Minneapolis locks closed to recreational vessels due to high Mississippi flows

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, closed the three Twin Cities locks to recreational boats today due to increasing high water flows in the Mississippi River.

The Upper St. Anthony Falls and Lower St. Anthony Falls locks in downtown Minneapolis and Lock and Dam 1, located next to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, were closed today, when flows passed 30,000 cubic feet per second, or cfs. Based on National Weather Service forecasts, we anticipate it could be six days before flows are below 30,000 cfs and the upper three locks are, once again, open to recreational traffic.

According to the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division lock and dam regulation manual, the district is required to close the lock and dams to recreational traffic at 30,000 cfs because the high flows are unsafe. Commercial traffic at these locks is shut down at 40,000 cfs.

The nearly 700 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 Corps’ Fiscal Year 2011 $175 million budget, nearly 2,800 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $271 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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