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Published September 03, 2010, 12:00 AM

Making over the Mississippi

On Aug. 17, Citizen Advisory Group members joined representatives from agencies associated with the river for a day-long tour that put a physical face to river restoration activities.


Mary Stefanski, left, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drives one of six boats used to tour the Mississippi River Pool 5. Next to her is Laura Jester from the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District.

  • Mary Stefanski, left, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drives one of six boats used to tour the Mississippi River Pool 5. Next to her is Laura Jester from the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District.
  • Jon Hendrickson, right, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gives a brief history of Lock and Dam No. 2.
  • About 30 people working to improve water quality in the Mississippi River boarded boats south of Buffalo City, Wis., to see what restorations efforts there have accomplished.
  • Rock groins at the edges of man-made islands help prevent island erosion.
  • Rob Burdis with the Minnesota DNR shows how a Secchi Disc is used to determine water clarity.
  • In contrast to Wisconsin’s Spring Lake, the Spring Lake near Hastings has very little aquatic vegetation around its islands, despite the shallow water.
  • The DNR uses a special rake to pull up vegetation from the river bed. Vegetation is one indicator of water quality.
  • Randy Binder holds up a fish caught in a seining demonstration.
  • Dan Dieterman, left, and Randy Binder pull in their net in a seining demonstration.
  • Tim Schlagenhaft with the DNR holds up a poster that shows island restoration in Mississippi River Pool 5.
  • The Mississippi Makeover tour stopped at North Lake south of Hastings to talk about issues of water clarity and vegetation before traveling south of Lake Pepin to see the restoration efforts there that could also be done in the Hastings area.