When it was first constructed over a century ago, Lake Redwood was about 22 feet deep. A dredging project scheduled for the next two years aims to restore it to its original depth.

The Lake Redwood Reclamation Project — informally known as “the Lake Redwood dredging” — is officially underway and took a big step forward this week. The dredging project will revitalize Lake Redwood and restore its depth to 20 feet from the current average depth of less than three feet.

Before the dredging itself can begin, the first step is to construct a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) which will hold and dewater the dredged materials over time.  The organizers of the project bought a parcel of land,140-acres in size, from Red Del, LLC, using a combination of State of Minnesota General Obligation Bonds and funds from the City of Redwood Falls dedicated to the reclamation project. 

Required permits for the project are being obtained as final plans for construction are prepared by Houston Engineering, Inc.  Solicitation of bids for the construction of the CDF is expected to begin this month, with completion of the CDF by the end of the year.  

As the remaining permits are obtained throughout the summer, bid solicitation for actual dredging activities will occur later in 2020 or early 2021.  Dredging should begin in 2021 and is anticipated to take two years to complete the removal of up to 650,000 cubic yards of sediment. 

Coordination of the project is being shared by the Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area and the City of Redwood Falls.