Background on this beaver dam

Between Rice Lake and Fish Lake there lies backwaters which flow out under the I-94 southern-most bridge. Typically, these waters empty out during a normal drawdown. However, a beaver dam has been constructed in the recent past which prohibits any water flow from entering Rice Lake during a drawdown. Volunteers have cleared out the dam in the past to allow better flow but the beavers have put a lot of work into making this obstruction too difficult to clear by hand.

A See Click Fix ticket (#20418169) has been opened by RLAA requesting the City to remove this dam so proper flow can resume. The City has committed to doing this during the winter of 2025-2026.

12/1/2025 Update - MN DNR has informed City to delay removing the beaver dam until after the drawdown has been completed in the Spring of 2026.

1/29/2026 - Beaver dam has been partially removed to enable water flow into the lake.

See below for photos of this obstruction and the downstream impacts.