Fish Lake Dam Rock Arch Rapids Fishway

Currently, an 84-year-old dam, ?Fish Lake Dam?, on the Pelican River near the outlet of Fish Lake is deteriorating and unsafe due to exposed rebar, sheet pile and crumbling concrete (see photos). The area where the dam exists is a major draw for recreation including swimming, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and waterfowl hunting. We propose to modify this existing dam by installing a rock arch rapids fishway, which will improve safety, opportunities for recreation, fish and wildlife habitat and dispersal, and provide a permanent fix to the aging dam. A rock arch rapids fishway is a structure that mimics shallow natural waterfalls in rivers that can be traversed by fish moving up and downstream from the falls (see attached photo of a fishway [Dunton Locks] just upstream from Pelican Lake). While modification of the dam into rock rapids will benefit all aquatic species moving along the river, this structure will be particularly usefully in aiding the DNR's goal of reintroduction of sturgeon, a fish that is native to the Red River basin, but has been absent since the mid-1900s. In an effort to reestablish sturgeon, the DNR began stocking them in Detroit Lake in 1997, upstream from Pelican and Fish Lakes, and the rock arch rapids would create suitable spawning habitat for them. Even though this project covers less than one acre of land, it will benefit the 14,790 acres of lakes and 84 river miles in the entire Pelican River Watershed by restoring connections that existed prior to dam building (see attached map).