Corps makes decision to proceed with disposition study of Minneapolis locks

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will begin a disposition study for its three Mississippi River locks in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

The study will examine several options, ranging from continuing operations as they are now; turning the facilities over to other federal, state or local entities; to removing the locks permanently. The $1.2 million study will begin this fall and will take less than two years to complete. Ultimately, any change from the projects’ authorized purpose would require congressional action.

The study for the Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls locks and dams and Lock and Dam 1 was necessitated by the closure of the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam June 2015, following the passage of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014. The lock chamber at Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam is still authorized to operate for flood risk management purposes.

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the St. Paul District Fiscal Year 2016 $78 million budget, nearly 1,250 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $120 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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