Willow River State Park Lake could disappear forever.

Hello.

Please note there has been an inspection of the dam, which creates Little Falls Lake, the lake inside Willow River State Park.

The dam has been found to be in need of repairs or possibly replacement.

It has not been concluded that either repair or replacement will happen for sure based on cost.

If the dam is not repaired or replaced it would eventually be removed.

Little Falls Lake would disappear forever with the removal of the dam.

If you fish, canoe, walk around, picnic near, swim in Little Falls Lake and would like to express how the lake is important to you and that you wish to see it remain for future generations. You can attend a meeting tonight at:

February 24.
Hudson Town Hall
980 County Road A
6pm start.

Or submit comments to:

[email protected] or in writing at the park office.

If you have questions you can call park staff at 715-386-5931

Thank you for your time,
Turk

Thanks for the info Turk,
As a Hudson resident, trout fisherman and frequent user of the park I definitely have an interest in the Little Falls Lake Dam. I know the idea of a bottom discharge has been brought up before but I don’t think it’s received serious consideration. Maybe now is the opportunity.

I’ll have to wright something up and drop it off.
I have many wonderful memories of this park growing up the lake and dam played a big part.
Be a shame future generations could miss out.

Honestly this is like a knot forming in my gut. Both parents are gone now but this is almost like erasing something.

I like that lake but the upstream damns were removed years ago. Is camper canoeing and limited ice fishing enough to keep it going?
That and its very small really. If they did take the damn down I’m sure a lot of trout fisherman would be thrilled with all the new water….
I wish that river wasnt managed for trout everywhere. It used to be a great small mouth stream above and below the park.

I only Ice fish on the lake but would really hate to see it go. I have had some great days on that lake catching panfish and remember riding my bike to that lake as kid growing up. Hopefully they can do the repairs and keep the lake around for new generations to enjoy.

Old dam removal is a scary thought. My cabin is on a flowage created by a small hydro damn.

suzuki wrote:

If they did take the damn down I’m sure a lot of trout fisherman would be thrilled with all the new water….
I wish that river wasnt managed for trout everywhere. It used to be a great small mouth stream above and below the park.

If your aim to fish trout in Willow River State Park now you’ll be sadly disappointed. When I first moved to Hudson they had just removed the dam at Burkhardt (late 90s). The gripes about trout fishing started around that time as it washed a large amount of silt into the lower river. Historically the Race was considered Blue Ribbon. 15-20 years later trout fishing is marginal at best. I haven’t seen any of the “Tidy Bowl” blue rainbows for many years. I don’t recall what they continue to do for stocking. Summer temps routinely hit 70+ degrees below the Little Falls Dam and the trout recommendation is to not fish when temps are that high. I quit trying to fish trout in the park about 5-6 years ago. It’s pretty much all Centrarchids now. Plenty of Rock Bass and small to cute Smallmouth with an occasional 16″ fish. My game now is to wet wade for smallmouth on those 90+ degree July/August days.

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suzuki wrote:

That and its very small really. If they did take the damn down I’m sure a lot of trout fisherman would be thrilled with all the new water….

I don’t think they would. The dams actually helped the trout fishing in the past by holding back silt and if they are bottom discharge, they can help moderate water temp. I doubt the whole of the Willow is actually trout water in its natural state.

I saw the story on the news about this dam and the sad fact is it’s all down to money. The safety issue of having a weak, aging dam holding back an entire lake basically demands that either somebody pony up to fix it, or it has to be taken out. I don’t think it’d be pretty if that dam ever collapsed during a heavy rain or an especially wet period.

But somebody’s got to pay and it didn’t sound like there was a long list of organizations to fund that kind of repair bill.

Grouse

What about all the fish in the lake? Will they pass through the opening of the damn that they are draining it from.

Does anyone know if they are going to repair/rebuild the dam or are they just evaluating it? I didn’t get a clear sense other than they were concearned with a whole host of things due to the age of the structure. Sounds like the lake could be tentatively drained for two years.

That damn sure looks a lot newer than many I have seen. It doesnt produce electricity. Seems like park money should be the only option. I dont see why the money should come from anyplace else forcibly.

The story I read indicated portions of the dam structure date back to the 20s & 30s.

Willow is quite a bit different. I looked around the east end of the former lake. Plenty of deer using the new flats. Steeper banks are being cut into silt layers. May look this way for a couple years pending the dam inspection results.

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With all the new construction going on next to the beach area, I seriously doubt there will be no future Willow Lake. If the dam does get removed and left, what would that do to the park usage in the picnic and beach areas? After the removal of the Burkhardt dam, who would want to look at the nasty growth that popped up after the water went down in that area. In the past we’ve caught some pretty dandy northerns while canoe trolling. Wonder where they went??- -jerr

I just went and looked at it yesterday. Terrible looking. Heartbreaking after all the years I fished there. Interesting at the same time to see the lake bottom.

I can remember fishing there in the 1960s with my dad.
Great panfish and bass action.
I really don’t want to see it in this condition.
Hopefully things will work out in the long run.