As a follow-up to an open house held in January, 2003, the Ministry of Natural Resources plans to hold a pair of public meetings in two weeks regarding the fate of a deteriorating dam on the Manitou River (Esox Lake) about 50 km northeast of Fort Frances.
The first of these meetings will be held Wednesday, Sept. 1 from 2-8 p.m. at the MNR office at 922 Scott St., with one to follow at Barker Bay Lodge on the Lower Manitou on Friday, Sept. 3 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
The meetings will provide detailed information on the alternatives as to what to do with the dam, as well as give opportunity for the public to comment on the planning of this project.
“There’s no urgency here. This is just the initiation of the consultation process,” said Rachel Hill, an integrated resource management specialist for the area of the Esox Lake dam.
The dam, located north of Devils Cascade, sits on the Manitou River and affects water levels along the entire Manitou watershed stretching 60 miles northeast of it (including Esox, the Manitou Stretch, Lower Manitou, and Upper Manitou).
In 2001, the MNR conducted safety review assessments on both this dam and the one at Footprint Lake. The assessments concluded the dams were in fair to poor condition, and in a state of deterioration.
From the assessments, the MNR identified some action must be taken to satisfy current dam safety criteria to plan for the future.
At the January, 2003 open house, the public was asked which of four options should be taken to address the problem of the deteriorating dams at Esox and Footprint.
Options for both dams at that time included reconstruction, replacement, removal, and the less likely option of leaving them to fall apart on their own.
After taking public input into account, the MNR announced in March, 2003 that it would rebuild the dam on Footprint Lake. The $1.34 million project was completed last fall.
But at the January, 2003 meeting, which drew more than 50 people, many questions arose from the public about the watershed controlled by the Esox Lake dam and how, if it were decided that the dam be removed and not replaced, it might affect tourist camp owners.
Last summer, the MNR conducted a more thorough environmental assessment of the watershed so that some of the questions raised at the first open house could be answered at the ones slated next month.
For more information about these public meetings or the project, contact Hill at 274-8605.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
