Perhaps dams divided opinions long before the late Edward Abbey pinned his classic novel, “The Monkey Wrench Gang.”
That division of opinion was apparent yet again Saturday night during a presentation by DNR fisheries biologist Chris Domeier on the safety and environmental issues surrounding dams within the upper Minnesota River basin at the CURE (Clean Up the River Enviro-nment) in Montevideo.
Domeier and his agency were among the primary proponents of the recent removal of low head, overflow dams in Appleton and Dawson, and seemingly eyes are now focused on some other dams within the watershed. Among the possibilities are those at Marsh Lake, Montevideo and Minnesota Falls (also known as Pete’s Point).
Domeier listed seven dams on the main stem of the Minnesota including those at Big Stone, Marsh Lake, the Churchill dam at the foot of Lac qui Parle Lake, as well as electrical generation dam at Granite Falls, and Minnesota Falls.
The latter two dams were of immediate interest to a group of Granite Falls’ residents in the audience, specifically in regard to an Xcel Energy study that was to have been conducted last year to determine the necessity of either a repair or removal of the Minnesota Falls Dam, the longest dam on the river. Xcel owns the dam.
Both the Minnesota Falls and Granite Falls dams are constructed on natural waterfalls created by exposed outcroppings, said Domeier. In both instances he showed either historical photos and post cards of the pre-dammed rivers, or aerial photographs showing layout of the outcrops.
Besides the Granite contingent, one man argued with Domeier that the river needed more dams rather than fewer to establish holding areas to allow sediments to settle out of the water before heading on downstream.
“The problem with this strategy,” said Domeier, “is that reservoirs created by dams eventually fill with sediment and require maintenance. A better approach is restoring wetlands and maintaining buffer areas and perennial cover.”
His presentation included televised news clips showing the dangers of “low head” dams, which he described as death traps for those caught in the roiling tailwaters. “This is characteristic of low-head dams like we have on the Chippewa River in Montevideo and on Marsh Lake, as well as those we removed in Appleton and Dawson,” he said.
In the first film clip two teenagers in a rubber raft were rescued after it had floated over a low-head and was stuck in the backflow. Domeier explained that in high flows water rushing over the dam rolls over itself with such force that it simply churns over and over again to trap whatever is caught inside.
A rescue squad was able to pull the raft far enough over the boil to pull the teenagers into a larger, motorized boat. It was harrowing footage, as was a second film clip where one of the two victims wasn’t as fortunate. This, too, was on the Des Moines River in Iowa where a woman wearing a PFD bobbed and struggled to keep afloat in the roiling current. She was saved thanks to a nearby crane that lowered a daredevil rescue worker to pull her from the river. Her drowned companion was retrieved downstream.
Domeier said not all are so fortunate. Among the 58 Minnesotans who were drowned between 1974 and 2009 in low head dams three were in Montevideo in 1975 and two in Watson in June, 2004.
Among his slides were two teenage fishers standing on a concrete abutment on the Chippewa River low head dam in Montevideo. They were just inches away from a nearly full, churning overflow that would have meant nearly instant death had either lost their balance.
He advised anyone boating or canoeing to heed warnings and pull to the nearest shore. “If you can hear the falls it may be too late,” he said.
Safety issues aside, Domeier said fisheries and biological profiles are also significantly im-proved with dam removal. A series of slides showed evidence of improved water quality below Minnesota Falls Dam that included shovelnose sturgeon, lake sturgeon, flathead catfish up to 60 lbs., and the plankton-gleaning paddlenose.
“These are species that no longer exist above Minnesota Falls because of the dam,” he said. “They have not been able to migrate upriver due to the barrier put across the river.”
Domeier showed photographic evidence he claimed showed how a fisheries is improved with dam removals, specifically at the site in Appleton. When the low head dam, which had served a long gone historic grist mill, was removed, a rapids was installed after the river bed was reconstructed. This section of the Pomme de Terre River is now frequented by kayakers, tubers and fishers who pull walleye from a river that formerly was a stagnant, silted-in pond that held a few rough fish.
There is a method to river restorations, he said. Before a dam is removed hydrologists and engineers are brought into the project in an attempt to maintain traditional upstream pools. If natural outcroppings remain the river is restored to its original state. If not, a river can be “re-designed” for aesthetic and biological reasons.
