Removal of Klondike Dam: A Progress Report

Removal of the Klondike Dam on the Big Sioux River is continuing apace, and there is marked progress since my observation last month. 

This morning, Dave Finck met me for coffee and drove us out to the Klondike site to observe any change since our last trip.   It was a cold morning under overcast skies, and we arrived at the construction site on the South Dakota side of the Big Sioux River about 9:00 a.m.

A crew of three equipment operators was at work removing the remaining portion of the low-head dam and filling in rock across the course of the river.  Already, a slot through the accumulating rock is apparent, and river is flowing through this shallow area and on downstream under the continuous ice cover to the south.

Looking at the rock fill that is being used to replace the dam and provide a deeper pool upstream, I wondered what it would be like to zip through in a kayak.  I was reminded of the rock fill that is in the Big Sioux River flowing beneath the bicycle trail bridge in Sioux Falls.  That passage is also filled with quartzite rock and creates a set of rapids.  When that section of the river is high and flowing fast, passage through the rapids seems to result in few incidents.  When it is low, however, there are enough hazards to cause me to feel a sense of anxiety when approaching that slot.  I suspect that the rapids created with the rock fill at Klondike will be somewhat similar. 

Hopefully, there will be an easy portage past these rapids, either on the Iowa or the South Dakota side.  Even now, though, most cruises either end on the Iowa side above the old dam or begin on the South Dakota side downstream from the old dam.  The project manager assured me during a visit on site last month that there would be a portage developed, and I got the impression that it would be on the South Dakota side. 

Dave Finck on the Klondike Bridge over the Big Sioux River