The Mississippi river is a fickle beast, rising and falling, speeding and slowing, all depending on the whims of mother nature. Of course, man has some control as well, thanks to an elaborate system of locks, dams, and other devices.
Every 20 years, the Army Corps of Engineers uses that technology to draw down the St. Anthony Falls river pool, so inspections can be done on the Basset Creek storm water tunnel.
The latest drawdown began Sunday, and by today, the pool had dropped by a whopping 13 feet. "I've never seen the bottom of the lock pillars, or tie ups, or anything before," said Dave Cartwright, a boater who regularly navigates the pool at full depth during the summer months. "It's just kindof cool to see."
Cartwright was one of a steady stream of onlookers who braved sub-zero windchills to walk across the Stone Arch Bridge, and take in a drastically different river landscape.
What most didn't know, was that the scene they were looking at, with the Mississippi running at 737 feet, was similiar to the one explorers and pioneers came upon as they pushed north into Minnesota.
"We can see a river that the early explorers to this area saw, a river that the American Indians in the area, the Dakota would have seen," explained John Anfinson of the National Park Service, a recognized authority on the history and evolution of the Mississippi River.
"It's a river that is a rapids rather than a deep navigation channel. You can see the limestone boulders down below us. You can see the water rippling and running over these rapids that used to be here."
The drawdown reveals 'another' side of the river, one directly caused by the populations that live alongside it. "There's just alot of trash in there, for one thing," noted Ollie Hoffman of Richfield, taking in the sights with his wife Dorothy. "It doesn't really surprise me, but that's what I noticed.
"There's all kinds of stuff down here, somebody earlier was pointing out a snowmobile," added Dave Polaschek, who was taking digital photos until his camera froze up. "My digital camera, the batteries didn't hold up that well, so I switched back to film... cause that'll work."
Those who are interested have until Friday afternoon to check out the temporarily lowered river. At that time, storm tunnel inspections will be complete, and the pool will be returned to 750 feet. "Get down here, and see a river like you're not going to see it for 20 years," urged Anfinson. "See a river that explorers and the American Indians saw before we changed it so dramatically.
(Copyright 2008 by KARE11. All Rights Reserved.)