Domeier showed before and after photographs of the Dawson dam project to show how the improvements were made while maintaining the initial upstream pool level.
A study of the pool between the two dams was attempted last year but was abandoned due to low water flow. Domeier said the Minnesota Falls dam can’t remain as it is, that it either must be removed or completely restored for safety reasons.
“These dams were both originally built to generate electricity,” he said, showing pictures of the long-removed historic generation facility at the Minnesota Falls site. Now all that remains is the dam. “You would see fishing improve significantly in this area above the Minnesota Falls dam if that barrier for fish migration is removed,” he maintained.
The Minnesota Falls dam is the largest on the Minnesota River. In all, there are 1,300 dams remaining in the state.
Domeier noted that electricity continues to be generated at the Granite Falls dam, and that there are to date no proposals to remove that structure.
He said there is a fear among Granite residents that removing the Minnesota Falls dam will “ruin” the “lake effect” that currently exists. “A large issue that keeps resurfacing is the concept of a mud flat existing along the river. People need to understand that this is only a temporary aspect of what happens.”
He said that the flood plain will likely become wooded and revert back to a more natural state. “This is what happened in Appleton,” said Domeier. “Ultimately the park area at Memorial Park would widen as the river narrows some, which would increase the usefulness of the park by providing more land to access the river for fishing and other recreational activities. The river would have way more fish to fish for at the site.”
Earlier in the evening the organization presented the following awards: the 2009 Riverkeeper to Beth Goodpaster, an attorney with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy who was instrumental in the Big Stone II efforts despite going through a pregnancy at the time.
The media award was presented to KWLM news director J. P .Cola for exceptional radio news coverage of Minnesota River. Chad Friese accepted the CURE Good Business Award on behalf Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company for their leadership in conserving water, maintaining local ownership and control and providing opportunities for organic farmers by opening up new markets for their products. Com-missioner Richard Falk received CURE’s Annual Good Government Award on behalf of Kandiyohi County for it recent action to call for a re-determination of benefits on all ditches in the county which will help to bring about enforcement of existing buffer strip laws.
Among those who entertained was Jake White, who sang “Achy Breaky River” to an appreciative audience.
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Perhaps dams divided opinions long before the late Edward Abbey pinned his classic novel, “The Monkey Wrench Gang.”
That division of opinion was apparent yet again Saturday night during a presentation by DNR fisheries biologist Chris Domeier on the safety and environmental issues surrounding dams within the upper Minnesota River basin at the CURE (Clean Up the River Enviro-nment) in Montevideo.
Domeier and his agency were among the primary proponents of the recent removal of low head, overflow dams in Appleton and Dawson, and seemingly eyes are now focused on some other dams within the watershed. Among the possibilities are those at Marsh Lake, Montevideo and Minnesota Falls (also known as Pete’s Point).
Domeier listed seven dams on the main stem of the Minnesota including those at Big Stone, Marsh Lake, the Churchill dam at the foot of Lac qui Parle Lake, as well as electrical generation dam at Granite Falls, and Minnesota Falls.
The latter two dams were of immediate interest to a group of Granite Falls’ residents in the audience, specifically in regard to an Xcel Energy study that was to have been conducted last year to determine the necessity of either a repair or removal of the Minnesota Falls Dam, the longest dam on the river. Xcel owns the dam.
Both the Minnesota Falls and Granite Falls dams are constructed on natural waterfalls created by exposed outcroppings, said Domeier. In both instances he showed either historical photos and post cards of the pre-dammed rivers, or aerial photographs showing layout of the outcrops.
Besides the Granite contingent, one man argued with Domeier that the river needed more dams rather than fewer to establish holding areas to allow sediments to settle out of the water before heading on downstream.
“The problem with this strategy,” said Domeier, “is that reservoirs created by dams eventually fill with sediment and require maintenance. A better approach is restoring wetlands and maintaining buffer areas and perennial cover.”
His presentation included televised news clips showing the dangers of “low head” dams, which he described as death traps for those caught in the roiling tailwaters. “This is characteristic of low-head dams like we have on the Chippewa River in Montevideo and on Marsh Lake, as well as those we removed in Appleton and Dawson,” he said.
In the first film clip two teenagers in a rubber raft were rescued after it had floated over a low-head and was stuck in the backflow. Domeier explained that in high flows water rushing over the dam rolls over itself with such force that it simply churns over and over again to trap whatever is caught inside.
