Corps of Engineers adjusts traffic pattern at Lac qui Parle Emergency Spillway and County Road 33 for construction season

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, announced that County Road 33 over the emergency spillway at Lac qui Parle Dam near Watson, Minnesota, will temporarily transition to one-way traffic starting as early as May 1 and lasting through the remainder of the construction season.

Once construction resumes, the roadway over the spillway and through the work zone will transition to a one-way lane until construction is completed. Traffic plans may change in the spring depending on water levels and the potential need to install temporary flood protection measures.

Phase 1 will resume repairs to 1,300 linear feet of the spillway and is expected to be completed by July. Phase 2 repairs to the remaining 1,200 linear feet are anticipated to begin in August, with completion expected in October 2027.

Lac qui Parle Dam is the dividing line between Lac qui Parle and Chippewa counties. It was constructed in 1936-1941 by the Work Progress Administration as part of the overall flood risk control project; however, it is the primary dam of the overall system. Before being transferred to the Corps of Engineers in 1950, the Minnesota Department of Conservation owned and operated the dam. After 1950, the Corps of Engineers constructed new features to the dam to assist with maintenance and operation of the dam including the addition of a gauging station, installing steel plate bulkheads within the bays and repairing the dam apron. 

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