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June 26, 2015 : EAGLE, Wis. - A dam that formed the trout pond at Paradise Springs in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest failed earlier this week and the pond has drained. Water had undermined the water control structure for the dam and is flowing under it and through the outlet.

Department of Natural Resources dam safety staff inspected the dam structure earlier this week and determined there is no way to refill the pond without significant repairs or replacement of the structure. The dam was built in the early 1900s to drive a turbine to provide electricity for the house and grounds of L.D. Nichols, one of the first electrified homes in the area.

Nichols also began stocking brook trout in the pond and DNR fisheries staff have continued to stock the pond for catch-and-release fishing since the DNR took over the property in the 1980s.
An engineer who inspected the dam determined that repairs would be costly and that the concrete in the structure was so deteriorated that any repairs would be temporary. Complete replacement of the dam could be $300,000 or more.

DNR staff will continue to evaluate the options for the dam, including temporary repair, replacement or abandonment of the dam.

The pure spring waters of Paradise Springs have been enjoyed by local residents since the late 1800s. Early owners called it Minnehaha and Eagle Rock Springs. The area once housed a bottling plant that bottled and sold the water under various names. The bottling plant was removed in the 1960s. There was also a deluxe Paradise Springs Hotel on the site that built in 1948 and removed in the 1970s.

A spring house was built over Paradise Springs in the early 1930s by Louis J. Petit, a multimillionaire who made his fortune in the salt mine business. Petit's grandson, August J. Pabst, of Milwaukee brewing fame, inherited the property from Petit.

Self-guided nature trail: http://dnr.wi.gov/files/pdf/pubs/pr/p...