It's happening - the dredge is on Lake Redwood

The main contracting firm, JF Brennan, of La Crosse, Wis., lowered the hydraulic dredge, the Michael B, onto the lake at about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

It’s official: the dredge is on Lake Redwood. The main contracting firm, J.F. Brennan Company, Inc., of La Crosse, Wis., lowered the hydraulic dredge, the Michael B, onto the lake at about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13.

Area planners have spent over 25 years struggling to coordinate many different levels of government to work together on the effort to dredge Lake Redwood back to its original depth of up to 20 feet. When dredging begins in the next couple of days, it will operate seven days per week, 24 hours a day to remove the permitted 650,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment in the lake.

The Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area (RCRCA) received special permission from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resouces to begin dredging as soon as the next couple of days, a month earlier than the DNR usually allows.

The DNR required several conditions, though. A floating silt curtain has to be installed upsteam of the dam, dredging has to start in the western bay, near the park area, and two data probes will be installed in the river to keep track of the water quality throughout the dredging process.

Brennen is confident they can complete the project in one dredging season. Excessively low or high river flows, and uncovered debris in the lake can affect the production schedule.

Coordination of the project is being shared by the RCRCA, handling the fiscal and contract management, and the City of Redwood Falls, providing oversight of project management. The project is being financed using a combination of State of Minnesota bonds and funds from the City of Redwood Falls.