Corps of Engineers opens Upper St. Anthony Falls lock gate to reduce flood risk

Photo By Patrick Moes | Corps of Engineers opens Upper St. Anthony Falls lock gate to reduce flood risk  

ST. PAUL, MN, UNITED STATES

04.14.2023

Story by Elizabeth Stoeckmann 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is opening the Tainter gate at Upper St. Anthony Falls lock, in Minneapolis, today, April 14, in response to flooding upstream of the lock.

The National Weather Service forecast indicates Mississippi River flows will exceed 52,000 cubic feet per second, or cfs, in Minneapolis for the next few days as a result of the spring snowmelt. Opening the gate will reduce the flood threat to the area by allowing approximately 10,000 – 14,000 cfs to pass through the lock chamber. The St. Paul District will keep the gate open until the flows fall below 40,000 cfs.

This is the ninth time the St. Paul District has passed water through the chamber since the lock was built in 1963. The previous years include 1965, 1969, 1997, 2001, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2022.

As a result of the high flows, Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam and Lock and Dam 1, both in Minneapolis, are temporarily closed to navigation. The locks will reopen to commercial navigation once the river flows drop below 40,000 cfs and will reopen to recreational traffic once flows drop below 30,000 cfs.

As flood waters increase throughout the state, Corps of Engineers staff urge everyone to take extreme caution near the water. Flood waters often have many hazards such as trees and debris that can’t be seen.

For up-to-date information on flood forecasts, please visit the National Weather Service.

• Date Taken: 04.14.2023
• Date Posted: 04.14.2023 15:56
• Story ID: 442672
• Location: ST. PAUL, MN, US