ST. PAUL, MN — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Paul District, recently celebrated the completion of its Drayton Dam Fish Passage Mitigation Project with a dedication ceremony at the site of the dam near Drayton, North Dakota.

This project included replacing the old Drayton Dam with a structure to accommodate fish passage and improve public safety. Drayton Dam is the last impediment to fish passage between the source of the Red River at Wahpeton, North Dakota/Breckenridge, Minnesota, to the St. Andrews Lock and Dam in Lockport, Manitoba, north of Winnipeg. The new dam structure includes a sloping set of rapids with a rock passageway. Rocks and boulders were placed in patterns to create pools through which fish can easily pass.

The project, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, cost $7.7 million and served as a mitigation element of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project. It was built by USACE contractor HSG Park Joint Venture, LLC, of Harvey, North Dakota. The bulk of construction took place in 2022-23, and natural grasses and willows were established this year.

USACE worked in partnership on this project with the Metro Flood Diversion Authority; the cities of Fargo and Drayton, North Dakota; the city of Moorhead, Minnesota; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the North Dakota Game and Fish Department; and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

“We are very excited about this project, because it will enhance fish migration on the Red River and benefit the natural environment and local community,” said Col. Eric Swenson, USACE St. Paul District Commander.

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The original Drayton Dam structure was constructed in 1964 for water supply purposes. It had a concrete weir structure and a crest elevation about 12 feet above the natural channel bottom.