The Shiocton Shooting Range is closed because of flooding April 9, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
SHIOCTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A dike along the Shioc River was “compromised” on Wednesday, causing some flooding issues, according to Shiocton Fire Chief Dan Nabbefeld.
“The dike to the west of Van Patten Road in the Town of Bovina was compromised and allowed the high water from the Shioc River to flow through, flooding nearby farm fields,” Nabbefeld said in a statement.
“The water from that dike that was compromised may have some effect on the homes from Elm St. to the south. The water levels on the Wolf River are dropping and we have had only had two calls for sandbags at this time,” he added.
The shooting range in Shiocton closes almost yearly due to flooding. The dike added an extra wrinkle to the usual closure.
“We had shut down on Saturday, this past Saturday due to flooding. But now we just found out a couple days ago we had a dike break West side of town here that brought extra more water to the area,” said Police Chief Sara Knapp.
Knapp said the level of flooding at the range wasn’t the same as the rest of the village.
“This water doesn’t go into the Wolf River until later, further outside the village. So we have a couple houses that have requested sandbags and they have sandbagged their property, but it’s not compromising the houses too much. Some crawl spaces have been flooded but they’ve been able to remove the water with sump pumps.”
Farmland around Shiocton is filled with water. In some cases, blocking portions of the narrow rural roads.
FOX 11 saw many residents driving cautiously, while others were making the most out of the extra water by fishing.
With the higher-than-normal water levels, Keith Abing from Hortonville came to take a look.
“We come out, like whenever we hear things about how the water is unusually high we come out. And this is the prime year,” he said. “This is abnormal, no we don’t see.. I mean we come up here maybe like every other year. They have sturgeon spawning that we bring our kids and grandkids. But this is maybe the highest we’ve ever seen this.”
Chief Knapp said work is already underway to repair the dike.
If people need to make sandbags, sand, shovels and bags are at the Fire Hall, W7746 Pine St.
According to the village’s website, residents can call (920) 381-8514 for flooding updates, or check its Facebook page.
According to the National Water Prediction Service, the Wolf River in Shiocton was at 12.9 feet Thursday morning, putting it in the ‘minor flooding’ category.
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