UPDATED Thursday, June 17, 2010-- 5:30 p.m.

This time last year water was constantly being pumped from Sharon Schrank's basement.

A huge tube crossed her driveway and shot the water onto her lawn. Now, her basement is dry.

Schrank says, " Beyond happy. I can't even think of words in the English language that can describe how wonderful it is to have a dry basement. "

Schrank is even storing photos and other pieces of memorabilia in her basement again.

Just a year ago most of these totes called her living room home. The water hasn't stopped coming in...a peak underneath their new floor show it's still there.

But the family spent close to $100,000 to install a series of pumps...a lot of money but in Schrank's mind a small sacrifice for the place they love.

" Anything to save our home is something that was really worth while for us to do."

Schrank considers herself to be lucky. And it looks like her house is going to be able to be saved.

But not everyone living on clear lake has had that same good fortune.

Just across Clear Lake three homes sit partially submerged. Now, the Town of Milton is asking the owners to remove their houses.

Each person will have 30-days to remove their personal property, 90 days to tell the board how they plan to dispose of the house and until December 31st to follow through.

If not the board may take legal action.

Marian Trescher says, " We don't want to do that because that's costly. But we've met with the health department, with the DNR we're looking for help any avenue that we can."

Schrank wishes something could be done to save her neighbors homes but understands why the decision was made.

" They're not going to be able to be used again. And I worry about the safety and the health of the lake. "

These three homes may just be the beginning. Town officials say the water level on Clear Lake continues to rise and could claim more houses.
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UPDATED Monday, August 24, 2009 -- 4:30 p.m.

"To leave it ... would just be heartbreaking," Sharon Schrank says.

A Rock County family finds a way to save their home in the nick of time.

The family's nightmare began more than a year ago when much of South Central Wisconsin experienced massive flooding. They were prepared to burn down their 100-year-old house along Clear Lake. Now, a dream come true for the family!

"This is definitely a white elephant. My jaw dropped when I went down there originally to see the basement," Nick LaBansky says.

The infamous basement, as he describes it, belongs to Sharon Schrank. Her family has been living with the jaw-dropping conditions since June of last year.

"We went from last Fall pumping three-to-four thousand gallons a day to now over 30-thousand gallons a day. It's just been a steady increase of more and more and more and more."

Now, the family's finally finding some relief!

"I do have a lot of faith but that was wow!"

A local company called Dry Otter and an expert from Massachusetts answered the call.

"We dropped three heavy duty sump pumps into the ground... was hardest part ... 'cause we didn't know if we were gonna have a geyser shooting out of the floor," LaBansky says.

Crews will raise the floor about eight inches, using gravel, and then install a track system to drain the water toward the pumps.

"The gravel is gonna allow the water to go into the track. That track system is gonna be built up around the whole perimeter of the basement and through the middle of the floor."

The basement's only one part of the problem. The Schranks have totes everywhere - few things where they belong - because when the weather warmed, mold - some of it toxic - spread throughout the house.

"Right now, today, it's about 82% relative humidity in our home."

Schrank estimates all of the work plus extensive clean-up will run up to $90,000, all out of pocket.

"It is a very expensive, inconvenient way to live ... I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

Desperate, the family considered burning down the home and rebuilding in the same spot along Clear Lake. But say finally finding a way to save their 100-year-old house, in the family for generations, is an answer to their prayers.

The Schranks say insurance does not cover damage from a high water table, which is causing the problem. All of the work is expected to be complete mid-September.

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UPDATED Monday, July 6, 2009 -- 9:00 p.m.

A year after 2008's flood and still no relief for a Rock County family! A few months ago NBC 15 spoke with Sharon Schrank about her family's home in Milton.

At the time there was one swimming pool pump in their basement removing flood water. Now, they have two that run every hour and things are getting worse quickly.

At first look you might think Sharon Schrank and her family are moving.
"We're still in the pack up mode. We still have some things in the upstairs area that we're still packing up and getting rid of."

But they aren't. She's just protecting their belongings from the basement. "We are still flooding."

For more than a year the water's been coming in from nearby Crystal Lake. Everyday, more than 20,000 gallons are pumped from Schrank's basement. But she doesn't know how much longer they can continue doing that. "Everyday is a challenge."

Schrank's consulted several experts about the issue. No one has an answer. And she's getting tired of "suiting up" before she goes into the basement. " Doesn't everyone have to put on hunting boots to go into their basement?"

Boots and face masks are no longer just an option they're now a necessity. Not only has the water continued to creep in but there is now mold developing all over the basement. "We have developed what's known as common house hold molds and some uncommon household molds."

Recently some of that mold started moving into other areas of the house. "Backs of closets, window seals, that sort of thing. That's where we are right now."

Schrank says the house can't be moved or raised because it's too old.
And they can't sell it. It's a family home and who would buy it? "Selling it isn't an option."

The only two options for now are finding some way to stop the water from coming in or tearing down the house and starting over. Schrank plans on having a geological technician come in soon to tell her just how saturated the land is around her home. She hopes after that she'll have a better idea of what can be done.

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UPDATED Monday, July 6, 2009 -- 6:45 p.m.

Many have recovered from last year's flood. But Sharon Schrank and her family have not. For more than a year they've been trying to keep their house from washing away.

The Schrank's live on Clear Lake in Milton. Since last June, Sharon and her family have been pumping more 20,000 gallons of water out of their basement a day.

The Schranks have consulted several experts. None of them have been able to help the Schranks stop the water from coming in. To make things worse, mold is now developing all over their home. If something isn't done soon Sharon says her family will loose their home.

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Sunday, February 8, 2009 --- 5:00 p.m.

The unseasonably warm weather has given many in South Central Wisconsin a chance to thaw out.

But as temperatures rise so do concerns about flooding.

Sharon Schrank can sum up the condition of her basement in two words.

She says, " A disaster."

Since June, she's been waging war against the water.

"It's a good eight months later and we are still having flooding concerns around the clock non-stop."

Schrank lives on Clear Lake in Milton Township.

Ever since June, the spring fed body of water has been pumping thousands of gallons of water directly into her basement.

Right now the only thing keeping the 100-year old home from becoming a part of the lake is this.

A swimming pool pump.

" As the snow melts the water table rises and the water comes in at a high rate of speed, says Schrank"

The pump removes about 22,000 gallons of water per day.

It dumps it where the family's driveway use to be.

And running the pump has definitely cost Schrank and her family.

Schrank says, "No extra shopping. No extra going here and there. "

Behind me two homes.

A gray one and tan one. Both have been deemed unlivable because of how high Clear Lake has actually gotten.

Take a turn over to the Schrank's back yard.

You can tell that the lake has began to eat away at their lake shore property.

They've lost several feet so far.

The problem behind all of this is the fact that clear lake is a seepage lake that means there's no inlet or outlet. So once the water gets here it just stays here.

" It's just one of the unique events where it's a lake that's not river fed or there's not an outlet for it to manage that process."

Bryan Meyer, the town chair, says the only way lake levels will go down is if the water evaporates or the already saturated ground soaks it up.

But that's not likely to happen.

So until an alternative solution is found Schrank says the only thing she can do is pray.

Schrank says they thought about raising the house.

But because the ground is so saturated they can't.