After asking some skeptical questions, Anoka City Council members expressed interest in joining a joint-powers agency proposed by Three Rivers Park District to operate and share the cost of repairs to the Coon Rapids Dam.
Anoka and other cities with homeowners living along the Mississippi River above the dam are very interested in keeping the recreational boating pool at current levels; the dam creates that lake-like pool.
Park officials told the council that the district can no longer to pay all repair costs for the dam, built in 1913.
But another issue surfaced in the meeting Monday night between city and park officials at Anoka City Hall. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently acknowledged that the dam is an important barrier against invasive species, such as the Asian flying carp that is migrating up the Mississippi, said park superintendent Cris Gears.
Kent Lokkesmoe, DNR waters director, said Tuesday that the dam is the only fish barrier on the river in the Twin Cities area. He said the DNR is documenting how effectively the dam stops invasive species at high and normal water levels.
"We are discussing what role this dam plays, and what role should the state play and pay," Lokkesmoe said.
An issue such as invasive species could attract the Legislature's interest in helping to form a joint agency, Gears said. Such an agency could include the four cities and two counties that benefit directly from the dam's operation, he said. Gears said he has talked about the idea with Hennepin and Anoka county officials and city managers in Champlin, Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids, which along with Anoka border the 6-mile pool above the dam.
On Tuesday, the Anoka County Board discussed the dam repair issue at its meeting. It passed a resolution simply recommending that the pool above the dam be maintained at current seasonal levels.
