Dreams Float Away: Drainage Pipe Selection Deprives Residents of Money and More
Shell Lake is the largest land-locked lake without an outlet in the state of Wisconsin and is approximately 2,580 acres in size. Because the lake has no surface water outlet, the City of Shell Lake commissioned a local civil engineering firm for the design of a combination gravity/siphon discharge from Shell Lake to the Yellow River, a distance of approximately 4.4 miles. The purpose of the pipeline is to allow the city to lower the elevation of Shell Lake during periods of high water. The project bid resulted in a system of corrugated HDPE pipe with a liner. The pipeline system was installed in late November and after eight months of repeated attempts to repair leaks, the pipeline is still not in operation.