the McHenry dam operator. With current weather movement computer technology available to TV Weather reports for weekly projections are quite accurate for the most part.
How come the Northwest Herald has not done research piece on how and why or why not all the available dam control locations from McHenry and Aurora aren’t or won’t plan a proactive approach to lower the water progressively starting in Aurora day by day up to the McHenry lock and dam?
Weather computer models could be used to start letting the water down to say 12 inches progressively to possibly prevent most flooding areas. If the computer models prove the rain water will miss the Chain and Fox River area during the spring rain and thawing season then the various dam control locations can start raising the the water level progressively from the north to the south back to summer levels. If these two proactive computer driven actions are tried, it might eliminate flooding and eliminate the losses of high revenue losses for local business owners, the need for residents sandbagging and the panic purchase of flood insurance.
I would hope the Northwest Herald or some organization or all villages with active dam locations would research these possibilities together Proactively lowering and raising as the water levels as needed to to a predetermined amount around 12 to 18 inches lower would not restrict boaters or fishing as experienced boat operators should know or learn how to navigate avoiding possibly low areas.
Harold Gabel II
Fox Lake