Horseshoe Lake structure replacement set for August

By Anna Jauhola
A total reconstruction project will begin this fall on a dam control structure on state land in Kittson County. The Two Rivers Watershed District board of directors approved Landwehr Construction’s low bid for the project of $421,921 earlier this year.
The Horseshoe Lake dam was originally constructed in 1968 and has been in rough condition for years, its end culminating with disastrous flooding in 2022. The structure sits on the Skull Lake Wildlife Management Area, which is mostly within St. Joseph Township. Construction is set to start early in August and be complete by the end of September. The trail over the structure will be closed during construction, but access will remain open from the north end and from the south end of the WMA.
In May 2024, the county commissioners approved a joint powers agreement among the county, MnDNR and Two Rivers Watershed District. Horseshoe Lake is a small impoundment area that allows for water retention during the spring to help control overland flooding, and doubles as a migratory waterfowl area. Officials drain the area each summer and allow it to fill back up in the fall for migratory waterfowl and hunting opportunities. It is then drained prior to the deer hunting season. The project will completely replace the concrete box culvert, retain the stop logs within a larger dropbox spillway and implement a slide gate for easier control.
“There’s a dike going north and south, and a culvert goes through that dike,” said Dan Money, Two Rivers Watershed Management administrator. “The culvert is a 54-inch reinforced concrete pipe with a metal pipe inside. That’s what’s failing is the metal pipe. We’ve had to fix it a few times over the years.”
After flooding in 2022, the metal pipe had detached from the concrete culvert and was no longer a safe spillway. Horseshoe Lake has been dry since 2022 and will finally be filled again in 2026 once construction is complete.
“If we fill it and it’s failing, it’s going to cause that dike to wash out, which would then cause more flooding,” Money said.
Not only will this be an improvement for flood control, the structure will alleviate operational safety concerns. Money said it takes two people to install or remove the stop logs, which is especially dangerous when there’s high water. With the operational gate, it will only take one person to adjust the structure. And there will be a new catwalk out to the gate and stop logs, which also allows officials to remove beaver dams.
“If you go out on the catwalk and do this (move back and forth) it’s like my chair – the whole thing wobbles,” Money said.
The outlet through the culvert flows through State Ditch 84, out of Skull Lake Wildlife Management Area and into the North Branch of the Two Rivers. The stop logs will remain in place to allow complete drainage to assist the DNR in managing poplar growth.
Funding for this project is coming from four sources – MnDNR, $220,000; FEMA, $82,000; Red River Watershed Management Board, $112,365; and TRWD, $57,885. FEMA contributed money because there was a federal disaster declared after the 2022 flooding.
The total cost of the project is $472,250, which includes construction, engineering, design and administration, Money said.
“It’s been a really good project,” he added. “This is just maintenance really. We want to keep it going and the DNR’s been a really good partner in this one, especially Jason Wollin at Karlstad.”