Crissy Dam Project Update

The Stevens County Board of Commissioners heard another Crissy Dam Project update at their meeting on Tuesday from Pomme de Terre River Association Watershed Coordinator Sophia Maruksa, as well as Ted Rud from Houston Engineering, and Mike Kelly and Neil Haugerud of the Minnesota DNR. On the River Association’s website, there is added information about the project, with more details about flooding, ice, dredging and greenspace, and invasive species. Much of Tuesday’s discussion centered on some of the added greenspace to the $2.5 million rock arch rapids project, with some of it to be used as a flood plain by the Pomme de Terre Campground. Engineers would maintain the greenspace for three years, with the City of Morris and the Stevens Soil and Water Conservation District taking over maintenance after that time.
Perkins Lake resident Brian Tollefson expressed his concern about the water level, with some projections saying the project would not lower the water level significantly, while other reports state that it might lower the water level by 14 inches. Another resident at the meeting said other reworked portions of the river had been a “disaster” from a sportsman’s point of view.
Commissioner Donny Wohlers was skeptical of claims that it was easy to raise the water level. “There’s no easy process for the County or the people who live there,” he said. The grant for the project was actually filed through Grant County, and the Commissioners were insistent that a public meeting be held in Stevens County. County Administrator Rebecca Young said it was concerning that the planners of the project could not answer when a public comment period for the permit would open. A tentative public meeting has been set for May 8 at the Grant County River Association.