Lake Zumbro

The Lake Zumbro Water Level was 928.35 ft., or approximately 8.3 ft. above the crest and the Lake Zumbro Dam Tail Water Level was 882.00 ft. on 09/24/10 at 12:37:48 PM.
Wow is all I can say!

lol

I’m sure some of those who live on the lake are saying more than that. They are lucky that the Oronoco dam didn’t cut loose.

i was just in oronoco and officials beleive that the dam is partially gone or gone water levels are unbeleivable!!!!!!!

The water level at Ponderosa Campground boat ramp was up in line with the office building Friday. Some of the houses by Grampa Eds eating place had water problems. There is a white mobile home that has a single car garage that looks like it was converted into a cabin and the cabin was half way under water. SE Mn got 9-14 inches of water depending what part you live in. Its crazy. People who were down below the dam there saw docks and boats being washed over the dam. Its a mess. I thought it was bad back in 1978 when Rochester got 7” of rain but this is ALOT more water than that. Highway 52 north was closed Thursday afternoon north of the 75th Street bridge due to the highway being flooded. I was told when I drove out to the Ponderosa campground last night that the water had gone down quite a bit from what is was yet I couldn’t believe what all I saw last night. Lets all hope we don’t get anymore rain and please keep these people in your prayers. Thanks, Bill

I did quite a bit of driving around last friday during the peak of flood waters. Pretty amazing. I spent a fair amount of time in Oronoco by the dam as I spent so much time under that bridge fishing while I was growing up. The dam was in tact than and still is now.
What happened was the water washed around the north side of the dam and ripped out the parking lot and driveway to the parking lot where that old landing was. It also ripped out maybe a 60 yard stretch of road leading up to the bridge on the north side. I was able to get up close and personal and its just an amazing sight to see.
The amount of snags hung up on the little dams railings and handles seemed to ball up alot of water. At that time the water was running over the dam and the dam was not even visable except for some snags. Even if the dam would have went I doubt it would have done much to lake zumbro levels as it was only a couple foot drop at that time. It would have devastated the area below Oronoco dam though.
I suspect that pilings under the Oronoco bridge were damaged. They still have the rollers wide open in Oronoco. I believe that will be the end of Lake Shady as we know it.