Pine River Fish Passage Project 2020
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) partnered with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR), Crow Wing County (CWC), Technical Service Area VIII (TSA8), Big Pine Lake Association, the City of Crosslake, and the Crosslake Army Corps to construct five-rock riffle structures that added 40,000 square feet of key spawning habitat for walleye, smallmouth bass, shorthead, greater redhorse, and several minnow species plus restore access to the 15 lakes upstream.
In 2019, the CWC and Crow Wing SWCD established an agreement to spell out the working arrangement for this project. The CWC served as fiscal agent, and the SWCD as project and grant manager. In the Fall of 2019, the Crow Wing SWCD awarded the construction contract to the Minnesota Natives Landscape. The construction began in January 2020. The contractor installed sheet piling and box culverts to diverge the water so they could remove the old dam and start to work on the rock weir structures. As designed, the contractor installed five weirs across the Pine River. The rock riffle structure consists of a series of which includes five rock weirs placed 40 feet apart, each of which is 0.8 feet lower than the rock weir upstream and composed of 4-foot diameter footer boulders, 3-foot diameter weir boulders, varies sized rock less than 24 inches in diameter, and geotextile filter fabric. Low flow and fish passage are maintained with a 21-foot wide minimum, 1-foot-deep spillway along the centerline of the Pine River. The rock riffle structure was designed to maintain Big Pine Lake pool elevation between elevations and flow rates. The pool elevation of the 100-year flow rate of 3,110 cubic feet per second (cfs) was checked. A walkway along the west bank, just above the height of the weir boulders, provides increased floodplain and portage for paddlers. All five rock weirs were installed by April 2020. The engineer and contractor signed the final payout in the fall of 2020.
The SWCD partnered with CWC to add an area for equipment access adjacent to the stairs. The Crow Wing County Highway Department is responsible for removing bogs detached from Big Pine Lake and floating down, which can cause problems to the rock weir structures. This was installed in the fall of 2022.
The SWCD partnered with the MN DNR to develop plans for a more permanent walking area that would not cause erosion to the rock weirs and plant additional native plants along the walkway. The final installation of this project was established in June 2023. The SWCD also hired a contractor to help maintain the native vegetation until the vegetation is fully established.
Project Outreach/Communication:
The project started with a groundbreaking ceremony of the local government units and state, federal, and local partners. After the project's completion, the SWCD hosted several project tours of elected officials and county and state employees.
An interpretive sign showcasing the project's success and partnership was installed at the site in the summer of 2020.
The Crow Wing SWCD developed a YouTube video to showcase the project from start to finish. See the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQtw8eGtZKQ
The Board of Water Soil Resources developed a snapshot story about the project:
https://bwsr.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2022-11/snapshot_story_1_d…
$1,246,000 the first year is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District to restore and enhance riverine habitat in the Pine River and provide fish passage by removing dams and modifying and installing structures.
This project increased fish migration for walleye and smallmouth bass by 12 miles. Fish from the Mississippi River can swim up to 15 additional lakes within the City of Crosslake Area including, O'Brien and Goodrich Lake. These rock weir structures increased habitat for the threatened pugnose shiner and four species of special concern: the least darter, greater redhorse, black sandshell mussel, and creek heel splitter mussel.
Big Pine Lake Subordinate District Fund