Boat Traffic Restrictions for St. Anthony Falls (res9)
by Bill Tilton
ALERT!! MCA members should be aware of a proposal to restrict the entire middle pool at St. Anthony Falls from any sort of boat traffic, motorized or non-motorized. This Restricted Area would be the entire area between the Upper and the Lower St. Anthony Falls dams, comprising the entire area under the Stone Arch Bridge. The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing a Restricted Area proposal as part of a re-evaluation of all dam sites between Minneapolis and Iowa.
We learned of this increased restriction by chance in mid December. So, we had a hurried meeting with eight or nine members of the Army Corps of Engineers. Representing the paddling community were a couple of people from the MN DNR, a couple of people from the Mississippi Whitewater Park group, and Dale Eggert, a Board Member of the MCA. We emphasized to the Army Corps that there is a large and increasing community of kayakers and canoeists that use the middle St. Anthony pool, both for kayaking competition training and for simple recreation. We also pointed out that the East Side of the river (river left) below Hennepin Island is essentially quiet water except for the outflow from the NSP power plant. This area is quite safe for paddling.
As a result, on January 19, Dennis Erickson from the Army Corps said that they hoped to get a footnote into their draft document (but only a footnote!) that the Restricted Area might be re-evaluated in the future. In particular, he wants to view the area during high spring flows, probably in April. He has promised to contact us for a site visit during high flows in an effort to determine the safety of using the East Side of the river for recreational paddling. MCA members should keep their eyes peeled for the release of an Army Corps document detailing its proposals. Mr. Erickson believes the document could come out as early as March and that the period for public comment may be as short as 30 days.
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