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The water levels in the Yahara chain of lakes are just a few inches above the average for this time of year, according to Dane County Land and Water Resources Department assistant director John Reimer, putting the county in a good position to avoid the weeks-long overflow and flooding seen over the summer.

Historic rains on Aug. 20 drained into lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Kegonsa, overwhelming the lakes. Homes and businesses on the Isthmus and along some of Lake Monona’s shorelines were left to rely for weeks on sandbags and water pumps to prevent flood damage on their properties.

One of the reasons water levels remained so high at the end of the summer was the rate of water flow through the Yahara River, Reimer has said. Aquatic weeds and debris that collected at railroad bridge trestles had slowed water flow to a crawl, meaning the water couldn’t drain from the lakes. The county deployed several weed harvesters and worked to remove much of the debris to open up those waterways.

Reimer said the lakes remain 3 to 8 inches above the 40-year winter average, so a large volume of water is still moving through the system even though lake levels are far lower than they were in September.

“Since we’re a little bit higher, our flow rates are also a bit higher,” Reimer said.