Corps of Engineers to begin Lac Qui Parle dam gate replacement

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will begin construction after the Labor Day Weekend at the Lac Qui Parle Dam, near Montevideo, Minnesota.

The Corps’ maintenance and repair team is scheduled to replace the nine gates at the dam. The construction is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

In order to safely complete the construction, the Corps plans to construct a coffer dam to block off 75 percent of the dam gates. This will reduce the number of gates that can pass water to three. As a result, the Lac Qui Parle pool elevation is expected to rise and fluctuate between elevations 935.2 feet and 937.2 feet. However, the pool elevation could be lower or higher dependent on actual inflows. The normal fall pool elevation level is 934.0 feet.

In order to reduce inflow into Lac Qui Parle, the Corps’ water management staff will reduce the amount of flow in the Watson Sag to a minimum flow. 

For questions regarding activities around the dam, please contact Randy Melby at 320-269-6303.

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 Corps’ Fiscal Year 2015 $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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