Accident Database

Report ID# 932

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  • Caught in Low Head Dam Hydraulic
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Accident Description

On August 5th the Wisconsin River saw three incidents of drowning at low-head dams. None of them involved whitewater paddlers, however. The Baraboo, Wisconsin News Republic reported that Erin Swieringa, 35, was being ferried across the river upstream of the Glenville Dam on the back of someone's kayak. She fell off, washed into the hydraulic, and drowned. Later that day Lisa Hohl, 36, was fishing at the same location when her boat came too close to the backwash and was pulled in. Her brother escaped with minor injuries. The dam is obsolete, and is scheduled for removal by the Wisconsin DNR this year.

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