ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, released a draft environmental assessment, or EA, for the proposed rehabilitation of its Big Sandy Lake Dam, near Libby, Minnesota, today, Apr. 16. Corps staff will accept comments through May 18.
The Corps’ rehabilitation work would include concrete repairs, refurbishing the existing slide gates, upgrading stoplogs, and replacing the existing timber apron and cutoff with concrete.
The Big Sandy Lake Dam is located on the Sandy River in Aitkin County, Minnesota, 1.25 miles upstream of the confluence of the Sandy and Mississippi rivers. The dam creates the Big Sandy Lake Reservoir. The dam’s original purpose was to provide additional water to the Mississippi River for navigation during the drier months. Construction of the Mississippi River locks and dams in the 1930s reduced the need for upstream water storage for navigation. Since then, the Big Sandy Lake Dam’s purpose has shifted to flood risk management, recreation, fish and wildlife conservation, water supply and water quality improvement.
The draft EA describing the plan and the environmental impacts is available to the public and can be viewed on the St. Paul District website at: www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/PublicNotices.aspx.
Questions on the plan or comments on the EA can be directed to Eric Hanson, environmental planner, at 651-290-5386 or eric.r.hanson@usace.army.mil. Please address all formal written correspondence on this project to the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: Regional Planning and Environment Division North, 180 5th St. E., Suite 700, St. Paul, MN 55101.
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Release no. 20-044