Dam rebuild quote goes to Madison

MANAWA – A quote was submitted to the Joint Finance Committee in Madison for a new dam in Manawa in hope that it is accepted into the 2026 state budget. The Manawa dam breached last July with the north side of the dam eroding and breaking away from the shore.
City officials have been attending a number of meetings since the start of 2025 to get as much information as they can to start making a decision on the direction of the Manawa dam.
There are a couple directions that the city could go, including complete dam removal, rebuilding a dam with a spill way and rebuilding the dam with hydro electric capabilities.
Last week the council sat down with Dwight Shanak, from Wiscons8, LLC who is the current dam operator leasing the dam from the city.
With rebuilding a hydro dam, the upfront costs are higher, but there is revenue that can be generated, the city would also have to decide if they would take on the hydro production or keep leasing the dam and negotiate a higher percentage.

During the meeting Shanak answered questions from the council, and agreed that if the city wanted to rebuild hydro with the dam he would be willing to renegotiate the percentage of revenue that is stated in the current contract, which is currently set at six percent of the hydro revenue.
At the March 17 city council meeting, Ann Bonikowske, a council member and chair of the Improvements and Services Committee, presented the dam quote she was given by Cedar Corporation, the city’s contracted engineering firm.
The quote came in at $13.2 million dollars for a dam with a spillway, and it was approved by the Manawa City Council at the council meeting.
This is the quote that was given to Kevin Peterson, a state representative, and Rachael Cabral-Guevara, a state senator, to hand off to the Joint Finance Committee in Madison.
Mayor Mike Frazier said the reason they are sending the dam with spillway quote to the Joint Finance Committee is because the city has not made the official decision on whether or not to pursue hydro.
Frazier said they are waiting for the drawings before making a final decision, as well as finding the money to fund any dam project.
The remaining quotes are set to come later in April, the remaining quotes being for full dam removal as well as the hydro dam.
Hass said the city should know if the state approves money to rebuild the Manawa dam by July.
During the council meeting Josh Smith, the Department of Public Works director, said that phase two is set for March 24 with all of the in water work finished, which was phase one.
Phase two will include adding in sheet piling in.
City of Manawa and Township of Little Wolf officials are encouraging residents to mail their state congress representatives and senators in hopes that it will help get money allocated to the Manawa dam in next year’s budget.
There is a template located on the City of Manawa website at www.cityofmanawa.org and on the Town of Little Wolf website at www.town-littlewolf.com. The templates include guidelines on what to write and include in the letter, where to mail or email them and the format they should be typed in.