Another $490,000 would further efforts at aquatic plant removal. After the Aug. 20 rains, a team of aquatic plant harvesters successfully doubled the flow of water out of the Yahara chain. Most of the money, $440,000, would go toward buying two new harvesters, while $50,000 would buy a hydraulic crane to be mounted on an existing barge to remove plants, trees and other obstacles. Another $50,000 would go toward staffing the additional equipment.

The initiative includes $75,000 to hire outside engineers to do real-time modeling of lake levels, evaluating how the flow rates and the Yahara chain ecology are impacted in different scenarios like flooding or drought. The team could also help identify points where sediment is restricting flow.

This summer, the county removed 31 dump trucks of sediment from under a rail bridge just north of Stoughton, which alleviated flooding in Pleasant Spring and the town of Dunn. The budget initiative would look at other bridge crossings where sediment could be impeding flow.

The budget would provide $1 million toward restoring parks, trails and bridges that were damaged by flash flooding. Another $50,000 would go to a fund to restore damaged streambanks on Black Earth Creek, Pheasant Branch Creek, the Sugar River and other gently flowing waterways that swelled into rapids during the August rainfall.