Vernon County decommissioning 14 dams

Vernon County recently decommissioned the Mlsna Dam located in the Town of Clinton. It is the first of 14 dams in the county that will be shut down. Last year, the Natural Resource Conservation Service conducted a study of all PL566 dams in the West Fork Kickapoo and Coon Creek watersheds. The study found that a total of 23 dams located in Vernon, Monroe, and La Crosse counties would need to be decommissioned. The study was done after intense rainfall caused five PL566 dams in the watersheds to fail, leading to catastrophic flooding. The NRCS study also determined that the projects would be funded by the federal government.