What do you think about this??

[chudmon]

This was in the 08-25-04 Crookston daily times

After an 18-month process, the Crookston City Council Tuesday evening was finally able to call for bids on a project that will remove the dangerous, low-head dam on the Red Lake River and replace it with boulder rapids.

The final hurdle was finally cleared Monday, when the project received the Department of Natural Resources permit that it needed.

Bids will be opened at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14 in the council chambers. Ward Three Council Member Keith Mykleseth, who's pushed for the permit and project as a whole for years, said he expects the project to be popular among contractors. "I expect a lot of bidders," he said.

More bidders could bode well for the project's budget, which is about the only thing at this stage that could delay its start. Since it took 18 months to get the permit, Mykleseth and other project leaders hope that their initial cost estimates aren't on the low end.

Still, Tuesday was a time to celebrate the fact that the permit has been granted.

"Receiving the permit and passing the resolution tonight may seen pretty routine, but I want to stress that this is pretty special," Dave Kildahl of Widseth Smith Nolting and Associates told council members and city staff. "This is a big step, the culmination of 18 months of hard work. I'd like to say thanks to Keith for continuing to push so hard for the project behind the scenes, finding the funding for it, and keeping it on track."

Assuming the bids are favorable, work on the project is expected to begin in the fall.

[Wiskers]

Well I guess it does not really matter what we think.. It will happen no matter what any one thinks.. that is the way it is done around here.. just look at the small rock dams they put in.. wrong at that.. still not ever going to be fixed...

[decoy]

That rock dam will sure improve the fishing upstream.

[CatManLee]

I think it's great, as Decoy said it will probably imrove fishing up-stream. There's nothing wrong with that! Besides what would be the negative side of a rapid type dam be compared to a low head dam???

Just my thoughts on it....

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CatMan

[sunnyj]

Well there goes our surfing

[Wiskers]

Well there is ups and downs on it...

The rappids dams are suposed to allow fish to migrate over them.. which is good as long as they take them all out.. there is another dam just up river from Crookston that is not going to be done that we know of so far..

the rock dams are suposed to be much safer than the low head dams.. well the Grand Forks Fire Rescue found out diffrent when they were trapped on the rock dam in GF with an unsinkable air boat.. hummm???

The GF dam totaly changed the fishing below the dam over there.. nothing like it was before. Much less good fishing now..

Low heads hold back water.. Rocks don't. The river levels are at all time lows the last few summers below the dam.. what will happen above the dam then??? More land slides up river too..??

Hummmmmm.... Food for thought for what its worth....

[Old Guide]

Wiskers, sounds like filling in that wintering hole really sucks!! What was thier reply as to where the fish will go and will they survive the shallow water in mid-winter?

[fiskyknut]

I would imagine alot of fish move downstream. When I lived in GFKS I used do float trips on the lower reahes from the old Mallory bridge down to EGF, there are a few deep holes thru that strecth there. Fish used to plain pile up in winter just above the RLR dam in the forks, probably still do. Those reworked dams are a bit of a tradeoff for sure. Anyone remember the old Rioverside dam in GFKS? The one that had the steel wingdams off of it. Now that dam had some awesome fishing!

Fisky

[Wiskers]

Well more great news on the dam issue.. I was chatting with some of the contractors. they are planning on just breaking up the dam, pushing it into the nice wintering hole below the dam, filling that in, then setting rocks from there up to the peak which is about 300 ft up river..

Well... The DNR says big nono on putting Cement in the river but here it is ok I guess???, now filling in the deepest hole in the river for about 40 miles, I can see quite a few big negatives on this one already.

Grand Forks on the Red has the new Rock dams.. well they did not gain safety and also lost the stageing hole below the dam but over there the river is quite deep and does have holes for fish to winter in. We do not over here.

I just think it is pretty convienent that the regulations for dumping cement into the river is overlooked or forgiven and on top of risking putting all that cement in the water and its effects on the fish but in the only wintering hole they have for many miles.......... No that is not going to move the fish out of the area at all... I was told, we are just going to have to deal with it.

We need some input on this before its too late.. Not just for my fishing needs but for the tourism of Crookston.. The river and its occupants are all we have....