Photo By Elizabeth Stoeckmann | The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District hosts an opportunity for media...... read more read more
On a sunny fall day, with the aroma of sugar beet production lingering in the air, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, celebrated safety, the environment and partnerships within the region. With the rock rapids of Drayton Dam as a backdrop, speakers spoke to a strong testament to science and a commitment to the greater community on the Red River of the North.
The Drayton Dam fish passage mitigation project was a $7.7 million project that aimed to remove the last impediment to fish passage between the source of the Red River at Wahpeton, North Dakota/ Breckenridge, Minnesota, to the St. Andrews Lock and Dam in Lockport, Manitoba, north of Winnipeg. The new dam structure includes a sloping set of rapids with a rock passageway. Rocks and boulders were placed in patterns to create pools through which fish can pass.
In addition to environmental benefits, the removal of the low head dam also ensured better safety at the popular recreation area. Known for their dangerous hydraulic roller currents, low-head dams have been associated with several safety incidents.
The Corps of Engineers, along with its partners, celebrated the completion of the project Sept. 25 with a dedication ceremony that featured speakers from the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, and the city of Drayton, North Dakota, as well as congressional representatives.
“I’m proud to say that the Corps [of Engineers] with all of you collectively came together to deliver this project for the people of North Dakota and Minnesota along the Red River,” said Col. Eric Swenson, St. Paul District commander.
John Paczkowski, North Dakota Department of Water Resources state engineer, touched on both the safety and environmental aspects.
“For decades, Drayton Dam has been a popular fishing hole, as well as a reliable water supply intake location on the Red River for the city of Drayton,” said Paczkowski. “Unfortunately, like many low-head dams, it has adversely affected river connectivity for fish and other aquatic species and, tragically, posed a public safety risk. However, today we celebrate the completion of the dam mitigation project. This is truly an important milestone and achievement for the Drayton community.”
Barb Naramore, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, emphasized the important environmental impacts of the project. She said there has been extraordinary progress on reconnecting the Red River. In 2002, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources identified 72 impediments to fish passage in the basin and, 22 years later, 48 of those have been removed or modified so they no longer present a barrier to fish passage.
“We are seeing that response in the system,” she said. “In 2022, we documented the first spawning of Lake Sturgeon in the Red River basin in over 100 years. We’ve seen spawning this year in multiple locations.”
The Drayton Dam project was a mitigation element of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project. This overall flood risk management project provides flood risk reduction for nearly 260,000 people and 70 square miles of infrastructure in the communities of Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, Horace and Harwood. Robert Wilson, co-executive director of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, lauded the partnership of the project.
“This certainly is a celebration of partnerships,” he said. “It’s about local, state and federal entities working together with civilian contractors to accomplish something that will benefit people and aquatic life for generations to come.”
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| Date Taken: | 11.08.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2024 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 484982 |
| Location: | DRAYTON, NORTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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