Minnesota flood control sites include flood risk management, recreation and environmental stewardship business line functions. Each have public use facilities for shore fishing, picnicking, bird watching, and other activities. The land is actively managed for habitat enhancement.

Locatio

Lake Traverse is on the Minnesota-South Dakota border between Browns Valley, Minnesota, and Wahpeton, North Dakota/Breckenridge, Minnesota. It consists of two dams, two reservoirs, and the Browns Valley Dike.

Orwell Lake, on the Otter Tail River, is approximately 6 miles southwest of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It consists of an earthen embankment, outlying dikes, and a gated service spillway.

The Highway 75 Dam is on the upper Minnesota River near Odessa, Minnesota. It impounds the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge. Lac qui Parle is on the Minnesota River near Montevideo, Minnesota. It consists of three dams, a diversion channel, and several embankments and levees.

The Red Lake Dam is located at the outlet of Lower Red Lake in northeastern Clearwater County, Minnesota, and has an earthen embankment, a concrete weir with three lift gates, and two stoplog bays.

Description

Flood risk management, recreation, and environmental stewardship activities are completed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff at Lake Traverse, Orwell Lake, and Lac qui Parle. These sites also support readiness (emergency) response activities in the Minnesota and Red River basins. Water control activities have a direct impact on flood response in the downstream communities. Low flows are managed for fish and wildlife purposes and for water supply for communities on the Red River of the North. Red Lake Project activities are completed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff at Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Since their construction, the reservoirs have prevented combined flood damages of over $5,275,000,000.

Status

Repair of the emergency spillway at the Lac qui Parle Dam, which was damaged by high flows in 2019 and subsequent years, is being completed in two phases. Phase 1 construction began in May 2025, and completion is anticipated in summer 2026. A contract has been awarded for Phase 2, with a construction start anticipated in 2026. Plans and specifications for repairs, sediment removal and gate painting at the Lac qui Parle and Chippewa Diversion are completed, with sediment removal anticipated to occur in 2026. Orwell Dam was partially dewatered, and maintenance and gate chain replacement was performed in fall 2025. Plans and specifications for concrete and mechanical repairs at Lake Traverse’s White Rock Dam have been developed, and a contract was advertised in winter 2026. This initiative will greatly improve employee safety and structural functionality. Replacement of the air bladder system at Reservation Dam is anticipated in summer 2026, which is essential for water control. Plans and specifications have been developed for the replacement of the Browns Valley Dam culvert at MN Highway 28. Resurveying of fee title lands continues at Lac qui Parle, Orwell Lake, and Lake Traverse on several parcels that do not have clear delineation at present.

Authority

The Lake Traverse work is authorized by Public Law (PL) 74-738; Orwell Lake, by PL 81-516, 78-534, 85-624 and 81-516; Red Lake, by PL 78-534; Big Stone-Whetstone, by PL 89-296; and Lac qui Parle, by PL 74-738.