To enhance aquatic connectivity, the minnesota department of natural resources (mndnr) is replacing infrastructure at a major highway river crossing in the otter tail river watershed

This Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Fish Passage Program (CFDA 15.685) provides $6,433,628.00 to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to enhance aquatic connectivity in the Otter Tail River watershed. The project will replace two undersized culverts at a major highway river crossing with two span bridges to restore fish passage and enable movements between 42,000 acres of regional lake-chain habitats. This landscape-scale effort is part of the broader "Reconnect the Red" initiative to restore fish passage, including for the lake sturgeon, a flagship species for the Red River basin. The project aims to reconnect 20 miles of critical spawning habitat and support ongoing conservation efforts for native sport and non-game fish populations. The grant award has an effective date of January 1, 2025 and a target completion date of December 31, 2029.

Due to the projects infrastructure focus, minnesota department of transportation (mndot) and mndnr are operating under an inter-agency agreement to deliver the conservation outcomes.at the point where U.S. Highway 10 expressway crosses the otter tail river, the preexisting infrastructure consists of two undersized culverts below the divided expressway. The culverts and the attendant road prisms will be replaced by two span bridges, one per side of the expressway, to restore fish passage. Through the cost estimation engineering study, IT wasdetermined that bridges are more cost effective at the site. Bridges also offer more climate resilientbenefits than culverts. The replacement intends to enhance aquatic connectivity for fish and other aquatic life. Encompassing approximately 1,952 square miles, the otter tail river is the second largest minnesota tributary of the red river of the north (hereafter red river) and is the ecological headwaters of the system. This project will help reconnect 20 miles of critical spawning habitatto 69 previously reconnected river miles, thus further enabling movements between and upstream of 42,000 acres of regional lake-chain habitats.access to diverse habitat is critical to sustaining quality fish populations in lakes and rivers. This landscape-scale project has diverse benefits, including restoring fish passage to portions of otter tail, improving habitat access for native sport and nongame fishes, and promoting spawning runs of lake sturgeon, walleye, and other native fishes. The 20 miles of potentiallyreconnected habitat is considered critical habitat due to the landscape context in which IT occurs and contains excellent natural spawning riffles to support ongoing conservation efforts. This project is part of the reconnect the red initiative, which is an ongoing 30-year basin-scale fish passage program. This initiative is a critical component of the red river lake sturgeon restoration program. Once extirpated from the basin, lake sturgeon are now the flagship species for red river connectivity. This program enjoys broad support from local fishers, lakeshore and riparian property owners, and local governments.