Vandals ruined the control structure on Dueholm Flowage in the Fish Lake Wildlifde Area south of Grantsburg, letting out thousands of cubic feet of water.

"I checked it Thursday, Aug. 7 and it was fine, but when I saw it last week (Aug. 15), the water was going out of the flowage just as fast as it could," Department of Natural Resources wildlife technician Bob Hanson reported. "The flowage must have dropped three feet."

"The flowage is normally between 400 and 500 acres," Hanson stated. "Now, I don't know that you could get a johnboat with a motor on it in there."

If there is a silver lining in this situation, it's the fact the result of the vandalism has exposed the lake bed.

"It's shore bird heaven out there right now," Hanson pointed out. "They usually don't get all that land exposed all at once and they are loving it."

As far as hunting is concerned, the lowering of the flowage shouldn't affect the season too much.

"Waterfowl don't care how full the pool is, they just want water to sit on," he said.

The structure is fixed, closed and the flowage is filling.

"Even with rain, it's going to take awhile to fill," Hanson explained. "I hope to have it deep enough to allow boats with motors on there before winter."

He said by this time next year the flowage ought to be close to normal.

Hanson said Grettum Flowage levels are down too, but that one is on purpose.

"We have that one down to repair," he noted, "but it's not very good to have both down at the same time."

Grettum and Dueholm flowages are two of the three primary bodies of water in the Fish Lake Wildlife Area.

In the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, Hanson reported Phantom Flowage is back up close to normal levels after last year's draw-down. He said North Fork Flowage is back up to normal levels as well.

"Dike Six is still coming back," he observed.

"All the rain we had this spring was good because it helped replenish the pools," Hanson explained. "With our system of gates and tunnels, we could move the water around to where we needed it."

However, the rains seemed to come all at once, then stopped and it has been a relatively dry summer.