> From the 9-Oct City Pages article "Let the River Run" : >
>> When Davis first visited the gorge in the '70s, much of the river was a
dead zone. When he came back about five years ago, he was shocked to see how
much the water quality had improved. That got him thinking about other
aspects of the river's potential. With the removal of the dams and some
improvements to the city's storm-water sewers, Davis believes that the urban
Mississippi could return to something resembling its natural state. "You
aren't going to get back what once was. But with good hydrologists and good
engineers, you could put back something with a lot of ecological value."
That, he noted, is less possible in the parts of the river south of the
confluence with the badly degraded Minnesota River. >>
Finally got a chance to read Mike Mosedale's interesting river
article in last week's City Pages. Its fun to imagine what the Mississippi
would be like if it returned much closer to its original natural state. I
believe it very possible that someday the benefit of North and Northeast
Minneapolis barge traffic will become questionable when compared to the
financial and environmental costs of maintaining the locks and dams. Maybe
we are already at that point. I wonder if the falls could be restored, or if
construction projects have mangled it beyond recognition of its original
appearance?
> From the 9-Oct City Pages article "Let the River Run" : >
>> Migrating fish, currently blocked by the lock and dam, could use the new
channel to move up- and downriver. >>
I would like to hear the opinions of some good river ecologists on
this. Wondering if this stated benefit of the proposed $15 million kayak run
may actually not be a good idea environmentally. Migrating fish would have
been blocked from moving up- and down-river by the original natural falls.
Dave Stack
Harrison (where I sometimes have crazy dreams of someday being able to kayak
down Bassett Creek all the way to the Mississippi River)
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