Preserving the Beauty and Natural Resources of Lily Lake
Supporting ecology and enjoyment of our precious Lily Lake resources into the future.
Lily Lake is a 212 acre lake with a maximum depth of 24 feet and is located in southwestern Forest County, Wisconsin. The watershed basin covers approximately 1200 acres and is sustained by incoming water from natural springs, rain water runoff, and the incoming streams from surrounding Roberts, Jungle and Lost Lake. Lily River flows into the Wolf River in Lily, WI.
Lily Lake Dam Project
We Need Your Help!
Please support our efforts! With the fragile state of the existing dam we need continuing support from everyone to maintain the precious resource we call Lily Lake. If the dam were to fail, it is estimated that water levels would drop 5'-6' making the river and bays unnavigable destroying the fish biology and ecosystem of the Lily Lake watershed.
History
The Lily Lake Dam was authorized in 1901 for the purpose of log driving in the early days of Northern Wisconsin logging.
Years of Service
The Lily River dam had been continously maintained throughout the years by local property owners and residents. At one time the dam provided hydro electric power. The current dam was reconstructed in 1975. The Town of Nashville took ownership in the early 1970's and has since maintained the dam.
At Risk Dam
A required periodic inspection in 2011 discovered that the current dam has severely degraded and has outlived its previous intended use. Since its original construction, new standards are required for dam safety. The new dam design will meet or exceed the new safety standards, reduce maintenence and provide for more consistent water levels beneficial to the ecology of the lake, river and watershed systems.
The Lily Lake District was created in 2022 to assist the Town of Nashville, Wisconsin with financial support to replace the aging and outdated Lily River Dam.
Lily Lake Gallery
Explore the beauty and ecology of our cherished Lily Lake from photos submitted by friends and neighbors of Lily Lake.
These photos may not be copied, reproduced or used in any form without the written consent of the submitter.
Lily Lake District Information
2026 Meeting Dates
March 21, 2026 Qtrly Commissioners Meeting (Cancelled)
May 16, 2026 Annual Meeting
August 15, 2026 Qtrly Commissioners Meeting
November 14, 2026 Qtrly Commissioners Meeting
News
Documents
(click to download)
1/24/2026 Update to Lily Lake Property Owners
I know it has been very quiet lately on the dam replacement project front, but big progress is being made. The Town of Nashville board made a very difficult decision this past fall and decided it would be beneficial to move on from dam designer Flambeau Engineering and have hired REI Engineering out of Wausau to continue the project. Over the course of the project, Flambeau Engineering became increasingly difficult to work with and the designs that were provided, were overly engineered and beyond the scope of affordability for the town and property taxpayers.
On December 19th, 2025, REI presented the Nashville town board with a choice of two simplified preliminary designs that will meet or exceed the requirements of new dam construction and provide a more affordable solution to the WDNR’s dam replacement order. The design chosen by the town board incorporates three precast concrete fixed height weir boxes, connected to forty-eight-inch HDPE pipes with an additional twenty-four-inch pipe required for drawdown purposes. The design has been submitted to the DNR January 22nd for preliminary approval. After approval, final engineering drawings will be initiated. REI has provided an aggressive timeline to keep the project moving forward and depending on the DNR approval and notice process, final drawings are scheduled for March 26th.
The design submitted to the DNR eliminates the need, expense and permitting for a bypass road to Lily River Lane but residents should expect delays crossing the construction area during the main construction. The precast design will significantly decrease the time for the construction process and will help to minimize the cost of heavy equipment rental. As of now, we do not know the extent of the water level drawdown or the time, but I think it could start as early as late spring. REI suggested that fall is the preferred time of the year for this type of construction because of minimized rainfall. We hope to keep things moving forward on the REI timeline, but the variable will be for the time needed for the DNR approval process. I talked with Forrest Van Asten, dam safety specialist for the DNR and he has already started the initial review of the design and hydrology. He mentioned that everyone in their office knows the urgency to get this project done.
The Nashville Town Board has also been very proactive seeking funding assistance for the dam construction and has been meeting regularly with both the Sokaogon Mole Lake and Potawatomi Tribal Councils. Both Tribal Councils have been very helpful trying to link us with funding resources. The town is still qualified for the state Dam replacement grant and will be able to recover 50% of the overall cost.
Will provide updates periodically as I get them so you can start planning for 2026.
Lily Lake Dam Update 5/20/2026
The Town Board of Nashville held a special public meeting on Monday, May 18, 2026, to review a new dam design for Lily Lake Dam submitted by REI Engineering of Wausau. The town has been working with REI to provide a design that would meet the standards of current structural and safety requirements within a budget the town and Lily Lake District taxpayers could find affordable. The design as presented at the meeting was approved by the town board and submitted to the WDNR for review and approval on May 21th.
With the severe deterioration of the dam’s 4-foot metal culvert, the DNR issued an Emergency Order to replace the aging culvert by June 30, 2026. The town board in attempting to reduce the financial impact and burden of the Emergency Order, has asked the DNR to accelerate the design and approval process so the new dam reconstruction process can begin as soon as possible and reduce the significant expense of hiring construction crews and dewatering the construction area twice.
Depending on how quickly the DNR approves the new design will depend on how quickly construction can begin. We hope with the added urgency of the Emergency Order the WDNR will give this their utmost attention to finalizing any details. Once construction begins, we expect that waters level can be maintained at the current 97.4’ level but there is discussion that water levels may drop significantly if the gates for the culverts are not ready, or the DNR doesn’t allow a temporary solution to maintain the level.
With the holiday weekend coming up we have many questions about whether boats and pontoons can be safely launched and retrieved but at this stage of the review process, we can’t tell you anything for sure until we get more information. Use your best discretion and we will do our best to keep you informed with updates as we get them.
WDNR ordered Water Level Range 96.5'-97.4'
Average Range held in 2025 97.1'-97.8'
5/28/2026 97.3'