Dams in western Wisconsin

More than 300 current and former dams are found in the four western Wisconsin counties of Polk, St. Croix, Pierce and Pepin, according to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources data examined by student journalists at UW-River Falls. The majority of these dams are on private land and out of sight of the public. And dozens more may be located in the region but not recorded by the DNR.

Students studied the dams as part of their work in JOUR 111, Introduction to Data Journalism, a spring semester 2023 course. The students were James Ackmann, Ethan Lay, Angel Riley, Greta Van Guilder and Erik Winberg. The course instructor was Associate Professor Andris Straumanis.

After sorting through the data and analyzing it, the student journalists wrote an overview, “Hundreds of dams dots western Wisconsin.”

In the table, Key refers the unique dam key sequence number used in the DNR's registry of dams; Map links to a Google Map; Built is the year of the dam's construction; Next inspection refers to the next inspection as reported in the DNR database; Status shows whether a dam is in place or has been removed; Official name is the formal name of the dam, which may not be the same as the popular name; County shows the county in which the dam is located; Size shows whether the dam is small or large; and Hazard? identifies whether the dam could pose a low, significant or high risk if it were to fail.
Powell Falls Dam

The Powell Falls dam is one of two on the Kinnickinnic River in River Falls. The city plans to remove it by 2026. (Photo by Andris Straumanis)