Corps of Engineers plans brief outflow reduction at Orwell Dam

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is reducing outflows into the Otter Tail River at Orwell Dam, located southwest of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, to 80 cubic feet per second, or cfs, Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Outflows are being reduced for one day in order to perform a visual inspection of the Tainter gate at the dam. Corps staff will be lowering the pool elevation by 4 feet beginning Monday, Aug. 10, in order to store the excess water during the reduced outflow period. Following the inspection, outflows will be returned to match the inflow by Friday Aug. 28. Current inflows as of Aug. 10, are 520 cfs.   

The nearly 650 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 2014 $100 million budget, nearly 1,600 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $155 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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