A rescue squad was able to pull the raft far enough over the boil to pull the teenagers into a larger, motorized boat. It was harrowing footage, as was a second film clip where one of the two victims wasn’t as fortunate. This, too, was on the Des Moines River in Iowa where a woman wearing a PFD bobbed and struggled to keep afloat in the roiling current. She was saved thanks to a nearby crane that lowered a daredevil rescue worker to pull her from the river. Her drowned companion was retrieved downstream.
Domeier said not all are so fortunate. Among the 58 Minnesotans who were drowned between 1974 and 2009 in low head dams three were in Montevideo in 1975 and two in Watson in June, 2004.
Among his slides were two teenage fishers standing on a concrete abutment on the Chippewa River low head dam in Montevideo. They were just inches away from a nearly full, churning overflow that would have meant nearly instant death had either lost their balance.
He advised anyone boating or canoeing to heed warnings and pull to the nearest shore. “If you can hear the falls it may be too late,” he said.
Safety issues aside, Domeier said fisheries and biological profiles are also significantly im-proved with dam removal. A series of slides showed evidence of improved water quality below Minnesota Falls Dam that included shovelnose sturgeon, lake sturgeon, flathead catfish up to 60 lbs., and the plankton-gleaning paddlenose.
“These are species that no longer exist above Minnesota Falls because of the dam,” he said. “They have not been able to migrate upriver due to the barrier put across the river.”
Domeier showed photographic evidence he claimed showed how a fisheries is improved with dam removals, specifically at the site in Appleton. When the low head dam, which had served a long gone historic grist mill, was removed, a rapids was installed after the river bed was reconstructed. This section of the Pomme de Terre River is now frequented by kayakers, tubers and fishers who pull walleye from a river that formerly was a stagnant, silted-in pond that held a few rough fish.
There is a method to river restorations, he said. Before a dam is removed hydrologists and engineers are brought into the project in an attempt to maintain traditional upstream pools. If natural outcroppings remain the river is restored to its original state. If not, a river can be “re-designed” for aesthetic and biological reasons.
Domeier showed before and after photographs of the Dawson dam project to show how the improvements were made while maintaining the initial upstream pool level.
A study of the pool between the two dams was attempted last year but was abandoned due to low water flow. Domeier said the Minnesota Falls dam can’t remain as it is, that it either must be removed or completely restored for safety reasons.
“These dams were both originally built to generate electricity,” he said, showing pictures of the long-removed historic generation facility at the Minnesota Falls site. Now all that remains is the dam. “You would see fishing improve significantly in this area above the Minnesota Falls dam if that barrier for fish migration is removed,” he maintained.
The Minnesota Falls dam is the largest on the Minnesota River. In all, there are 1,300 dams remaining in the state.
Domeier noted that electricity continues to be generated at the Granite Falls dam, and that there are to date no proposals to remove that structure.
He said there is a fear among Granite residents that removing the Minnesota Falls dam will “ruin” the “lake effect” that currently exists. “A large issue that keeps resurfacing is the concept of a mud flat existing along the river. People need to understand that this is only a temporary aspect of what happens.”
He said that the flood plain will likely become wooded and revert back to a more natural state. “This is what happened in Appleton,” said Domeier. “Ultimately the park area at Memorial Park would widen as the river narrows some, which would increase the usefulness of the park by providing more land to access the river for fishing and other recreational activities. The river would have way more fish to fish for at the site.”
Earlier in the evening the organization presented the following awards: the 2009 Riverkeeper to Beth Goodpaster, an attorney with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy who was instrumental in the Big Stone II efforts despite going through a pregnancy at the time.
The media award was presented to KWLM news director J. P .Cola for exceptional radio news coverage of Minnesota River. Chad Friese accepted the CURE Good Business Award on behalf Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company for their leadership in conserving water, maintaining local ownership and control and providing opportunities for organic farmers by opening up new markets for their products. Com-missioner Richard Falk received CURE’s Annual Good Government Award on behalf of Kandiyohi County for it recent action to call for a re-determination of benefits on all ditches in the county which will help to bring about enforcement of existing buffer strip laws.
Among those who entertained was Jake White, who sang “Achy Breaky River” to an appreciative audience.
